A Molotov cocktail smashed through Nicky Billou’s living room window when he was eleven, the words “Die! Christian scum!” taped to its side.

His father ripped the wick out with his bare hands, saving the family in a single instant. Only later would Nicky understand that this was 1979, the height of Iran’s Islamic Revolution, when Christians like his family were marked for death. That night began a journey that would take them from Tehran to Toronto—and today, in the wake of Charlie Kirk’s assassination, the same fight between tyranny and freedom has come roaring back into focus.

The question isn’t whether evil exists—we’ve seen it—but whether men of faith and conviction will rise to meet it.

That bottle on the floor in Tehran was more than a bomb.

It was a message that Christians weren’t safe in revolutionary Iran. Nicky’s father made his decision instantly: they couldn’t stay. The next years were a blur—leaving friends behind, smuggling out of Iran, waiting in Athens, and finally, arriving in Toronto. For a boy of eleven, the pain was unbearable. “I cried myself to sleep for three years,” Nicky told me. But with time came perspective. He began to see what his parents had sacrificed.

They left everything they knew, not for themselves, but for their children to live free.

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Nicky’s father was more than a survivor; he was a man of principle.

He built his life on generosity. If someone needed a loan for a house, he’d give them the money and refuse repayment. “Don’t insult me,” he would say. “Go help someone else when you can.” He also drilled into his son a principle that every founder should etch into memory: life and business are about people, not money. Profits come and go, but relationships are the true engine of entrepreneurship. When someone’s belief in themselves wavered, his father gave them faith until their fire was reignited. That outlook shaped Nicky’s life.

He would later call it his most important competitive advantage: lead with love, and you’ll always have more than money can buy.

Fast forward four decades.

A Canadian entrepreneur, Nicky now runs E-Circle Academy and Sovereign Men, helping business owners grow through thought leadership and brotherhood. But the echoes of his childhood are back in the headlines. The assassination of Charlie Kirk wasn’t just another act of political violence. It was a declaration. Kirk’s opponents couldn’t beat him in debate, so they tried to silence him.

To honor him, Nicky’s girlfriend even created a song dedicated to Charlie Kirk—you can listen to it here.

Instead, they amplified his voice: 34,000 new Turning Point USA chapters were applied for in the week after his death. “This widow’s cry will turn into a battle cry,” Kirk’s wife said. And she was right.

Evil exposed itself and in the process, drew millions closer to truth.

We live in a world where AI can write emails, edit videos, and even compose songs.

But it can’t give you love, belief, or conviction. That’s where founders win. Nicky puts it plainly: “When someone’s belief in themselves wobbles, you give them trust. Your little spark of belief will turn into a roaring fire.” In his work with entrepreneurs, he combines technical skills—sales, branding, strategy—with something rarer: human connection. His partner gives soft love; he delivers tough love. Together, they build businesses that endure because they put people first.

This is the founder’s real edge now. AI can replace tasks. It can’t replace trust.

The conversation circled back to men.

Isolation is our default response to pain. We retreat, we go quiet, we grind alone. Sometimes that works—but often, it corrodes. That’s why men’s groups matter. Spaces where men can roughhouse, challenge each other, and sharpen each other without apology. Nicky calls it sovereign energy. I call it survival. Without it, the next generation of men risks collapsing into loneliness, resentment, or silence. Charlie Kirk understood this. He built a movement, not because everyone agreed with him, but because he created space for faith, for conversation, and for freedom.

And that’s why his death doesn’t silence the movement. It multiplies it.

That’s a wrap!

Talk soon,

Roman