🚀 Founder Spotlight: Dan McFadden, Founder & CEO of BehaviorFlow

Sarah Rothenberg , Gust INC

15 Oct 2025

Welcome to the Gust Mission Control Founder Spotlight! Gust Mission Control is a founder support community providing expert insight on almost all aspects of startups. In this ongoing series, we’ll highlight the experiences of founders in the Gust Mission Control program, with insights as they navigate the challenges of early-stage entrepreneurship.

What happens when a former special education teacher turns product builder? You get a founder like Dan McFadden, someone who doesn’t just talk about impact—he builds the systems to scale it.

Dan is the founder and CEO of BehaviorFlow, an education SaaS company purpose-built for autism education. Drawing from over a decade of firsthand classroom experience, Dan has created a digital platform that transforms the way Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) is delivered across public schools, private ABA institutes, clinics, and adult services.

🧩 The Origin Story

BehaviorFlow didn’t start with market research—it started with burnout.

After ten years in autism education classrooms, Dan saw two things clearly: the science of ABA works, but the system around it is broken. “It’s not that we don’t know how to support students,” Dan says. “It’s that we don’t have the tools and bandwidth to actually do it.”

He set out to build the tool he wished he had in the classroom—something comprehensive, intuitive, and supportive of the incredibly complex, data-heavy work required to run high-quality ABA programs.

💡 What BehaviorFlow Does

BehaviorFlow digitizes the entire ABA process—from program design to real-time data collection to outcome tracking. Instead of relying on disconnected systems (binders over here, data sheets over there), educators get one centralized platform to track student progress, analyze data, and collaborate across teams.

The impact? Less time on paperwork. More time with students.

🚀 From Pain Point to Product-Market Fit

Dan’s early customers were more than just users—they were co-creators. “Some of our first clients took a risk on us because they believed in what we were building. And their feedback became essential to the product we have today.”

He knew he’d hit early product-market fit when one of the top ABA institutes in the country—one he deeply respected—invited him in, then immediately scheduled a follow-up. “They told me, ‘You built the things we’ve been asking for and no one else delivered.’ That was the moment I knew we had something.”

🛠 Startup Lessons in the Trenches

Dan’s advice for other early-stage founders is refreshingly real:

“The thing you’re worst at will probably be the thing you have to do the most—at least early on.”

For Dan, that meant sales. “I’m not a natural hustler, but I knew I had to prove traction. I had to get those early customers, those early yeses—even when it meant getting 19 no’s first.”

His takeaway? Build systems that compensate for your weaknesses, and give yourself grace when the grind gets tough.

🧠 The Mindset That Matters

Dan also speaks openly about the emotional toll of entrepreneurship—and the importance of founder self-care.

“It’s easy to feel like you should be grinding 14 hours a day, every day. But if you’re not sharpening the blade, you’re not chopping wood. I had to learn that taking care of myself—physically, emotionally, spiritually—wasn’t optional. It was essential.”

BehaviorFlow is grounded in lived experience, built in partnership with educators, and shaped by a deep understanding of the needs in autism education. Dan’s story is a reminder that meaningful innovation often starts with listening closely to what’s not working—and choosing to build something better.

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