Building a Kingdom Business: Scott Ryser on Faith, Yakabod & Life After the Exit | Leaders On Tap

What does it look like to build a company where grace is a core value, generosity is a way of doing business, and the name literally means "the glory of God"? In this episode of Leaders On Tap, David Weigelt sits down with Scott Ryser — former co-founder and CEO of Yakabod, a Frederick, Maryland-based tech company that served the federal government and intelligence community before being acquired in 2025 after 22 years. Scott shares the raw, honest journey of going from attending church as a habit to genuinely knowing God — and what it meant to try to live that out on Tuesday. He opens up about launching Yakabod during the dot-com era, navigating federal contracting, surviving sequestration, pivoting the business three times, and ultimately recognizing that the company was less a tech venture and more a laboratory for learning how to do kingdom business. If that stirred something, take The More Audit: seven questions, four minutes, one honest read on the gap between the business you're running and the life you're living. → https://themoreaudit.com Topics covered: • Going from religion to relationship with God • Launching a faith-named company (Yakabod = "God's Glory" in Hebrew) and defending it at startup conferences • 50/50 business partnerships — why they often fail and why Scott's worked • Federal government contracting with Kingdom values • "No/Know God → For God → With God" — the three stages of faith in business • What makes a kingdom business different from a Christian business • The peace that showed up in Yakabod's office — and why even non-believers noticed • Surviving fiscal cliffs and sequestration by leaning into generosity • Three pivots across 25 years and how to know when to reinvent • The Kingdom Operating System: Identity, Strategy, and Territory • Scott's book: At Work As in Heaven • The acquisition story — how faith shaped the decision to sell • What Scott is building next (and why he's okay not having it all figured out) 🎧 Subscribe to Leaders On Tap for conversations with Maryland and national business leaders who are integrating their faith with their work. ⏱️ CHAPTERS (Timestamps) 0:00 — Introduction: Who is Scott Reiser? 0:41 — From religion to relationship: Scott's faith story 2:33 — What was missing in the church? 5:08 — Music, a forgotten dream, and how God reawakened it 7:04 — Dots connecting: leadership, faith, and hindsight 8:32 — Mile Nine Band — faith-forward music with no market 9:39 — Launching Yakabod during the dot-com era 12:28 — "That's a horrible name" — defending a Hebrew company name 14:02 — Meeting his co-founder Scott and the 50/50 partnership 17:18 — Visionary vs. integrator — and the spectrum between 19:43 — The value of a great business partnership 21:42 — Playing the federal contracting game with kingdom values 25:49 — Generosity during the fiscal cliff — building free features for customers 28:55 — "For God" vs. "With God" — the journey every leader faces 32:05 — Indicators it's time to step more fully into the "with God" season 35:18 — Busyness as the enemy's tool for business leaders 36:39 — Using AI the way we should be praying — a powerful insight 40:27 — Taking steps and assessing risk with God 42:25 — Kingdom business vs. Christian business — a critical distinction 44:25 — What "peace in the office" actually looked like at Yakabod 47:26 — Did Yakabod's success ever outpace Scott's spiritual maturity? 50:10 — Three pivots across 25 years: Yakabod 1.0, 2.0, and 3.0 54:55 — How to know when to innovate your business model 58:25 — The importance of Scripture in a leader's 3 AM moments 1:00:13 — The Kingdom Operating System: a framework for faith at work 1:03:31 — What a business operating system actually does 1:04:55 — Identity: who you are as a company, informed by God's design 1:06:23 — The janitor story: worship as a way of working 1:08:38 — Strategy: the importance of getting away from noise to think clearly 1:12:25 — Territory: who are you called to serve? 1:17:37 — Kingdom selling vs. manipulation-based sales 1:19:15 — The acquisition: navigating the offer to sell Yakabod 1:23:32 — What finally led to the decision: faith, family, and the number they'd prayed about 1:25:29 — Life after the exit: moving to Florida and what's next 1:29:18 — Shooting bullets before cannonballs: the trades and new ventures 1:30:17 — What Scott misses — and what he wishes he'd done differently 1:32:46 — The kingdom is "for" and "now" — participating today 1:37:03 — Why more Christian leaders aren't fully integrating faith at work 1:40:00 — The apostolic call in the marketplace 1:42:29 — Two practical next steps: just get started, and overcoming fear of man 1:45:08 — Scott's top 2-3 takeaways for listeners #kingdombusiness #christianleadership #faithatwork #christianentrepreneur #LeadersOnTap #marketplaceministry #BusinessAndFaith #ChristianCEO #kingdomculturemovement #entrepreneurship #maryland