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Jul 5, 2016 · 19m · top-founders

EP 346: Non-Profit Builds 100+ Homes, Goal 1,000 Communities with Brett Hagler

Brett Hagler · 10m spoken Nathan Latka · 6m spoken
0:00 / 0:00

gold bands on the timeline = statements, start to end. Hover to read, click to jump. CC turns on captions

In this episode of 'The Top,' host Nathan Latka interviews New Story co-founder Brett Hagler, discussing how the Y Combinator-backed nonprofit is reinventing charitable giving through a dual-account financial model, tech-driven transparency, and an ambitious vision to build 1,000 sustainable communities.

How this conversation actually went

Every chapter scored 0–10 on four independent dynamics. Hover any point for the reasoning behind the score. Nathan holds 40.5% of the talking time here. How this is scored →

Nathan as informed peer 3.8 Guest teaching 3.5 Guest disagreement 2.0 Nathan pushing back 3.5
05100:0010:002:29–4:39 · Nathan as informed peer 4/10 Explaining the Startup Funding Model and Social Return on Investment Nathan presses for the real financial incentive behind investor donations, asking if donors receive equity or write-offs. Brett clarifies the operational funding structure and explains how venture philanthropists evaluate social ROI rather than financial returns.4:40–9:26 · Nathan as informed peer 5/10 New Story's Origin, Haiti Journey, and Eliminating Charity Friction Brett directly pushes back against Nathan's comment that non-profit founders are too nice to be obsessed with winning. Later, Nathan sharply interrogates whether New Story is addressing disaster relief housing or charity opacity, to which Brett articulates why they tackle both.9:26–11:56 · Nathan as informed peer 4/10 Scaling Communities, Ten-Year Vision, and Online Channels Nathan presents an alternative business philosophy inspired by Marc Benioff, questioning why Brett didn't build a for-profit first before donating profits. Brett defends his direct nonprofit model and outlines their 10-year goal of building 1,000 communities.11:57–17:25 · Nathan as informed peer 2/10 Promotion for Nathan Latka's Live Business Show in Austin The segment includes an extended mid-roll event promo by Nathan followed by standard Famous Five lightning round questions, resulting in low friction and collaborative rapport.2:29–4:39 · Guest teaching 4/10 Explaining the Startup Funding Model and Social Return on Investment Nathan presses for the real financial incentive behind investor donations, asking if donors receive equity or write-offs. Brett clarifies the operational funding structure and explains how venture philanthropists evaluate social ROI rather than financial returns.4:40–9:26 · Guest teaching 5/10 New Story's Origin, Haiti Journey, and Eliminating Charity Friction Brett directly pushes back against Nathan's comment that non-profit founders are too nice to be obsessed with winning. Later, Nathan sharply interrogates whether New Story is addressing disaster relief housing or charity opacity, to which Brett articulates why they tackle both.9:26–11:56 · Guest teaching 4/10 Scaling Communities, Ten-Year Vision, and Online Channels Nathan presents an alternative business philosophy inspired by Marc Benioff, questioning why Brett didn't build a for-profit first before donating profits. Brett defends his direct nonprofit model and outlines their 10-year goal of building 1,000 communities.11:57–17:25 · Guest teaching 1/10 Promotion for Nathan Latka's Live Business Show in Austin The segment includes an extended mid-roll event promo by Nathan followed by standard Famous Five lightning round questions, resulting in low friction and collaborative rapport.2:29–4:39 · Guest disagreement 1/10 Explaining the Startup Funding Model and Social Return on Investment Nathan presses for the real financial incentive behind investor donations, asking if donors receive equity or write-offs. Brett clarifies the operational funding structure and explains how venture philanthropists evaluate social ROI rather than financial returns.4:40–9:26 · Guest disagreement 4/10 New Story's Origin, Haiti Journey, and Eliminating Charity Friction Brett directly pushes back against Nathan's comment that non-profit founders are too nice to be obsessed with winning. Later, Nathan sharply interrogates whether New Story is addressing disaster relief housing or charity opacity, to which Brett articulates why they tackle both.9:26–11:56 · Guest disagreement 2/10 Scaling Communities, Ten-Year Vision, and Online Channels Nathan presents an alternative business philosophy inspired by Marc Benioff, questioning why Brett didn't build a for-profit first before donating profits. Brett defends his direct nonprofit model and outlines their 10-year goal of building 1,000 communities.11:57–17:25 · Guest disagreement 1/10 Promotion for Nathan Latka's Live Business Show in Austin The segment includes an extended mid-roll event promo by Nathan followed by standard Famous Five lightning round questions, resulting in low friction and collaborative rapport.2:29–4:39 · Nathan pushing back 4/10 Explaining the Startup Funding Model and Social Return on Investment Nathan presses for the real financial incentive behind investor donations, asking if donors receive equity or write-offs. Brett clarifies the operational funding structure and explains how venture philanthropists evaluate social ROI rather than financial returns.4:40–9:26 · Nathan pushing back 5/10 New Story's Origin, Haiti Journey, and Eliminating Charity Friction Brett directly pushes back against Nathan's comment that non-profit founders are too nice to be obsessed with winning. Later, Nathan sharply interrogates whether New Story is addressing disaster relief housing or charity opacity, to which Brett articulates why they tackle both.9:26–11:56 · Nathan pushing back 4/10 Scaling Communities, Ten-Year Vision, and Online Channels Nathan presents an alternative business philosophy inspired by Marc Benioff, questioning why Brett didn't build a for-profit first before donating profits. Brett defends his direct nonprofit model and outlines their 10-year goal of building 1,000 communities.11:57–17:25 · Nathan pushing back 1/10 Promotion for Nathan Latka's Live Business Show in Austin The segment includes an extended mid-roll event promo by Nathan followed by standard Famous Five lightning round questions, resulting in low friction and collaborative rapport.

speaking balance: gold is Nathan, purple is the guest (3 minute bins)

0:00 · Nathan 53.8% · guest 46.2%0:00 · Nathan 53.8% · guest 46.2%3:00 · Nathan 19.4% · guest 80.6%3:00 · Nathan 19.4% · guest 80.6%6:00 · Nathan 9.7% · guest 90.3%6:00 · Nathan 9.7% · guest 90.3%9:00 · Nathan 23.6% · guest 76.4%9:00 · Nathan 23.6% · guest 76.4%12:00 · Nathan 75.3% · guest 24.7%12:00 · Nathan 75.3% · guest 24.7%15:00 · Nathan 46.4% · guest 53.6%15:00 · Nathan 46.4% · guest 53.6%18:00 · Nathan 100% · guest 0%18:00 · Nathan 100% · guest 0%
Sharpest disagreement ▶ 5:28 Challenging the non-profit mindset stereotype

Brett explicitly interrupts and challenges Nathan's assumption that nonprofit founders lack the drive to win, asserting that his team is ruthlessly focused on excellence and impact.

 Hardest push from Nathan ▶ 8:26 Interrogating New Story's core problem statement

Nathan cuts through Brett's critique of charity transparency to demand whether New Story is genuinely solving Haitian housing or simply building software.

 Biggest teaching moment ▶ 3:33 Educating on operational venture philanthropy

Brett educates Nathan on how angel investors treat operational donations as leveraged capital to build product and engineering rather than sunk-cost charitable donations.

 Nathan holds their own ▶ 9:26 Questioning non-profit vehicle versus Salesforce model

Nathan brings his own business framework to bear, challenging why Brett opted for a dedicated 501(c)(3) rather than building a commercial enterprise and donating profits.
the scores for every segment, with the reasoning behind each
ChapterTopicNathan as informed peerGuest teachingGuest disagreementNathan pushing backWhy
Explaining the Startup Funding Model and Social Return on Investment 4414 Nathan presses for the real financial incentive behind investor donations, asking if donors receive equity or write-offs. Brett clarifies the operational funding structure and explains how venture philanthropists evaluate social ROI rather than financial returns.
New Story's Origin, Haiti Journey, and Eliminating Charity Friction 5545 Brett directly pushes back against Nathan's comment that non-profit founders are too nice to be obsessed with winning. Later, Nathan sharply interrogates whether New Story is addressing disaster relief housing or charity opacity, to which Brett articulates why they tackle both.
Scaling Communities, Ten-Year Vision, and Online Channels 4424 Nathan presents an alternative business philosophy inspired by Marc Benioff, questioning why Brett didn't build a for-profit first before donating profits. Brett defends his direct nonprofit model and outlines their 10-year goal of building 1,000 communities.
Promotion for Nathan Latka's Live Business Show in Austin 2111 The segment includes an extended mid-roll event promo by Nathan followed by standard Famous Five lightning round questions, resulting in low friction and collaborative rapport.

Statements from this episode (6)

Disclosure
New Story routes 100% of public donations directly to beneficiaries
“Unlike most charities, we have a model where a hundred percent of public donations goes to the exact people that they see. And then we have a, another bank account that is just for our overhead funding.”
Brett Hagler Jul 5, 2016 ▶ 2:35
Insight
Funding non-profit operations yields higher leverage than direct project donations
“Okay, I could give 25,000 dollars to call it a home and then the homes are done and it's kind of a sunk cost, right? Or I can give 25,000 dollars so that the team is going to leverage that for better product design, for, you know, engineering, things that will…”
Brett Hagler Jul 5, 2016 ▶ 4:07
Assertion Supported
New Story generated over $3M in donations in its first 17 months
“New Story is only about 17 months old From day one, which was idea, 17 months ago, we've now generated over well over three million dollars in donation revenue.”
Brett Hagler Jul 5, 2016 ▶ 4:49
Assertion Supported
New Story built over 300 homes at $6,000 per home
“Yeah, so that's over 300 homes, and each home is about 6000 dollars per home”
Brett Hagler Jul 5, 2016 ▶ 11:06
Disclosure
New Story's 10-year vision is to build 1,000 communities globally
“In 10 years we are Vision is to build 1000 of these communities around the world.”
Brett Hagler Jul 5, 2016 ▶ 11:06
Assertion Not checkable as stated
New Story operates with a core team of only six people
“Right now it's six people.”
Brett Hagler Jul 5, 2016 ▶ 14:29
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