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🍽️ This past Tuesday, we hosted a Catholic Founders Dinner in NYC. It was epic. You should have been there. We even had a priest there. Really enjoyed that!
❌ No more episodes or newsletter until January. I’m taking a bit of a break after today. Tune in again in January when we resume (unless I get inspiration last min and put out more content).
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Intro to the Guest and Topic
Core Takeaway
Episode References
Select Quotes
Key Moments
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Today’s Topic & Guest:
Jeff Carron is the owner and operator of the Paul Davis Restoration franchise in Portland, Maine, which he runs with his two brothers. They realized the industry’s software stack was outdated, so they bought into the franchise to intimately understand the business and build their own software solution called Recover, which they are now scaling to other restoration franchises.
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Catholics should be the best at taking risks. Reason being? If we believe our faith — if we truly believe — we will take drastic actions to share that faith with everyone. Because there are moral consequences.
One of the key questions we ask today is, why do most Catholics pursue safe careers. Finance, law, etc? Why are so many Catholics risk-averse? When our faith literally tells us to trust in the Lord. The faith has moral consequences (heaven or hell) so why aren’t we willing to do things to share that?
The Apostles received the Holy Spirit and went out to preach to all nations. There was no safety there. They knew they would probably be killed. But they did it because they trusted in God. They answered the call to action.
How about you? Are you aware of what God is calling you to? And are you willing to step up and take that action? It may not even be martyrdom. It may be as simple as starting a business and trusting that God will provide.
God Bless & Happy Building!
~Silas Mähner
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Individuals
Catherine Boyle (Partner at Andreessen Horowitz - Catholic)
Companies, Organizations, and Media
Opus Dei (Religious group)
Knights of the Holy Sepulcher (Religious group)
Knights of Malta (Religious group)
The Passion of the Christ (Movie)
The Founder (Movie, mentioned in relation to Michael Keaton)
Select Quotes:
Share your favorite!
“The risk is actually just someone else thinking you’re stupid. That’s the maximum risk that most of us encounter.” — Jeff Carron
“Stability should not be the priority for a Catholic of any kind of means or significant talent.” — Jeff Carron
“We are all capable of being more courageous than folding because someone thinks less of us.” — Jeff Carron
“Risk is the nature, is’s really the business we’re in. We are risking our entire lives by believing in something that by its very nature is not necessarily provable.” — Jeff Carron
“You have a moral imperative to be present in the society. I know we’re not of the world, but we are in it.” — Jeff Carron
Key Moments: (outline)
00:00 – Cold Open
01:57 – Introduction to Recover: Silas introduces Jeff Carron and the origin story of Recover, a software company built after Jeff and his brothers bought a restoration franchise to “dogfood” and solve industry inefficiencies.
06:44 – The “Trojan Horse” Strategy: Jeff explains why they intentionally entered the restoration trade as franchisees to identify and solve problems from the inside.
11:15 – Working with Family: Insights on the advantages of working with brothers, navigating conflict, and why “unvarnished discussions” are a competitive advantage in business.
15:45 – Business as a Forge for Relationships: How shared struggle and “being in the foxhole” together creates deeper spiritual and professional bonds than superficial family interactions.
18:15 – Why Sharp Catholics Choose Safe Careers: An analysis of why high-achieving Catholics often focus on “de-risking” through elite degrees and stable professions rather than taking entrepreneurial swings.
21:00 – The Moral Imperative of Capital: Discussing the need for visible Catholic leaders in enterprise and why capital is necessary for the distribution of ideas and the faith.
25:21 – Fear of Failure and Reputation: How the fear of looking “stupid” in the public square stymies innovation and creative risk-taking within the Catholic community.
31:30 – Salvation as a “Zero-Sum Game”: Jeff argues that if Catholics aren’t present in global discussions and industry, souls are lost to counter-productive secular messages.
38:50 – Filling the “Internal Emptiness”: A discussion on sobriety, the desire for control, and leaving space for the Holy Spirit rather than trying to “guarantee” outcomes.
45:45 – Suffering as Currency: Reframing suffering and sacrifice not as something to be avoided, but as the “fuel” for growth and transformation in Christ.
53:00 – The Individual vs. The Collective (The “Thread and the Blanket”): Using the analogy of a weaver to explain how God sees both the individual soul and the entire fabric of humanity simultaneously.
1:00:15 – Self-Awareness and “Dorian Gray”: Using Oscar Wilde’s fable to discuss the importance of recognizing our own internal “blemishes” to foster charity toward others.
1:04:30 – Making Space for God: Practical challenges of transitioning from a high-intensity work environment to a prayerful state or a present family life.
1:11:00 – The Impact of Almsgiving: Why the “Works of Mercy” and direct, personal charity are more spiritually transformative than simply “cutting a check” to an anonymous organization.
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