Celebrating 4 Years Since Overflow's Official Launch - How It's Going, Highlights & Lessons Along The Way So Far...

It’s the eve of Overflow 's 4th Anniversary since our official launch… and it’s 8PM PDT while sitting next to my wife as we do our evening flow work typical of what “Turn up Tuesday” looks like in the Roush House. It’s that beautiful blissful couple hours after putting 4 young children to bed (I think they’re sleeping? I locked the door :) … any Founder-Parents in the chat? Can I get an Amen?!

So…how’s it going you ask? Well, in some ways it's similar to how it started. Side-by-side with my partner and best friend.?

In many other ways, it’s a lot different from how it started with now 35 FTEs alongside us whom we affectionately call the FLOW FAM who have all decided to join this crazy startup journey.?

Nearly 4 years ago I explained why I started a FinTech Company Focused on Generosity and since then we’ve been maniacally focused on our mission: TO INSPIRE THE WORLD TO GIVE. Some highlights to date:?

• 600+ customers have entrusted us as their generosity and engagement partner choosing us for our powerful giving platform and newest innovations such as Overflow Tap (NFC-enabled disks proven to increase engagement >40x compared to QR codes)
• Hundreds of millions in GMV processed through our platform… GMV for other Fintech companies represents ‘Gross Merchandise Value’. Specifically for us GMV means ‘GIVING towards MISSION VALUE’. Processing transactions through Overflow equals fuel that funds organizations at the front lines of community, spiritual & mental health, and meeting local/global needs.?
• Hundreds of thousands of unique Overflow donor accounts, many of which give regularly, and at disproportionately generous levels on average .?

4 years is just a ‘tithe’ towards our level of commitment to the vision of building the infrastructure to make generosity frictionless. We’re building the APPLE for Generosity. Or as one of our investors affectionately puts it… the spaceships for generosity . It’s fitting since my favorite emoji, maybe with some other tech founders?, is absolutely the ????????.?

I do genuinely believe as we continue to create beautiful experiences to give, we will see generosity reach unprecedented levels. There’s a feeling we have when we hold a beautifully designed iPhone, interact with seamless blue bubble chats, and enjoy the elegant user interactions… Apple produces a feeling that most cannot deny. We experience a first principle truth… that humans desire beauty and simplicity. That’s what I believe about the principle of generosity. It’s core to our humanity. It’s core to how we were created. We are designed… to give! What if every human being on the planet was a giver? Well, Proverbs 11:24 says “The World Of The Generous Gets Larger and Larger”... so what we believe is that when we achieve our mission and vision, on the other side of that, is a more enlarged world. A more empathetic world. A more connected world.?

If you’re not a ‘giver’, you’re probably more of a ‘taker’. And we know that people who are not contributing likely default to being a critic. My gut says we need more contributors than critics. We need more givers than takers.?

This company not only has missional importance but is also positioned to be a top-tier business.?

Here is some of our journey so far in creating the Overflow Universe:?

• July 2020: Overflow officially launches
• September 2020: Seed round led by Uncork Capital with participation from Craft Ventures recognizing Overflow’s pioneering ‘non-cash donation platform’
• April 2021: Series A led by R7 Ventures with participation from Salesforce Ventures funding expansion to unlock Overflow’s ‘full-stack generosity platform’ vision
• April 2022: M&A of Payments Company, DEKA, one of the early movers and innovators in ACH/Debit/Credit giving in the faith space
• September 2022: Expansion into Canada with the acquisition of Willfora, leader of Wills & Trusts giving
• July 2023: High Growth Fundraising The Silicon Valley Way hits Amazon Bestseller List in its debut
• October 2023: Series B led by the Wesleyan Investment Foundation fueling our expansion to build the Financial Operating System for the Faith Space and beyond. Giving, Spending, and Lending.?
• April 2024: Acquisition of Novity into Overflow Tap revolutionizing church and event engagement through NFC-enabled disc implementations leading to significant increases in connections and giving.?

Here are 4 lessons that I’ve learned so far on this journey:?

1. Entrepreneurship is messy. If you’re looking for an idealistic linear path, then don’t pursue company creation and scaling. If you have a capacity for pain, then maybe this is for you. You will be met with resistance, relational pain, and roadblocks at every juncture (and this is coming from an irrationally optimistic person)... and it’s how you respond to this and MAKE A WAY through it that allows you to go from 0 to 1. 1 to 10. This journey is a force function to learn and lean into resilience and resourcefulness. You either learn it or tap out. I’ll say this… when the mission is core to who you are, it’s much harder to throw in the towel. It’s like a committed marriage… ‘Divorce’ is not even allowed in the vocabulary.?

2. My capacity is directly correlated with the people around me. There are capacity multipliers. And capacity detractors… I’d go as far as say drainers. What’s the difference??

Multipliers:?

• Desire to be a master at their craft and don’t need micro-management
• Are aligned to the mission and vision and therefore more naturally subscribe to the ‘culture’ which is the vehicle that helps transport us to our collective desired destination
• Value stewardship. We like that language even more than ownership. Ownership can be easily attached to the unhealthy part of pride. “Look what I built… look what I did.” That pride, if unchecked, leads to a fixation on self-promotion over collective purpose. And too much focus on myself, and my achievement, creates an atmosphere of pressure. Stewardship is an understanding that ultimately the opportunity in front of me is not just my own, but one that I’m blessed to manage alongside others. There is a flavor of gratitude with stewardship that can transform a “pressure culture” into a “privilege culture”. Look at what we GET TO build… TOGETHER. Stewardship is ownership without the unhealthy part of pride attached to it.?
• Understand the principle of sowing and reaping. 2 Corinthians 9:6: "Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously." You don’t need to believe in the bible to believe in this principle. Ask an investment banker. As a CEO, I don’t need to demand and dictate trite statements around ‘integrity’... I just need to teach the first principle truth of sowing and reaping. Because if you fundamentally believe that, then you would consistently sow generously even when it's not seen. Because weather it’s seen or not, the fact is that whatever was sown, you will reap.?

Detractors:

• Are transactional at the expense of being relational. If life ‘travels at the speed of relationship’... it moves to a speeding halt when the whole premise of the relationship is for leverage.?
• Are not willing to change. I don’t believe in agreeing to disagree. I also don’t think that every situation needs to start with agreement. But can you work through disagreement and achieve a HIGHER LEVEL of agreement? Conceding to agree to disagree is the start of division… the opposite of multiplication :)?

Those are just a few insights so far on team dynamics. Really grateful to have an army of multipliers behind us to accelerate the vision.

3. There’s a popular adage that ‘leadership is lonely’. It doesn’t have to be. Especially with great communities built by people like Erik (Private Founders’ Group Chats ), another that I’m a part of with Faith-Based Builders (Hype Network ), and even some of the investor-based networks curated to bring people together. While leadership doesn’t have to be lonely, you need to be okay with being misunderstood. The literal definition of a pioneer is an ‘early settler’… which means the places you have already set up shop, 99% of people have not yet acclimated to. Sometimes you don’t need to explain… you just need to let time do that.?

4. The way we are building feels much more like art than science. I don’t know if I can lead this company from a spreadsheet as much as I know I can lead it with a SPIRIT. A spirit of passionately serving our customers. A spirit of excellence in my role. A spirit substantiated by timeless principles. A spirit of creation and innovation on behalf of an industry that has only seen stagnation for decades. A spirit of joy, energy, and adventure. A spirit… of generosity!

In 4 years… we’re starting to see a generosity ecosystem coming together infused with a spirit and momentum that we believe will be difficult to stop. A huge thank you to all those who have been part of our journey so far. It’s just the beginning!! Cheers to 4 and so much MORE ????????