In this six‑question, seven‑minute interview, Professor Pete Alexander talks with Joel Solomon, co‑founder of the impact venture fund Renewal Funds. Solomon explains that Renewal Funds, now in its fourth round, invests in organic food businesses and climate‑tech companies across the US and Canada, supporting hundreds of investors. He shares a light‑hearted view of venture capital, noting that taking oneself too seriously can diminish life’s enjoyment. Solomon highlights Chapter 9 of his book The Clean Money Revolution—"Evolutionary Leadership"—which stresses the importance of inner, psychological, emotional, and spiritual skills for business success. He advises leaders to develop these inner skills, be authentic, empathetic, and respectful, arguing that such qualities improve both personal fulfillment and team performance. Solomon refers a fellow business leader, Mark Deutschman, a real‑estate developer in Nashville, as a potential podcast guest. He recounts his first job working on Jimmy Carter’s presidential campaign as a teenager, describing Carter as a model of inner development, humility, and service, which influenced Solomon’s own leadership philosophy. The episode concludes with Solomon’s contact information: joelsolomon.org for his talks and writings, and renewalfunds.com for the venture fund.
Chapters
This is Professor Pete Alexander with the Winning at Business and Life podcast, where business leaders share their insights. It is 6 questions in 7 minutes because successful business leaders are busy and rarely have more time to spare. So let's get to it. Question number 1: In a few sentences, please tell me who you are and what you do.
My name is Joel Solomon. I live in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. I'm originally from Tennessee, if you notice the accent. I am the co-founder of Renewal Funds, a, an impact venture fund that is now on our fourth round. We invest in the US and Canada. We have several hundred investors, and our job is to find great organic food businesses and climate technologies.
Joel, it's so great to have you on the show. Question number 2: What is something that makes you smile and/or laugh about working in your industry?
When you get to call yourself a venture capitalist, you tend to be very impressed with yourself and how smart you are and how much you know. And, um, I guess many things caused me early in life to I realized that taking myself too seriously might really make for a less good life. So I smile.
I love that. Very heartfelt. Thank you. Question number 3. I have a fictitious book with all the answers for business. Yes. What chapter would you think most companies should read?
Well, I wrote a book called The Clean Money Revolution. Reinventing Power, Purpose, and Capitalism. And Chapter 9 is called Evolutionary Leadership, and it is about the importance of the inner skills— psychological, emotional, spiritual. I think that's the key to success.
Mm-hmm. I would agree with you. That's a really good suggestion. Very good, and thank you for that insight. Question number 4: Other than the generic work harder, have a great attitude, and care for customers, what advice would you give to other business leaders?
Yeah, I think I just gave it, which is work on your inner skills. Be a good— learn how to be a person that you respect. You want to feel good about yourself, and you want to believe that you've got more empowerment and authority if you actually be a real and honest person and can empathize and feel other people's experience.
You know, and I, I, I think about that as you're describing it. The people that I reported to over the years, um, the ones that I respected most, the ones that I felt connected to and I really wanted to perform the best for, were the ones that were— that exhibited that, that kind of— those tendencies. And so what you're saying, not only is it good for you, but I'm assuming for the people that report to you and the people that work with you. Am I right?
I would— my best judgment is that it is a very successful way of being.
That's really good. Question number 5: What other business leader like yourself would you like to acknowledge and invite to be on my podcast?
He's my business partner, uh, in Nashville, Tennessee. And about 20, 25 years ago, we traded 10% ownership in each other's operating entities, and that created an incredible bond. He is in the real estate business. He was first a successful broker. He now develops moderate, middle, middle market, middle, middle income market housing. The city likes the work that he does a lot and will direct him to neighborhoods, maybe old abandoned industrial areas, etc., which are their next priority to show signs of activity. And where Mark Deutschman goes, many follow.
Hmm. Well, that, with that saying, I'm looking forward to interviewing him. So thank you for that referral. And our final question, question Number 6, please tell me about your first job.
I got to work on the political campaign of Jimmy Carter, and I started, uh, in my mid-teens. There were a couple of other odd jobs before that, but I thought this was more interesting, and, uh, I ended up traveling across the country, uh, doing all kinds of unique and odd experiences to help someone who was a 2-year, 1-term governor from Georgia who was unknown, virtually unknown outside the state. I read the strategic plan that said how he was going to be elected president. It went exactly to that plan. It only happened a little bit sooner than had been expected. The success of his strategy.
That is interesting and kind of sounds a little bit like Obama as well, because what, 2-year senator, and then all of a sudden, boom, gets elected president.
So that is true, that is true. But we've got— I, I, you probably don't want me to talk about politics. I'll just say there are many reasons to have a lot of respect for Jimmy Carter in comparison to other presidencies..
And so give me a couple of those. What would be a couple of the examples of that?
Well, the first one goes back to my point about inner skills. He's actually a developed human being who thought about the deeper things in life and has always exemplified those and modeled it. He was out, I don't think while he was president, I think he dropped this for a little while, but he's always out on a ladder with a hammer working for helping housing for low-income people. I was interested in him as a young man because he was a canoeist and a lover of nature, and he was actually a pretty good environmentalist, which was a surprise coming from Georgia.
Mm-hmm, interesting. Well, yeah, it's interesting to bring that back because, you know, obviously we don't want to talk about politics and stuff, but obviously, you know, things are quite, quite not what we expected here We need good models.
We need people that we can look to for inspiration and for, to some degree, for guidance about how to be a good person, a good leader, a good executive, that kind of thing. And so I feel very, very fortunate that I got exposed to him and that he's still around.
Exactly. Well, thank you for sharing that interesting story. And Joel, thank you so much for being on the show. How could people find you?
Joelsolomon.org, uh, is a, a website, of course, that is about my talks and, uh, some writing and things like that, but also grew out of the book that I mentioned earlier. And secondly, renewalfunds.com is our business side. And I think that whether you can be an investor or not, you will find that it's a pretty interesting premise and company that looks for people who are going to do good in their lives and also be successful with business.
I love it. This is Professor Pete Alexander with the Winning at Business and Life podcast. Thanks for listening.
