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Women Founders SocietyWe Were Obviously Projecting Small EnergyNatalie Brown left healthcare burned out and built an accountancy firm she works three days a week.Bonnie Le Page · 13 min read
Women Founders SocietyIt’s My Chaos. I Own It.Monica Phillips was the one they handed the problems nobody else could solve, and then told she was doing it wrong.Bonnie Le Page · 18 min read
The reportThe 2026 Women Founders ReportWhy they left, what made the leap survivable and what freedom looks like now. Free, in your inbox the day it’s out.
Opinion · Editor’s columnThe Best AI Users Write the Shortest PromptsPrompt engineering is a scam the experts don’t use. The editor runs more than a hundred agents. Here is what works.Bonnie Le Page · October 6, 2026
From the editor · The editor’s note
Solve 2027 Before It Gets Here
On November 12, forty women who run businesses will spend one day building fixes for 2027.
Bonnie Le Page, Editor · 6 min read
Read the editor’s note →The editor in Forbes
How the Advantages of Small Businesses Are Changing ↗Oct 2 Four Architectures That Founders Can Build to Capitalize on AI ↗May 11 The Proof Economy: Why Case Studies Matter More Today ↗Mar 27
Editor’s columns · Opinion · October 6, 2026
Your Next Best Hire Is Your Neighbor’s Kid
Two people and one database will run your business. Most owners are hiring for neither.
Read the column →
The series
Women Founders Society
Long conversations with founders, operators and investors about what they left, what they built and what it cost.
The next conversations · Before the Curve
- Thu · Nov 5Brand and people strategy
- Tue · Nov 10Publishing
Founder Themes
What founders keep telling us.
The same ideas come up across our interviews. We follow each one over months.
- 01Scale, redefinedFounders are choosing growth that fits a life, a family and a town.
- 02The returnFounders going back inside large companies, and the companies hiring them.
- 03Money that staysWhere small-business lending and local investment are flowing.
- 04Who gets the first checkCompanies founded only by women still receive a sliver of venture dollars. Who is changing that.
- 05In service of what?The companies that start with the person they serve.
- 06Cooperation as strategyThe habit of working together, turned into an advantage.
Today’s Business News
Headlines from other publishers
Founders & funding
AI voice startup ElevenLabs doubles valuation to $22B ↗TechCrunch · Sep 30
Founders & funding
Restate lands $20M as the need for durable infrastructure increases with AI agents ↗TechCrunch · Sep 30
Founders & funding
EU’s €5bn Scaleup Fund can back UK, and even US, companies ↗Sifted · Sep 30
Ideas & work
The Future of Work Will Come Down to 2 Types of Companies That See AI Very Differently ↗Inc. · Sep 30
Ideas & work
Journalists to discuss AI, technology at Drake’s Bucksbaum Business Lecture ↗Business Record · Sep 30
Good news
Can affordable ethical fashion scale up? ↗Positive News · Sep 28
Headlines link to their publishers. Bellwether is not affiliated with them.
Business Indicators · Small business
September 2026
Small business optimism slipped just below its long-run average in September.
97.9
Optimism Index
−0.8 from Aug · 52-year average 98.0
- Uncertainty Index (avg 68)90 +1
- Owners with unfilled job openings32% −3
- Labor quality is the top problem26% +3
- Planning capital outlays22% −2
- Inflation is the top problem20% +4
Source: NFIB Small Business Economic Trends, September 2026. White marks show the historical average.
A monthly briefing on the indicators that move before everything else, and what each one means for companies, investors and lenders.
Business Indicators · Subscribers
A monthly report on the numbers that move first.
- The monthly briefing on what moved and why
- Every indicator live, with its history and sources
- Dates ahead, new research, rulings and papers
$300 a year · two months free
More from Bellwether
Keep exploring
The showBefore the CurveConversations with the people building what’s next. Next up: accounting for founders, today.Listen and read →
A Bellwether communityIowa Founders ClubBuilt here. Going everywhere. Recognizing and connecting the founders building businesses in every state.Claim your founder profile →
Recognition · Nominations openBellwether AwardsInnovators, Builders, Impact, Industry Excellence and Special Honors. Every honoree gets a profile and a badge to share.Nominate someone →
About Bellwether
Bellwether is independent business journalism: long interviews, sourced reporting and a monthly read on the indicators that move first.
Our best conversations come by introduction. Someone who made the leap, went back, built something where no one was watching, or funds the people who do.
How we report
Full standards →- 01
Consent in writing
Every guest agrees in writing before their story runs.
- 02
Quotes from the recording
We trim filler words. The meaning stays exactly as said.
- 03
Every number sourced
Each figure names its publisher and year.
- 04
Guests see it first
Each guest can correct facts before we publish.
- 05
Nobody pays to be featured
Ads are labeled and kept apart from stories.
- 06
Corrections in the open
Every fix is noted at the end of the story.