One Year Later: Reflecting on our StoryCorps interview July 19, 2024, and the incredible partnership that's driving hūmNET forward

Last summer, the StoryCorps mobile recording studio came to Brattleboro, VT. I had the once-in-a-lifetime privilege of sitting down with my mentor-turned-COO Matt Walton, to talk about hūmNET, how Matt came to be my COO, and a wide range of what the journey so far has meant for both of us.

Until 2023, I had never had a real mentor. That might sound sad, but it makes me even more grateful for what happened when Matt Walton was assigned to me for the Fall 2023 cohort of Actuator, a regional startup incubator here in Southern Vermont.

What started as an eight-week mentorship became something I never expected: a true partnership built on shared values, complementary skills, and a vision for healing human connection in our increasingly disconnected world.

The Moment Everything Changed

At the end of our incubator program, I carefully crafted an email to Matt. I didn't want to be a "schnorrer" (as we captured in our StoryCorps interview), assuming I could keep asking questions. I tried to give him an graceful out while expressing how much I valued his guidance.

His response blew me away: "How about I join you on the journey?"

That moment changed everything for hūmNET and for me personally.

More Than Just Business

As Matt shared in our conversation, being a serial entrepreneur in his 70's means being selective about where you invest your most precious resource: time. He told me he focuses on three things:

"One is I want to work with people who I feel have a great heart and are committed to trying to get something done... The second thing is, I am a serial entrepreneur... there is something that's tremendously exciting about pulling an idea out of the ether and saying, hmm, I wonder if this could work... And number three is... I really want to feel that at least I tried to do something to improve the world."

That perfectly captures why our partnership works. We're both committed to the hard work of entrepreneurship, but more importantly, we're both driven by the belief that hūmNET can address something crucial missing in our world: genuine human connection.

The Technology of Togetherness

As a startup founder, the journey is rife with obstacles. And oftentimes, the primary one is self-doubt. Hearing Matt articulate his perspective on hūmNET is a source of validation, strength and reassurance. As he put it:

"What hūmNET's doing, which is completely different, is allowing us to take that device, focus on something that is shared as an interest, as a feeling, as a need inside, and then just be together with something that makes a beautiful sound, that connects us with something that vibrates in a way that connects us. But the most important thing is we're all there together at the same time and it doesn't matter where we are."

This isn't just about building another app. It's about transforming the very devices that have disconnected us into tools for genuine presence and empathy.

The Validation That Keeps Us Going

Some of our most powerful validation has come from moments like the chronic pain humn I created for a stranger on Reddit who was having nihilistic thoughts. For five minutes, we were present together, focused on "you're not alone, it gets better, you can get through this." They messaged afterward saying it really helped, and we scheduled another humn for the next day.

That's not just product validation – that's proof that human beings desperately need what we're building.

Burning Ships and Moving Forward

Matt shared a powerful analogy about Cortés burning his ships – making the decision that "the only way out is through." While we don't endorse the historical context, the entrepreneurial lesson resonates: true commitment means being all-in, even when (especially when) you don't know exactly how you'll succeed.

As Matt said: "Unless for whatever the other reason, you go, no, this is the one. I'm going to do this one, I don't know how it's going to work out, but I'm going to find out."

What's Next

Our healthcare worker pilots are showing remarkable results – 36-point average mood improvements and 94% positive outcomes. We're preparing for our next phase with moral distress research and expanding our impact in recovery communities.

But beyond the metrics and milestones, what keeps me energized is having Matt as my "wingman" (his word, not mine). As he said in our interview:

"When you're an entrepreneur, it all comes down to who's your wingman? And I'm proud to be his wingman."

The feeling is absolutely mutual.

Listen to Our Full Story

You can hear our complete StoryCorps conversation here. It captures not just the business journey, but the human story behind hūmNET – two entrepreneurs from different generations united by the belief that technology should bring us closer together, not further apart.

Darren Mark is the founder and CEO of hūmNET, building the worldwide web of empathy. Connect with him on LinkedIn .

Photo credit: StoryCorps Mobile Unit. Artaxerxes, CC BY 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons