Startup Garage Podcast #2: Inside The Forge
TL;DR: Episode two of the Startup Garage Podcast has Julie Adkins sitting down with Josh Barker, CEO of City Innovations, to unpack what The Forge actually looks like after a year and a half of running it.
The Forge exists because the outside world only shows the highlight reel - these groups create space for founders to be honest about the valleys, not just the mountains.
Building a business was never just about the founder. Forge conversations ask about your relationship with the Lord and your family, not just how the business is doing.
Groups of 6-8 founders meet monthly for a year, led by leaders with a "shepherd's heart," and it's a Christ-centered space built specifically for believers.
Inside The Forge: Josh Barker on Walking the Journey Together
In this episode, Executive Director Julie Adkins sits down with Josh Barker, CEO of City Innovations and the leader of one of our Forge groups, to talk through what The Forge actually is, what it's looked like to lead one for a year and a half, and why "iron sharpening iron" is more than a nice phrase for the founders in these groups.
Why The Forge Exists
Josh has been through a lot of startups, including a lot of failed ones, and it left him with scars - and a lot of empathy for founders. That's the soil The Forge grows out of. As Josh put it, the outside market pressures founders to project success, to look like everything's going well, when the truth is closer to hills and valleys, more of the latter than anyone shows on LinkedIn. The Forge exists for the valleys - a place to get eye to eye with someone and say, "I've been there, and it's tough, and let me pray for you and be beside you."
That's tied to another conviction Josh holds: building a startup was never really just about the founder. For him, it starts with his relationship with the Lord, and it extends to the people closest to him - especially family. His wife jokes she could write a book on being married to an entrepreneur, and most founders' spouses probably could too. That's why Forge conversations don't stop at "how's the business going." They ask how you're doing with the Lord and how your family's doing, because the business interrupts family time more often than any of us would like to admit.
What a Shepherd's Heart Looks Like
Julie and Josh both used the same phrase for the kind of leaders The Forge looks for: a shepherd's heart. Josh unpacked what that means in practice. It starts with humility - a shepherd doesn't walk into a room assuming the group needs to hear from them. It's about facilitating so the members sharpen each other, not performing expertise. It also means being willing to throw out the plan. Josh has shown up with an agenda more than once, only to realize someone in the room was hurting and the agenda could wait. As he put it, echoing the words of Jesus: "I've come to serve, not to be served."
Startup Garage tested three small groups like this about a year and a half ago, and all three are still meeting today. Josh has led one of them since the start, and when Julie asked what's stood out most, he didn't point to a business win - he pointed to the group itself. Founders going through hard family seasons kept finding other founders in the same group who'd been through the same thing, and the encouragement turned into real, practical help: pro bono work, connections made on the spot. Not just prayers and well wishes, but boots on the ground.
Is The Forge a Fit for You
Josh's answer was simple: reach out. These groups are unapologetically Christ-centered - faith is a core, ongoing part of the conversation, not an occasional mention. The Forge specifically is for believers who want to build alongside other believers, with faith woven all the way through.
The logistics are simple by design: six to eight entrepreneurs paired with one experienced leader, meeting once a month for about an hour or two. Groups ask members to commit for a full year, not because the meetings demand it, but because real trust and deep bonds take time to build.
Josh's parting word summed up the whole conversation: you don't have to do it alone. Community is what drives founders forward, in the hard seasons and the good ones - to encourage you through the valleys, and to celebrate the wins right alongside you.
Listen to Episode Two
This episode is just one more honest conversation about what it looks like to build with community instead of alone. Watch the full episode on YouTube, and if you haven't already, sign up for our Monday newsletter at startupgarage.org to catch every new episode as it drops.
