Growing a Community of 20M Promoting Jesus & the Bible

TL;DR

Steve Gatena shares his personal journey from an unlikely churchgoer to the founder of prey.com, the world's top app for prayer and faith-based content.

Transcript

my grandma pretty much raised me Catholic which meant uh she dragged me to church every Sunday Kicking and Screaming I didn't like it I didn't want to be a part of it it wasn't my thing really I was into computers and I was into sports and in high school I was recruited flown to Washington DC and I got pitched by a bunch of three letter agencies FB... Read More

Key Insights

• 🥺 Personal experiences and tragedies can often lead individuals to discover and embrace their faith.
• 🥺 Building a strong personal and professional network can lead to valuable mentorship and personal growth opportunities.
• 💨 Spreading hope and being there for others in their darkest moments can be a powerful way to make a difference.
• 🥺 Strategic goal setting that aligns with mission, team, and personal values can lead to success and fulfillment.
• ⚾ Providing a digital platform for faith-based content fills a gap in the market and meets the needs of those seeking spiritual inspiration.
• ✌️ Prayer can serve as a powerful tool for finding strength, peace, and connection in challenging times.
• 💗 Growing a community requires offering both single-player and multiplayer features to cater to individual and collective prayer practices.

Questions & Answers

Q: How did Steve Gatena's upbringing influence his views on religion?

Gatena's mixed Jewish-Catholic background and his reluctance to attend church as a child shaped his initial disinterest in religion. Despite this, his experiences later in life led him to explore and embrace his faith.

Q: What was the inspiration behind pray.com?

Gatena's personal journey of finding solace and inspiration in podcasts like Matt Chandler's sermons and Oprah's Super Soul Sunday led him to realize the need for a digital platform dedicated to faith content. This inspired him to create pray.com, aiming to provide a space for prayer and faith-based audio content.

Q: How did Steve Gatena's personal experiences contribute to the creation of prey.com?

Gatena's personal tragedies, including the loss of his business partner and the challenges of starting a family, led him to rely on his faith for hope and strength. These experiences fueled his passion for creating prey.com, a platform that would offer others the same support and inspiration he found in his own faith journey.

Q: How does pray.com approach prayer and community building?

Pray.com places prayer as its priority, making it the foundation of its community. The platform offers both single-player and multiplayer features, including group prayer texts and prayer calls, to create a sense of community among users. The goal is to encourage prayer as a daily habit and provide tools for fostering spirituality and connection.

Summary & Key Takeaways

• Steve Gatena was raised in a mixed Jewish-Catholic family but didn't feel a connection to religion. Instead, he was drawn to computers and sports.

• He pursued a career in computer science but faced setbacks at the United States Air Force Academy. It was during this time that Gatena learned about Google Earth, sparking his interest in technology.

• Gatena went on to become a successful producer and entrepreneur, selling his company in 2015. After a personal tragedy, he turned to podcasts like Oprah's Super Soul Sunday and Matt Chandler's sermons, which inspired him to start pray.com and bring faith content into the digital world.