After achieving financial success as a founder, David Goldberg shifted his focus to making a global impact. As the founder of Founders Pledge, David has pioneered a transformative approach to philanthropy, enabling entrepreneurs to commit a portion of their exit proceeds to charity. Over the past 10 years, Founders Pledge has deployed $1.3 billion toward impactful causes, making it one of the most innovative nonprofit organizations for founders.
David discusses the philosophy behind Founders Pledge, the challenges of creating a global philanthropic network, and the strategies for ensuring every dollar donated achieves measurable results.
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Here’s what you’ll find in this episode:
00:02 Introduction
00:16 David Goldberg’s journey from founder to philanthropist
03:50 The origins of Founders Pledge and its mission
08:00 How pledging future earnings fosters impact-driven giving
12:15 Deploying $1.3B: How Founders Pledge maximizes impact
20:30 The importance of trust and transparency in philanthropy
33:08 Scaling Founders Pledge: Challenges and aspirations
ABOUT DAVID GOLDBERG
David Goldberg is the co-founder and CEO of Founders Pledge, a global nonprofit that empowers entrepreneurs to commit a portion of their exits to high-impact philanthropy. Under his leadership, the organization has grown to over 2,000 members across 40 countries, with nearly $11 billion pledged and $1.3 billion deployed to transformative causes. Driven by a mission to simplify and amplify meaningful change, David transitioned from a diverse commercial background to the nonprofit sector, blending his expertise in finance, startups, and academia.
Before Founders Pledge, David gained experience as a mortgage and investment banker and launched the secondary marketing department at Mortgage Capital Associates. A serial entrepreneur, he founded a boutique real estate firm in Germany and managed Urban Motion. He is a graduate of UCLA and the University of Cambridge, where he deepened his understanding of systems driving impactful change. Inspired by the desire to make philanthropy accessible, David has built a community where founders can harness their success to improve the world.
Connect with DAVID:
Website: www.founderspledge.com
ABOUT JASON
Jason Kirby is the co-founder of Thunder VC. He is a serial entrepreneur with 4 multi-million exits and decades of experience in fundraising and business building. He has coached hundreds of entrepreneurs in his career on fundraising, investing, capital strategy, and business development.
You can reach out to Jason through:
Email: jason@thunder.vc
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jasonrkirby/
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