Video Summary — Chad Ralphs on M19 Podcast 🎙️⛳

Episode Snapshot

• Host: Jav Chavez
• Guest: Chad Ralphs — entrepreneur, former pastor, co-founder of Sojern, author, coach
• Themes: entrepreneurship, faith in business, scaling/exiting, mentorship, family, community (M19), golf as networking

Key Life & Business Timeline

• Past: Full-time pastor for 10+ years before entering business world. 🙏
• Early career at Intuit (TurboTax/QuickBooks/Quicken) — grew a division from $10M → $100M.
• 2007: Left Intuit to co-found Sojern (travel advertising/data platform).
  • Pivoted from printed boarding-pass idea to digital ad pixels/search capture as smartphones emerged. 📱
  • Built billions of real-time data points, targeted ads (e.g., travel hotel ads).
  • Grew from 5 employees in Omaha → 600+ employees, 14 offices worldwide.
  • 2018 valuation ≈ $350M; growth equity investment: $120M for 1/3.
• COVID-19 (2020): Travel ad spend collapsed (from ~$300K/day to ~$6K/day); company cut ~300 employees.
• Post-Sojern: invested in real estate (88,000 sq ft in an Opportunity Zone), started VC fund, helped a UK programmatic ad firm grow in US (~$10M business).

Recent Transition & Current Focus

• 2020: Felt called by God to step out; moved into consulting, investing, mentoring. ✨
• Created a mentorship framework: Focus Growth Framework → led to writing a book: Become the Mentor You Wish You Had (release imminent). 📘
• Activities now:
  • Coaching community for Christian executives and high-level leaders (currently ~30 members; target ~50).
  • Sales consulting (extensive sales experience; sold hundreds of millions). 💼
  • AI consulting and other advisory roles. 🤖
  • Public speaking (conferences, churches, entrepreneur events).

Faith, Money & Work

• Views:
  • Gifts/talents are from God; financial favor can be a stewardship/opportunity to serve the Kingdom. 💸➡️🙏
  • Importance of character before blessings — readiness matters.
  • Marketplace ministry (tentmaking) is valuable; pastors/business leaders can coexist.
• North star: Be known for loving Jesus, serving people, stewarding gifts well.

Mentorship & Family Philosophy

• Mentorship system designed to be practical — book structured for mentor + mentee discussion (chapter + questions).
• Parenting: Raised kids to work and earn (e.g., door-to-door sales experience via Southwestern Advantage).
• Values communication, sales skills, work ethic in children.

M19, Golf & Community

• Chad joined M19 (golf mastermind for 7-figure+ entrepreneurs) for relationships, deals, and shared values. ⛳🤝
• Believes golf is an ideal context for building trust and business relationships.
• Advocates growing “tent makers” and wealthy, kingdom-minded entrepreneurs to fund and build Kingdom impact.

Notable Quotes

• “If comfort's your goal, comfort becomes your cage.”
• “Sales is serving — find what someone needs and help meet it.”
• Final legacy desire: “Jesus is the best thing that’s ever happened in my life.”

Actionable Takeaways (How-to / Practical)

• Pivot early if market/technology shifts (example: boarding pass → pixel/data capture). 🔁
• Build partnerships and relationships with customers/industry players to gain access and data. 🤝
• When scaling, diversify revenue but recognize focus decisions affect resilience (Sojern’s travel focus increased COVID vulnerability).
• Mentorship model: write curricula with chapter read-aloud + guided questions to foster two-way learning. 📚
• Raise children to work for and earn things; practical sales/communication training is invaluable.
• Steward financial success for kingdom purposes; ensure character readiness before pursuing rapid growth.

Where to Find Chad

• LinkedIn / Instagram (search: Chad Ralphs)
• Book: Become the Mentor You Wish You Had — releasing in coming months.

Emojis Recap

• Faith & calling: 🙏
• Tech/data pivot: 📱🔁
• Money & stewardship: 💸
• Mentorship/book: 📘
• Golf & community: ⛳🤝