We recently connected with David Tennent and have shared our conversation below.

David, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today What’s the backstory behind how you came up with the idea for your business?

I first moved to Washington, DC from Pittsburgh, PA in 2018 to pursue a career in politics. My mother had always encouraged me to move to DC and I always said that was about the only place I wouldn’t move. Then, through a need for change of scenery and prayer, I ended up being led to DC. Until that point, I never had a single thought to become an entrepreneur. Then I made the choice to move to DC and a desire opened up in my heart and mind to create a business. I spent my free time thinking of ideas and keeping them in a notebook. Nothing ever made sense and it started to cause anxiety inside of me. I knew I was supposed to create a business, but I couldn’t tell, During this time frame, I was working for a Congressman and spent my days in the Capitol. I started to notice how old school everything was done and how important relationship development was to the entire ecosystem. There was no centralized technology to bring people together. I worked through 2 impeachments and worked in Congress before, during, and after COVID. I was locked down in an office in Rayburn House Office Building after my office was evacuated on January 6th. I saw it all.

I saw the relationships between staffers across parties deteriorate at an extraordinary pace. Hatred and separation were everywhere. I honestly was about to leave DC and call it quits, I had had enough. At this time, my anxiety about not knowing my business calling had reached its peak in January 2021. I was praying about it and asked God to leave DC and he said “wait”. Then, I worked the 2020 Inauguration as a volunteer. I was stationed next to someone I didn’t know of the opposite party and we had an 8 hour rehearsal day ahead of us on Jan 18. I figured I could either sit there and not talk to anyone for 8 hours, or I could make a friend regardless of his party. I decided to be social. We had the best conversations and became fast friends, not because we agreed on anything but because we could both discuss our beliefs without getting pissed at the other. Something that is all too uncommon in America’s storied deliberative body. This sparked my mind. I needed to create a platform where political staff could connect on a professional and social level in one place. 1. to modernize Congress 2. to help people realize they have more in common with those in the opposite party, you just have to be open to building relationships and putting ego aside. This is where it all started. I started designing a business plan and designed the mockups for the app soon after.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

I grew up obsessed with creative arts. Music, photography, and film especially. I can’t sing or play an instrument for my life so that was out. I ended up going to college for Film. Then my first job out of school, I worked for an app based laundry service for college students. That was the only time in my life I came across app development. I got to see how the ideation process worked. Then, I moved to DC to work in politics. So like many entrepreneurs, I was a master of none and had no qualifications to be a business owner. But, that’s where God called me to and made it very clear through answered prayers and stock market gains, that I was supposed to invest time and money into CNCT.

CNCT started as a mobile application. We launched an MVP in March 2022. CNCT is now primarily a newsletter platform, event host, and an exclusive app for people who work in Congress, the White House, and Presidential Administration.

Our newsletters are about reach a fun milestone: 50% of Congressional staff reading our newsletters each week. We are not like Politico or Axios, in fact we work with them! Our newsletters take on the less serious side of Capitol Hill. What events are coming up, what jobs are available, who’s getting promoted. We also tell the stories of how Congressional staff made it to where they are now. Now, we are launching a polling insights feature that will do daily polls to see how Congress internally feels on today’s topics and we will break them down by party, age, focus, and more.

Our focus is creating community and professional development while curating the next generation of leaders in Washington, DC. Our users are mainly young professionals – talented, young, and ready to take on the world.

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

When I launched CNCT in March 2022, I quit my job in Congress. I had blown through my savings developing the app and setting up the business for launch and I had no investment. So I had to get a job working nights and weekends at a local bar and restaurant. I waited tables for the next 14 months during the week and basically every Friday and Saturday before finally quitting to do CNCT solely. On the Saturdays I didn’t work doubles (10a-11p) I would have dinner and try to watch a movie with my wife, gf/fiance, at the time. I would fall asleep every time. Passed out way too early in the night haha.

I’ll never forget the hustle of barely making it by (still am but not the same). My feet hurt so bad, my knees and back were in so much pain waking up in the mornings. But in that time, I saw so many miracles of provision through situations only God could have concocted. $300 tips on $50 bills and so on. I witnessed so much generosity in that time and understood determination and willingness to do whatever it took to make it by. Even when I finally quit, it was still so hard, paying myself just enough to get by. One month soon after, I couldn’t pay myself anything and couldn’t pay my rent. My church community stepped up and covered it. So many blessings came from this incredibly difficult time in my life but I will look back on that time in my life with so much joy because it was so unique. Although, I’d rather never do it again haha.

We’d love to hear about how you met your business partner.

Never found one, but I found someone so much better. A few months before I started the business, I was single and was really scared I was going to be single through this process of creation. Because being a broke startup founder didn’t seem like a very appealing quality on a first date that I couldn’t afford. I prayed about it and asked God if he could open that door, but even if He didn’t I knew He would set it up in perfect timing. 6 months before launch and quitting my job, deep into preparation, I met my wife. Soon after, we knew it was super serious and I broke the news and laid out my whole plan and told her she could call off our relationship now, no hard feelings. She was in it for the long haul. She made it clear the money, or lack thereof, didn’t matter. It was about us as a team. She is my number 1 advisor and if I listened to her more often, CNCT would probably be much more well off.

Having a partner that is ride or die with you when you can’t take them out on dates, when you spend all your free time waiting tables for drunk people, or when you’re just too tired to watch a movie is something that is more valuable to me than any part of my business knowledge or skills. The relationships in your life have to come first. We’ve experienced family tragedy, miracles, and so many months of just getting by. And it wasn’t pretty but we will definitely look back on this with the most fondness of our entire lives.

Contact Info:

• Website: capitolcnct.com
• Instagram: @cnctapp
• Linkedin: davidhtennent
• Twitter: @exhillstaffer

Image Credits
na all mine