By Matthew Orchard (Founder of ZeAero)

“ZeAero has the mission to make flying possible without polluting our planet, through the development of hydrogen-electric propulsion systems and aircraft solutions”

I love reading the blogs on Spring, and probably this one covers some common ground from other blogs on the Christian entrepreneurial journey, but if it blesses someone that would make it all worthwhile! I certainly would reiterate the observation from many in the Spring community that God uses the entrepreneurial journey not necessary to make great businesses (he does that too), but to shape us, his children.

The Mission Behind ZeAero

ZeAero our company has the mission to make flying possible without polluting our planet, through the development of hydrogen-electric propulsion systems and aircraft solutions. However, we want to do more than that, we also want to achieve our mission in a way that gives back to the communities we connect to and interact with.

ZeAero was formed in 2019 and has operated primarily in stealth mode, only recently starting to publicise our activities. We are currently working towards constructing our first propulsion system demonstrator which will go into its test phase at the beginning of 2027. The majority of our leadership group (unintentionally) have a faith background.

A Personal Journey of Faith

My background is growing up in a faith family but drifting during my university years, before the wreckage of various mistakes me re-evaluate my half-hearted Christian walk.

Getting married to a strong woman of faith has really helped my walk, but I recognise I still have a lot of shaping still to go. I have found it is not always easy to live the Christian life in business.

Career and Calling

My work career including working during my undergrad years to be able to pay for university, then moving to the opposite side of the world to do a Ph.D in aerospace, which has been a life passion.

I have been being blessed during my career with some great jobs in a couple of major aerospace companies. The opportunities allowed me to reach executive level in aerospace in my mid-thirties, which is somewhat unusual given the conservative nature of engineering organisations.

Building New

Luke 5:36–38

So why leave the safety of a nice corporate job, for the unknowns of entrepreneurship?

Well, I have always had a yearning to start something on my own. Big companies are great if you want security and regularity, but you’re unlikely to be able to experiment or push the boundaries too much.

Covid was definitively a prompt for me, as I had to make a large number of people redundant at my employer, and I thought ‘why not now?’ to try my own thing. On top of this was a growing frustration with the cynicism of the big aerospace companies, where often it feels like protecting the planet will only happen if someone else is paying for it.

Do I regret it?

Well, if I were taking a very narrow view, looking at the opportunities I left, and seeing ex-colleagues making their way to bigger positions, maybe. However if I step back and look at the wider journey and how the entrepreneurial path has reshaped me, definitely not.

In a corporate context one often absorbs the culture around them, for good or bad, and with all the checks and balances it can be relatively easy to hide or hunker down when needs be. The life of an entrepreneur I have found in contrast, is one of periodic wrong turns, back tracks, small successes, sprinkled with disappointments.

Add to this the frustration of yet another glossed over ‘entrepreneur success story’ to rub one’s nose in the middle of the grind. Lots of errors, many learning points, continual broadening and a daily choice whether to stick to your principles and values, or compromise.

But of course, this is balanced by seeing something you dreamed of grow step-by-step.

Character Formation

Exodus 13:17–18

Character - God will use the Christian entrepreneur’s journey to build character.

My wife and I joked at the start of the ZeAero journey that it was an Exodus, and it has been in more ways than we realised. When God takes the Israelites out of Egypt, he said that he would not take them the direct route as they might meet too strong an enemy and give up too early. How often is an entrepreneur’s journey like that?

If we suddenly had all the money we needed to get from point A to B on day one, would we build the strength of the little adversities to be able to face bigger struggles in the future?

If as an entrepreneur we achieve the ‘glossy’ magazine success story without the hard graft, will we have the humility to turn down riches that might be of questionable origin in the future?

I have found the entrepreneur’s journey to be one of challenge, of being willing to muck in at the lowest level, to be the little guy seeking support, to build humility and a broader skillset I would never have grown as much had I stayed in the corporate world.

I think if Christian entrepreneurs are willing to let God take us through that desert place like he did the Israelites, he will build in us character, endurance and toughness to face the future battles he wants us to be prepared for.

Redefining Success

Acts 21–28

The second aspect of the journey is redefining what ‘success’ really is.

Here I have recently been re-reading Paul’s accounts with friends, and I was really taken with the fact his arrest, corrupt trial and transport to Rome at face value would look like a total failure. However, we all know that the ‘failure’ resulted in the turning of an empire, and millions of people still touched by the account 2,000 years later!

I believe there are parallels with the journey of entrepreneurship if we take a Kingdom perspective.

Who says that your start up should be the one that generates millions and gets you in the Times’ rising stars’ rich list? God’s vision of success is so different to ours.

In Paul’s case it was God’s plan to disrupt a whole Empire through a prisoner who would witness through his life and Spirit given word. In the Entrepreneur’s case it might simply be making an impact by living Kingdom values in the face of challenging commercial realities.

It might be taking the time to lift up and encourage those who have run into the wall, when it would be easier to stick to your own knitting. It might be to create community wealth where there was none before. Success in Kingdom entrepreneurship is redefined vs the world.

It is not about the first £1million of sales, or the successful Series A fundraise, I believe it is about the lives we positively touch along the way.

Seeking God’s Favour

Psalms 90:17

This links me to the third question I have faced in entrepreneurship - where is God’s favour in my situation?

This is a tough one when you face your 100th rejection or ghosting from an investor. It is tough when you see the competitor with an inferior product in the press raving about their £1M raise, when you’re still only at £50K. Is God not in this? Am I following the wrong path? These are legitimate reflections.

I think one area that I have (belatedly) grown in is being more systematic in praying over the various decisions I need to make for my business. I’ve come to recognise that the decisions I tend to regret most are the ones I forgot to bring to the Lord.

When one is the CEO, CFO, Head of HR and Product Lead rolled into one it can be a bit natural to be a machine gun of decision making. However, if we want God’s favour in our businesses, don’t we have a responsibility to consult him more than our advisory board or partners?

I also truly believe that as Christians it is a legitimate expectation that if we have genuinely sought God to see favour in business. After all, didn’t God promise the Israelites favour when they entered the promised land (see Deuteronomy 28). However, these promises to Israel came with obligations, with rules against harvesting to the edges of fields, to leave the gleanings to the foreigners and the fatherless.

I certainly haven’t cracked the equation for God’s favour in business, but I do think how we operate, making sure we cascade favour to employees, customers and suppliers does influence a Father that wants to see his children succeed.

Living Water

John 7:37–38

One thing I have been pondering around favour in the last couple of months is the idea of ‘living water.’

What my heart has recognised is our businesses, private lives and finances can become pools that are damned up with the purpose of accumulating and storing. This can lead to a bigger pond, but it can also cause the pool to turn stagnant and silt up to become a muddy puddle.

I feel called to ensure that there is a productive outlet, where even before new favour pours into the pool our lives are pouring out into those around us. This could be stepping into help with advice to other entrepreneurs. It could be helping a supplier without expectation in return to enter a new market, to taking a chance on an employee you might not otherwise.

Reflections

John 6:27

Every entrepreneur is going to have lots of knocks, doors slammed in their face, the weekly pin pricks of disappointment, however the Christian entrepreneur like Paul in Rome has the opportunity to witness with our lives in a unique way.

I’m recognising we have to accept that God will use the bumps and knocks and desert time to shape our character in a deeper way if we’re willing to let him. We need to hold in open hands our expectations of what success looks like, as God is way more interested in the journey than the destination.

When we’re looking for favour from our Father in our ventures, maybe we need to first be acting as one he can trust with his ‘living water.’

I still feel a novice in this journey, but I truly believe there is a much deeper meaning for Christian entrepreneurs if we walk on the journey hand-in-hand with the one who made us.

Find out more at ‍https://www.zeaero.co.uk/ or Linkedin

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Faith, Flight and Formation: Building More Than an Aerospace Company