Peter Thiel's brilliant interview question

Peter Thiel has a question that he likes to ask in interview settings: Tell me something that is true that very few people agree with you on. He explains:

The business version of this question is what great business is nobody building? And these questions turn out to be quite hard to answer for two somewhat different reasons. One of them is it's always hard to come up with new truths that people have not yet understood. Secondly, it also requires a bit of courage because you often have to go against social convention in pursuing certain lines of business. People discourage you from doing things that are strange and new.

It turns out that what defines entrepreneurial brilliance is also the mark of true Christians. What do we hold to be true that very few people agree on? Jesus is Lord.

Sure, we're allowed to have that as a "personal religious belief," but not to believe that it is actually true, and true for everyone (whether they know or accept it or not) and that He is actually making all things new. That is the scandal and the glory of Christian faith.

Thiel is absolutely right. It takes courage to affirm unaccepted truth in public. It takes wisdom and perseverance to act on that truth when very few others can see it. This is true in entrepreneurship. Steve Wozniak believed that a personal computers could be useful and ubiquitous. It is true at the leading edge of science. Copernicus made claims that contradicted what had been the established scientific consensus for centuries.

Contrary to the conventions of our culture since the Enlightenment, religious faith is not a distinct and inferior class of knowledge. It too, makes public claims of truth that contradict prevailing assumptions. It is news. It is good news.

So consider this scenario. You're a bright young entrepreneur, invited to visit Peter Thiel, who is interested in investing in you and your venture. And he asks you: Tell me something that is true that very few people agree with you on. Do you have the courage and confidence to say to one of the most clever and accomplished entrepreneurs and investors, "Jesus is Lord"?

Honestly, it is a whole lot easier for me to come up with a half dozen heretical business ideas. Thiel's question has forced me to look squarely at the truth of the Gospel and the courage it takes to affirm it in public.

Thank you, Peter.

Why spotlight this nonprofit?

In response to my recent Cardus essay on Value, Values and Valuation, one reader challenged one of my examples:

Perhaps Charlottesville Investment Collaborative is not the example you are looking for. I find the website indicates the cooperative concentrates on training, and is willing to lend money.  How effective the cooperative actually is will depend on the successes of the values created by the participants. Nothing on the website is dedicated to explaining and expounding the new found values, [but rather to] providing 'free advertising' for the participants.

Why did I choose CIC as an example if it has these apparent shortcomings?

1. Value Creation: CIC is creating value by doing something that no-one else in our community is doing by enabling the marginalized to start new businesses. Training and lending IS the value provided. The participants have no other access to such opportunity or resources, and therefore could not otherwise start new enterprises.
2. Participant Success: The reader is right that success hinges on the entrepreneurs/participants' value creation and values. The proof will be in their flourishing.
3. Free advertising? Providing 'free advertising' for participants is also value creation. The poor - by definition - don't have the social networks we do. Getting the word out about the value that they're creating is mission critical for their success and the flourishing of our city.
4. What values? The reader is also right that "nothing on the website is dedicated to explaining and expounding the new found values." CIC is not a Christian organization. I have the privilege of collaborating with my non-Christian neighbors who, by common grace, are doing good and creating value for their neighbors. Into that good work I speak these words. Indeed, I think that is precisely the value that we as Christians need to bring to the table - the embodied and spoken values of the Kingdom. That, I truly hope, is public theology for the common good.