Sean Coughlin

Bio:

CEO & co-founder of FaithStreet - a new site that helps people and churches connect. I grew up in the church: my dad helped build our church and my mom was the church secretary. I'm fascinated by how new technology can help deepen communities and positively impact our faith and culture. You can find me riding my single-speed down the Williamsburg Bridge or spending time with the Christian community here in NYC. Proud UVA Law and Harvard Grad.

• Title: CEO & Co-Founder at FaithStreet
• Age: 27
• Location: Williamsburg, Brooklyn
• Contact: @seanwcoughlin

You were working at one of the top law firms in the country and quit to start your own tech company.  How did you come to that decision?  What did your parents say?

I decided to leave law and start FaithStreet because I wanted to create something big and new. I left the safety of big law for the start up adventure. My parents were curious, but supportive. They trust me. I think creativity and adventure suits who my parents raised me to be a lot more than moving commas at a big law firm.

Outside of your immediately family, who do you feel has been the biggest influence on your life?

I've had great teachers, pastors and mentors. The phenomenal thing about the Church is that the idea of mentorship and community is so central to it's mission. There are actually a lot of similarities between new churches and start-ups. It's like a pastor that we met with recently said, "Jesus was an entrepreneur."

FaithStreet is a site to help people and churches connect online.  Do you feel as if there are any churches out there presently doing it right?

Absolutely, but its far from the norm. That's where FaithStreet comes in. We are working very hard to make it very easy for every church to bring more people into their community and reach more people with their message. We'll be launching our next version this fall, so stay tuned.