Founder Conversation
Selling without disappearing.
Laurel Thornton on twenty-five years at Beacon Mental Health, the conversations she walked away from, and the one she didn't.
52 min · The Waiting Room · Ep. 41
The Library · Knowledge & News
The intellectual center of the Kindwell ecosystem.
Conversations, spotlights, essays, research, and playbooks — from the founders, operators, and clinicians building the next chapter of behavioral health. Free to read.
Most read this month
- 01Why we said no to three offers before this one.
- 02The hire that finally let me stop being the operator.
- 03What I'd protect first if I were starting over.
- 04Two years post-close, in her own words.
- 05The intake conversation that doubles retention.
Upcoming
- Sep 18Boston
Founder Dinner · An evening with three Kindwell founders.
- Oct 02Denver
Operating roundtable · Hiring & retention, on the record.
- Nov 14Virtual
The Annual Continuum · A half-day for behavioral health owners.
The front pageWhat founders are reading
What founders are reading
this week.
Essay The clinician-led practice is the new platform.
Why the next decade of behavioral health belongs to owner-operators — not roll-ups.
Trenton Walker · 9 min read
- Spotlight
Riverstone Associates · Denver.
Three years into a growth partnership, Dr. Kari Sandoz has doubled clinicians and kept the seat.
Practice spotlight · 6 min read
Field Notes What founders get wrong about valuation.
Eight assumptions that quietly shrink the number — and what to do about them.
Jennifer Cho · 7 min read
- Playbook
Hiring your first clinical director.
The Residency module founders re-read every time they make the next hire.
Kyle · Residency · Module 03
Labs Eight categories that decide the next decade.
The Kindwell Labs thesis, in eight infrastructure bets for independent practices.
Kindwell Labs · 12 min read
Research Behavioral health M&A · Mid-year letter.
Deal volume, multiples, and what founders should know going into the next twelve months.
Investor letter · 11 min read
The voice of the library
Edited by Jennifer and the Kindwell editorial team — clinicians, operators, and founders who have actually run the practices they write about.
The Library publishes weekly. The newsletter goes out every other Friday. No spam, no upsell, no fluff.
Trusted by the practices we support
Software, infrastructure, and tools the Kindwell ecosystem runs on every day.
- 01SimplePractice
- 02Practice Vital
- 03Google Workspace
- 04HubSpot
- 05RingCentral
- 06Stripe
- 07QuickBooks
- 08Slack
- 09Webflow
- 10Gusto
- 11Rippling
The Library · Free to read
One letter, every other Friday. For people who actually run practices.
Field notes, one founder essay, and the most useful thing we learned that week.