About TŌLD
Why I built Told
One evening I was at dinner with my parents at a Korean restaurant in Manhattan. I couldn’t get work out of my head. Between bites, I was talking to an AI about what my body was doing, and what was grinding me down at the office. And it said to me: “What you’re describing sounds pretty serious. You should tell your parents — who are sitting right there with you — now.”
I already knew. I’d been describing it cleanly to the AI and minimizing it to myself. But hearing my own account come back to me, I couldn’t keep not-knowing. That night at the table I told my parents what was actually happening. We decided together that I’d leave. My health came first.
Told started there. An AI that listens, without judgment, to the things you can’t say to anyone else — and remembers them. Something that sits beside you so your words can go out and come back to you.
— Hank, founder
What Told is
Told is an AI wellness companion for your inner life. The things you carry and can’t say to anyone — you can say them here. Told listens without judgment, remembers what matters to you, and, over time, helps you see the shape of what you’ve been holding.
Voice-first, because when something is weighing on you, you don’t type, you talk. Text when voice isn’t an option. No advice you didn’t ask for.
What happens over time
Conversation 1: You talk. You feel heard. That’s it.
Conversation 5: Told remembers what you said last week. It connects threads you didn’t notice. It asks the follow-up question you didn’t know you needed.
Conversation 20: The shape of what you’ve been holding starts to show. The people who keep coming up, the themes that won’t let you go — not because you were looking for them, but because you kept coming back.
The science
Decades of research by James Pennebaker and others show that putting what you’re carrying into words — when someone actually listens — reduces stress, improves mood, and helps you think more clearly. Talking into a void doesn’t work. Responsive listening is the mechanism.
Told is built on this research. It’s not catharsis — it’s processing. Your words go out and come back to you.
Languages
Told speaks English and Korean. More languages are coming.
Contact
Questions or ideas? Reach us at hank@told.one.