Luke Hohmann is the Founder and CEO of FirstRoot Inc. FirstRoot Inc’s teaches students financial literary by giving them real cash and the chance to make a real impact in their school. With a structured program to guide them on their decision making process, students are able to learn through their own experiences how money really works.

Join us as Luke he shares about the power of participatory budgeting in any organization, just how he managed to achieve an 80% to 100% participation from the students, and why he structured his company as a Benefit Corporation.

Newsletter l Podcast l Free Resources 

https://firstroot.co/ – Check out FirstRoot and its programs!

1. The more you work, the more opportunities you create for yourself. Like Luke, you may find your next business idea from your existing business. Always be open to new ideas and challenge the status quo.

2. Allow your customers to have a bigger stake or a chance to be more involved in the business. When they see that their actions have a direct impact, they will become more loyal to you in the long run.

3. If you are looking to start a company that prioritizes doing good for the public and society, do some research or ask a lawyer as to what is the best corporate vehicle you should incorporate. Luke decided to incorporate FirstRoot as a Benefit Corporation and this has allowed him to prioritize the good he wants to do for society over maximizing profits.

[3.30] Luke shares about how he started his career as an Agile Product Manager before he started his journey as an entrepreneur.

[7.10] After Luke started his consulting business, he started Conteneo which he has since exited.

[9.40] After Luke sold Conteneo, he started his current venture is called FirstRoot, a company that focuses on teaching children financial literary through participatory budgeting.

[12.15] While working on Conteneo, it was his experiences working with schools and philanthropy that gave Luke the confidence that using participatory budgeting on students would be a successful idea.

[13.50] Under a program with FirstRoot, around $2,000 to $10,000 is given to the entire school. The source of funds typically comes from the school’s principal, parent teacher associations, and corporations.

[15.30] Luke shares the 5 steps that FirstRoot puts its students through.

[19.00] As every school ultimately chooses their own projects to fund, each school ends up with new and unique projects that surprise Luke.

[21.40] FirstRoot has a very high participation rate with 80% to 100% participations rates amongst the students in the schools. Luke attributes this to the fact that there is real money involved.

[24.10] Firstroot was intentionally incorporated as a Benefit Corporation which allows the company to prioritize actions that will benefit the public and society, as oppose to maximizing profits.

[27.30] Luke shares his displeasure of the social ills of social media and he discusses how he balances it with the need to grow his company.

[31.00] One of the best advice that Luke was given was that software should be pretty too because user interface affects how users and customers interact with a company’s platform. Luke also shares his own advice that you should manage your capitalization table and make sure you give equity to only people who deserve it.

Luke Hohmann is the Founder and CEO of FirstRoot Inc. FirstRoot Inc’s teaches students financial literary by giving them real cash and the chance to make a real impact in their school. With a structured program to guide them on their decision making process, students are able to learn through their own experiences how money really works.

Join us as Luke he shares about the power of participatory budgeting in any organization, just how he managed to achieve an 80% to 100% participation from the students, and why he structured his company as a Benefit Corporation.

Newsletter l Podcast l Resources 

https://firstroot.co/ – Check out FirstRoot and its programs!

1. The more you work, the more opportunities you create for yourself. Like Luke, you may find your next business idea from your existing business. Always be open to new ideas and challenge the status quo.

2. Allow your customers to have a bigger stake or a chance to be more involved in the business. When they see that their actions have a direct impact, they will become more loyal to you in the long run.

3. If you are looking to start a company that prioritizes doing good for the public and society, do some research or ask a lawyer as to what is the best corporate vehicle you should incorporate. Luke decided to incorporate FirstRoot as a Benefit Corporation and this has allowed him to prioritize the good he wants to do for society over maximizing profits.

[3.30] Luke shares about how he started his career as an Agile Product Manager before he started his journey as an entrepreneur.

[7.10] After Luke started his consulting business, he started Conteneo which he has since exited.

[9.40] After Luke sold Conteneo, he started his current venture is called FirstRoot, a company that focuses on teaching children financial literary through participatory budgeting.

[12.15] While working on Conteneo, it was his experiences working with schools and philanthropy that gave Luke the confidence that using participatory budgeting on students would be a successful idea.

[13.50] Under a program with FirstRoot, around $2,000 to $10,000 is given to the entire school. The source of funds typically comes from the school’s principal, parent teacher associations, and corporations.

[15.30] Luke shares the 5 steps that FirstRoot puts its students through.

[19.00] As every school ultimately chooses their own projects to fund, each school ends up with new and unique projects that surprise Luke.

[21.40] FirstRoot has a very high participation rate with 80% to 100% participations rates amongst the students in the schools. Luke attributes this to the fact that there is real money involved.

[24.10] Firstroot was intentionally incorporated as a Benefit Corporation which allows the company to prioritize actions that will benefit the public and society, as oppose to maximizing profits.

[27.30] Luke shares his displeasure of the social ills of social media and he discusses how he balances it with the need to grow his company.

[31.00] One of the best advice that Luke was given was that software should be pretty too because user interface affects how users and customers interact with a company’s platform. Luke also shares his own advice that you should manage your capitalization table and make sure you give equity to only people who deserve it.