About
Husband. Father.
Founder.
Writer. Investor. Speaker. The guy who lost everything and found something better on the other side.
I made my first million before 25. I was broke and living in my in-laws' basement by 30 — with my wife and four young children. I stayed there for five years.
There is a longer version of this story. It involves a borrowed minivan, a scale that read 155 pounds, a letter I almost finished writing, and a brother who showed up at exactly the right moment.
That story is in the book. What I will tell you here is what came after: a shift so complete that the person who walked out of that basement was not the same person who walked in. Not a better strategy. A different identity.
Everything I build now comes from what I learned in those five years. And everything I teach comes from one conviction: you don't get what you want — you get what you are.
First things first
Before anything else,
I am a husband and a father.
Kim and I have been married for nearly 25 years. We met when we were 15-year-old kids who didn't know anything except that we were supposed to be together. She's seen every version of me. She stayed through all of them.
We have four children. They're the reason the horizon changed — from thinking in quarters to thinking in generations.
My faith is the foundation under everything. I won't lead with it as a credential, but I won't pretend it's not there.
The full story
Two books. One journey.
Everything I learned about identity, wealth, faith, and what it actually takes to rebuild a life from zero — written without filters, without the highlight reel, without pretending any of it was easy.
Rich with Purpose
The origin story. Identity, the basement, the rebuild, and the principles that changed everything.
Rich with Impact
The expansion. How the same principles apply to investing, business, and building something that outlasts you.
Now
Everything I do comes from the same place.
Write
About identity, wealth, and what it looks like to build from conviction instead of fear.
Teach
The frameworks that institutional capital uses — translated for anyone willing to learn.
Invest
Through Ivystone Capital — backing founders where profit and purpose are the same thing.
Speak
On stages and in rooms where people need to remember what they are capable of.
Co-Founder & Principal, Ivystone Capital — $500M+ in startup growth revenue advised. Global keynotes. 20+ years building.
Ivystone Capital→
Speaking
Book Deven
Keynotes and trainings on identity, wealth-building, and the alignment of profit and purpose — for audiences ready to stop playing small.
Book Now→
Profit + Purpose
Ivystone Capital
“Profit without purpose is fragile.
Purpose without profit is unsustainable.”
We back visionary founders solving real problems — where doing well and doing good are the same thing. Profit is the expectation. Purpose is the standard.
Profit Without Apology
Purpose Without Compromise
Founders First, Always
Institutional Rigor, Human Heart
I know who I am.
That's not arrogance. It's alignment.
And it's available to every person alive.