Jon Acuff has never been “traditional,” so his latest move should be a surprise to no one as he resigned from the Dave Ramsey team.
Acuff is a New York Times Bestselling Author as he’s penned four books including his most recent, Start: Punch Fear in the Face, Escape Average & Do Work that Matters.
Should we expect anything else form someone who’s written books with these kind of titles?
I think not.
Go Jon!
Jon Acuff 2.0
Welcome to Jon Acuff 2.0.
🙂
It’s still unclear as to exactly what he’s up to and there’s plenty buzzing about as to the details of his resignation and why the Dave Ramsey Team pulled the plug on Jon’s websites suddenly. Generally when you have a transition like this, both parties involved work together to make a smooth transition, so the website does have this kind of downtime. Perhaps that’s why there’s been a bit of speculation?
Here is Jon Acuff’s Facebook page announcement:
Hey guys,
After the three greatest years of our professional life, Jenny and I decided to resign from the Dave Ramsey team today.
I need to stress a few things:
1. This was not an integrity or moral issue.
I have not broken any moral clause or anything like that. Furthermore, Dave Ramsey and the entire team there are the most integrity-driven group I have ever worked for.
2. This was not about money.
Dave paid me more than I have ever been paid in my entire life. In addition, he was unabashedly generous with his platform, team and influence.
3. This was not about another opportunity.
I don’t have a literary agent or a speaking agent or a publishing deal on the table. I don’t have anything else that drew me away from the company or created a wedge.
4. Stuff Christians Like will return.
It takes time to pull together content and blog pages and everything else that is associated with a transfer. Dave has very kindly stressed to me his desire to make that happen as fast as possible.
This was one of the hardest decisions Jenny and I have ever made, but we’ve got a community of people here in Nashville who love us and are walking with us.
It’s scary and difficult, but God is not small.
Thanks for being our friend,
Jon and Jenny
His first blog post on the newly launched (Monday) acuff.me blog didn’t offer very many details, either.
Of course we’re all bubbling with curiosity as to what his next move is. Jon is a leader and as you can see by the number of comments that have been left on his first four blog posts (he had to upgrade his server on the first day!), he’s got plenty of people ready to follow him on his next journey.
I am excited to see what direction these bold moves will be taking the Acuff’s and I will continue to keep trying to land an interview with him–LOL!
Thoughts?
Matt Brier says
Just a point of clarification, he actually resigned from Dave Ramsey’s team about a month ago.
It’s interesting because he was working, in conjunction with his book, on a “project” called the Start Experiment. It was a series of Facebook groups and a mailing list centered around the idea of true growth needing a supportive community. The signup was through his old website. Since he resigned the Start branded groups had to be closed(most likely because of some legal limitations), but the community had grown so strong that it/we rebuilt under the moniker Dreamers and Builders.
Eric J says
I Googled Dreamers and Builders and got Dreamers and Builders – National Center for Jewish Film
Matt Brier says
Try Dreamers & Builders, though the only relevant entries are a subset of frankenstart.com.
Eric J says
What was weird to me is that Dave Ramsey owned JonAcuff.com, i can understand that Dave probably purchased Stuff Christian’s Like when he hired on Jon Acuff but the fact that your boss owned your personal branding page seems a little strange to me!
Eric Dye says
Agreed. A little strange…
Missie says
I’ve read these sorts of comments a lot. Jon is a savvy businessman, right? He speaks to CEOs and entrepreneurs about how to better their businesses. Unless Dave pulled some funny business, Jon walked into his deal with Dave with open eyes. It was his own choice to turn over his intellectual property. In return Dave began the process of making Jon one of a few hand-selected faces of the future Ramsey organization. This meant Jon had access to Dave’s beast of a marketing and media machine. Dave would want Jon to have best-sellers ASAP to lend credibility and to help brand Jon with Dave. Jon seemed to be all-in until he hit a certain status, and then he wanted out. That’s his choice, but if he signed away his rights in order to become completely integrated with Dave’s organization, then he doesn’t automatically get everything back just because he changed his mind once he hit the big time.
Dave Shrein says
This topic has been a great learning experience for me. I am super interested in what the story is and absolutely zero of it applies it my life. It’s been a challenge to not be nosy and let the situation be what it is… I am really curious because both Acuff and Ramsey are names that have impacted my life but I don’t need to concern myself with what May or may not have happened.
That said, I wish Jon nothing but the best moving forward.
Eric Dye says
Agreed. Like Jon said, he’s learned a lot through all of this, perhaps he’ll pass that knowledge on to the rest of us as his journey continues on.