Faith Driven Entrepreneur Episode 334 - Tech CEO Moves Company to an Avoided Neighborhood | Chi-Ming & Juliette Chien
In this powerful episode of the Faith Driven Entrepreneur podcast, hosts Justin Forman and Kevin Kim sit down with Chi-Ming and Juliette Chien to explore their radical decision to relocate their successful tech company from San Francisco's financial district to Bayview - a neighborhood where 25-30% of children live below the federal poverty line.
Chi-Ming shares how Dayspring Technologies embodies "bearing witness to God's redeeming of the workplace, marketplace, and community" through unconventional business practices like refusing to use leverage in negotiations, maintaining only three months of cash reserves, and implementing a pay structure where CEO compensation is capped at 3x the lowest paid employee.
Juliette reveals how their partnership with Redeemer Community Church led to the founding of RISE, a Christian high school where 80% of seats are reserved for first-generation college students from low-income families, with a mission of 100% four-year university admission.
Key Highlights:
- Why Dayspring moved from downtown San Francisco to Bayview, defying conventional business wisdom
- The theological imagination that shapes radical business practices
- How "prophetic emptiness" - leaving space for God to fill - birthed a transformative school
- The power of church-business partnerships in community transformation
- Practical examples of living out gospel economics in the marketplace
- Why achievement and control can be more dangerous idols than money
Quotable Moments:
"I think a lot of times we call something impractical when it's largely left untried." - Juliette Chien
"In order to love a place, you need to know it. In order to know it, you need to learn it, so you gotta spend time." - Chi-Ming Chien
"If somebody takes your coat then give them your tunic also... That actually has implications for how we think about relating to our marketplace neighbors." - Chi-Ming Chien
Watch the full episode on YouTube or continue to stream audio on your favorite podcast platform.