Weldon

The idea for Weldon was born after my wife Ellen and I had our second child, Finn. We were at a playground in NY, observing the everyday chaos, and realized that while we all want to be our best selves and do what’s right for our kids, we’re always confronted with new scenarios — and there is no playbook. Everybody wants to be the best parent they can be, but a lot of the information out there seemed to conflict. Most of us seek out mentorship in all aspects of our life — especially the things we care about the most — but oddly enough, when it comes to parenting, many of us just wing it, or accept the casual advice of family and friends, which often comes with an added dose of judgement. There is obviously no such thing as a perfect parent, but it’s been tremendously helpful for us to have a sister (my co-founder, Lynn) who’s been a school psychologist for 15 years. She’s been an attentive, non-judgemental sounding board for us: offering practical, actionable, evidence-based advice, drawn from her long experience working with teachers, parents and kids. The next thing we knew, our close friends were soliciting her advice too — and before long we asked ourselves whether this was a larger need and how we might make more people like Lynn available to people facing the same challenges. After talking to hundreds of parents, we found our hunch was right: we were not alone. We also had a unique opportunity to talk to many more helpers like Lynn, people who have dedicated most of their lives to child development: school psychologists, educators, counselors and behaviorists. They spoke to us about their motivation, the work they are doing in their communities, and the challenges the current systems create. They all stressed to us that they were looking for opportunities to give the help they know they can offer, to even more parents and kids. In the Fall of 2018, we were fortunate to be invited into Human Ventures, a venture fund and startup studio, to build a platform to bring these ideas to fruition, and we formalized as a business in January of 2019. We have a long way to go, but the mission is clear: to help parents with one of life’s most profound and rewarding pursuits: Raising Great Children. Onward, Mark Burrell, CEO and Co-founder Our Story