For nearly 13 years, Kent has served as the General Manager of Dr. Tavel, a 25-location, family-owned optometry practice, where he’s driven a significant transformation in the business. It was here that CoApp was born—a direct result of his determination to tackle the operational challenges of running a multi-location healthcare business.
Now as CoApp’s CEO, Kent combines his deep industry expertise with an insatiable curiosity to craft solutions that empower other businesses to thrive. Known for asking the questions others overlook, Kent’s approach is as thoughtful as it is relentless, focusing on driving value and creating tools that make life simpler for operational leaders.
Beyond his professional life, Kent and his wife Sarah are raising two wild and crazy boys, aged almost 6 and 4, with a third child on the way in February. Fun fact, you might find Kent enjoying Indiana winters with his home snow-making machine.
In this installment of our Meet the Team series, Kent shares how his experiences at the intersection of business and technology have shaped his leadership philosophy and why solving hard problems with elegant solutions never gets old.
How did you get into your current role?
My career journey has been an interesting one, shaped by a mix of entrepreneurial spirit and hands-on experience. It really started in high school when I ran my own lawn care business. That early experience taught me valuable lessons about entrepreneurship, marketing, operations, and customer service. It inspired me to pursue a degree in finance and accounting, along with an MBA, at Indiana University.
After graduating, I knew I wanted to own my own business someday, but like many recent grads, I didn’t have the funds to make that happen right away. Instead, I joined Dr. Tavel, a medium-sized optometry business, and never looked back. Nearly 13 years later, I’ve been leading the company as General Manager, growing it from a modest operation to a thriving 25-office organization with over 300 employees and more than 5X the revenue we had when I started.
It was at Dr. Tavel that I discovered my passion for technology. I realized how critical it was for solving complex business challenges at scale. That’s where the idea for CoApp came to life. Today, I’m proud to serve as CEO and Co-Founder of CoApp while continuing to lead Dr. Tavel as GM. It’s a unique position that allows me to see real-world problems in a multi-location business and build innovative technology solutions to solve them.
What’s your personal work philosophy?
My personal work philosophy aligns closely with CoApp’s core values, as they reflect the principles that drive me every day.
First, I’m a firm believer in curiosity and creativity. Curiosity is essential—without it, you’re in trouble. I’ve always had an insatiable curiosity, whether it’s diving into a Wikipedia rabbit hole or reading publications like The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, The Information, and Bloomberg. You never know where pulling on a loose thread might take you, but so much of our success stems from exploring those paths. Of course, you need to know when to surface for air, but curiosity fuels discovery, innovation, and growth. It’s also deeply tied to another of our values: building authentic connections. If you’re genuinely curious, you’ll find you can learn from anyone—and that’s fundamental to building meaningful relationships.
Second, I truly believe that value creation is everything. Doing something just for the sake of doing it is a waste of time. I think we should all feel empowered—maybe even expected—to challenge ideas and processes to find better, more productive ways forward. I believe we’re all given unique talents, and it’s our responsibility to use them to leave the world better than we found it. Whether it’s solving problems, improving systems, or creating opportunities, everything we do should aim to create value.
How do you prioritize tasks when everything feels important?
This is a great question, and it’s something I’ve had to develop over time, especially in my role at Dr. Tavel. One of the most important lessons I’ve learned is to focus on areas where I am uniquely positioned to add value, while building a strong team and empowering them to take ownership of solving problems. Delegation isn’t just about offloading tasks—it’s about trusting others and giving them the tools and support to succeed.
I’ve also embraced an MVP (Minimum Viable Product) mindset, which has been critical in avoiding overcomplication. It’s important to prioritize what’s truly necessary for solving today’s problems while ensuring the solution can scale as things grow and evolve.
Ultimately, prioritization is about balancing focus and collaboration—solving immediate challenges without overengineering, empowering your team to handle what they’re best equipped for, and keeping an eye on the bigger picture. A strong, empowered team makes it much easier to focus on what really matters.
What’s the last thing you learned that completely surprised you?
First, I recently listened to the Lex Fridman podcast featuring Adam Frank, and their discussion about the possibility of life in the universe absolutely captivated me. I was blown away by how many more stars and potentially habitable planets exist than I ever realized. They also touched on SETI and how, despite decades of searching, we’ve only explored the equivalent of a bathtub of water in the vast ocean of what’s out there. It’s mind-boggling to think about the possibilities and just how little of the universe we’ve actually explored.
Second, I’ve been teaching myself to use Snowflake for data warehousing, and it’s been a fascinating experience. At Dr. Tavel, we don’t deal with terabyte-scale data problems, so diving into this technology has been a whole new world for me. It’s incredible how far technology has come and how powerful these tools are. If you’re curious, Snowflake’s “FLATTEN” function for working with JSON data is a game-changer. It’s been a fun challenge to explore what’s possible with this platform, and it reminds me just how amazing technology can be when solving complex problems.
Favorite vacation spot?
That’s easy Maui (beauty, beaches, hiking, etc) and Jackson Hole or Vail (amazing skiing).
What excites you most about the future of CoApp?
I’m most excited about the untapped potential of CoApp. In such a short time, we’ve shown how powerful a tailored browser extension can be in solving complex problems and driving efficiency. But I truly believe we’re just scratching the surface. As we continue to innovate, I’m confident we’ll unlock significant value for businesses across a variety of industries, and I can’t wait to see the impact we’ll make.
