Fitt Insider

Today I'm joined by Brynn Putnam.

Brynn is the founder and CEO of Mirror — a connected fitness company that combines an interactive screen with on-demand workout content.

In July, lululemon acquired Mirror for $500M.

In this episode, we talk about Brynn's motivation for starting Mirror and the genesis of the idea. What differentiates the company from the growing number of look-a-like products. How Brynn defines community in a digital world. And what factors led lululemon to ultimately acquire the company.

More from Brynn

Brynn Putnam is the founder and CEO of MIRROR, the nearly invisible, interactive home gym that streams live and on-demand fitness classes in a variety of genres.

For more than a decade, Brynn has been regarded as a pioneer of the fitness industry. First as a ballet dancer for the New York City Ballet, then as the founder and CEO of Refine Method, the acclaimed fitness studio in New York dubbed "Best New Workout" by New York magazine. Now, Brynn is applying her deep expertise in fitness, both as an accomplished entrepreneur and athlete, to transform the fitness industry again. Brynn graduated from Harvard University with a B.A. in Russian Literature and Culture and is based in New York City.

More from Fitt Insider

Fitt Insider is a weekly newsletter and podcast about the business of fitness and wellness.

From product launches and funding news to game-changing innovation, Fitt Insider provides listeners with insights and analysis on this ever-evolving industry.

Join your peers and colleagues from companies like Equinox, Apple, Peloton, Goldman Sachs, Nike, and ClassPass by subscribing.

Website: http://insider.fitt.co

Today I'm joined by Byron Ling of Canaan Partners.

In this episode, we discuss Byron's investments in companies like Mirror, Ro, Papa, and Uniform Teeth. His insights on building a consumer brand in the healthcare space. And what we should look out for as fitness, wellness, and healthcare converge.

About Byron

Byron is a Partner at Canaan focusing on consumer and digital health investing. His investments include Papa, Ro, Uniform Teeth, Kin Euphorics, and Bravo Sierra. He was previously an investor at Primary Venture Partners, leading investments in companies such as Mirror and K Health. Prior to venture capital, he was an early employee at Gilt Groupe, helping scale the flash sale e-commerce company from product-market fit through the growth stage. Byron holds an M.B.A. from The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania, and a B.S. in Economics from Case Western Reserve University.

More from Fitt Insider

Fitt Insider is a weekly newsletter and podcast about the business of fitness and wellness.

From product launches and funding news to game-changing innovation, Fitt Insider provides listeners with insights and analysis on this ever-evolving industry.

Join your peers and colleagues from companies like Equinox, Apple, Peloton, Goldman Sachs, Nike, and ClassPass by subscribing.

Website: http://insider.fitt.co

Let's talk about the business of wellness…

 

My guest today is Anthony Katz, Founder of Hyperice, an innovative recovery and performance technologies company. Founded in 2010, Hyperice has built partnerships with some of the world’s pro sports leagues including NBA, UFC, MLB, PGA TOUR, plus global sports teams such as the New Zealand All Blacks and British football team, Tottenham Hotspur.

 

In this episode, we hear how Anthony believes his greatest gift has been scouting exceptional talent, the inspiration behind the first Hyperice product, and his strategy to launch. Anthony also shares some incredible stories of how he built relationships with sporting legends Kobe Bryant, and LeBron James and the impact this has had on the development of Hyperice products, and brand. 

 

Thank you to our sponsors:

- The go-to legal firm supporting the wellness industry Bird & Bird

- Modern accountancy firm dedicated to saving you money, GrowFactor

- The software booking experts serving gyms, spas and salons worldwide, Mindbody

 

To find out how Welltodo can help you grow your business and support your career objectives, head to welltodoglobal.com today.

Today I'm joined by Nate Raabe, the Managing Partner at Rx3 Growth Partners.

In this episode, Nate tells us about partnering with Aaron Rogers to start Rx3. How the firm uses influencer investors to add value. And we learn about their investments in companies like Hydrow, Hims, Super Coffee, and CorePower Yoga.

About Nate

Nate is currently the managing partner at Rx3 Growth Partners, a consumer-focused influencer fund based in Orange County. Rx3 invests in both growing and established brands across the consumer space. Prior to Rx3, he was managing director of ROTH's private capital group, where he was responsible for deal sourcing, valuation analysis, and distribution for private companies. Nate also acts as CIO for his family investments and is the managing partner for A&N Ventures. Prior to ROTH, Nate was a founding member of Sapheon where he spearheaded the private companies fundraising prior to its acquisition. He is on the Board of Directors for the San Diego Sports Innovators. Nate graduated from Santa Clara University with a BA in Finance.

More from Fitt Insider

Fitt Insider is a weekly newsletter and podcast about the business of fitness and wellness.

From product launches and funding news to game-changing innovation, Fitt Insider provides listeners with insights and analysis on this ever-evolving industry.

Join your peers and colleagues from companies like Equinox, Apple, Peloton, Goldman Sachs, Nike, and ClassPass by subscribing.

Website: http://insider.fitt.co

Let's talk about the business of wellness…

 

My guest today is Ed Stanbury the Co-Founder and CEO of BLOK, the boutique fitness studio that Vogue magazine dubbed “the trendiest gym in London”. Launched by Ed and his two Co-Founders, Max Oppenheim and Reema Stanbury, the trio came together with a mission ‘to inspire a global culture of movement’.

 

In this episode, we talk about how Ed’s background in construction led him to uncover BLOK’s first studio space, why the restaurant and bar scene inspired an elevated customer experience, and the secrets behind the brand’s successful partnerships strategy. We also dive into BLOK’s crowdfunding journey and hear some of the highs, and the lows, of pivoting to a digital offering.

Thank you to our sponsors:

- The go-to legal firm supporting the wellness industry Bird & Bird

- Modern accountancy firm dedicated to saving you money, GrowFactor

- The software booking experts serving gyms, spas and salons worldwide, Mindbody

 

To find out how Welltodo can help you grow your business and support your career objectives, head to welltodoglobal.com today.

This week, we're excited to bring you another edition of Startup Spotlight – a recurring series where we speak with early-stage founders working on fitness and wellness startups.

We usually focus on established companies, operators, and inventors — and we'll continue bringing you those conversations most weeks. But, from time to time, we're highlight companies at the beginning of their journey.

Today I'm joined by Zaw Thet, CEO of Exer.

Exer uses AI and computer vision to power its motion coaching platform.

In this episode, we talk about Exer Studio, the company's Mac app that creates a leaderboard and captures workout stats for any virtual workout, without additional hardware. A partnership with Zoom that lets trainers easily layer Exer on top of their classes. And the company's B2B2C model aimed at helping trainers better engage with their clients in a remote training environment.

More from Zaw

Zaw Thet is a veteran entrepreneur/investor who has been at the forefront of new technology and starting companies since the age of 19. He is currently the CEO and Co-Founder of Exer, on a mission to help millions of people move, train, and play better using the power of AI. Previously, Zaw was a Founding Partner at Signia Venture Partners focused on early-stage tech investing and on creating a new model of venture capital. He helped start Signia in 2012 and led investments across 3 funds.

Zaw was the founder and CEO of 4INFO, one of the first and largest mobile advertising platforms in the world. Business Week recognized him as one the "Mobile Barons" helping to shape the mobile ad industry since 2004. In 2011, Zaw was selected as one of ten entrepreneurs to serve on the United Nations Foundation's inaugural Global Entrepreneurs Council, where he is now an Emeritus Member of the board.

Zaw studied Political and Computer Science at Stanford, where he was a President's Scholar. He received his MBA from the Stanford Graduate School of Business, where he was a Soros Fellow.

Exer: http://www.exerstudio.com & http://www.exer.ai/

@movewithexer

@zawthet

More from Fitt Insider

Fitt Insider is a weekly newsletter and podcast about the business of fitness and wellness.

From product launches and funding news to game-changing innovation, Fitt Insider provides listeners with insights and analysis on this ever-evolving industry.

Join your peers and colleagues from companies like Equinox, Apple, Peloton, Goldman Sachs, Nike, and ClassPass by subscribing.

Website: http://insider.fitt.co

Let's talk about the business of wellness…

 

My guests today are Dominika Minarovic and Elsie Rutterford the Co-Founders of BYBI, a natural beauty brand with a conscience. Launched off the back of a very successful DIY clean beauty blog, Clean Beauty Insiders, BYBI is a product-based business that challenges the status quo of the beauty sector. 

 

In this episode, Dominika and Elsie share with us the actions they took to scale their beauty blog to a multi-million-pound product-based brand. We hear about the real barriers female founders face when they pitch for institutional investment, and why these ladies feel a personal responsibility to offset dangerous carbon emissions and make BYBI carbon neutral by the end of the year (2020).

 

It’s been a hell of an exciting journey for Dominika and Elsie, and with plans to move into the US market next year (2021), we can expect to hear a whole lot more from them.

 

Thank you to our sponsors:

- Beyond, the leading branding and creative agency for wellness brands, specialising in areas of food & drink, health & lifestyle, sports & technology.

- The go-to legal firm supporting the wellness industry Bird & Bird

- Modern accountancy firm dedicated to saving you money, GrowFactor

- The software booking experts serving gyms, spas and salons worldwide, Mindbody

 

To find out how Welltodo can help you grow your business and support your career objectives, head to welltodoglobal.com today.

Today, I'm joined by Deepen Parikh, a partner at Courtside Ventures.

Courtside is an early-stage venture firm focused on fitness and wellness, sports and media, and gaming.

In this episode, Deepen tells us about Courtside's new $75M fund, the firm's thesis as it related to fitness: including the reinvented gym, human performance, community, and personalized data. And we get into how he thinks about the team, business model, and market when evaluating an investment opportunity.

A quick announcement that we touch on this in the episode: Anthony & I are excited to be partnering with Courtside — where we'll be working as advisors to the firm. So if you're building a company in health, fitness, wellness, or sports categories, we'd love to hear from you. Send us an email: [email protected]

More from Deepen

Deepen Parikh is a Partner at Courtside Ventures, a leading VC fund focused on early-stage companies across sports/digital media, fitness/wellness and gaming. Since launching Courtside Ventures in 2016, they've invested in 45+ companies, including Freeletics, Future.fit, Gainful, Silofit, Paceline, The Athletic, StockX, The Drone Racing League, Religion of Sports, Beam (acq by Microsoft), 100 Thieves, RecoverX, among several others.

He leads the funds investment focus across fitness, and wellness along with select investment in sports and digital media. Sitting at the intersection of the rapidly growing entrepreneurial ecosystem and the broader sports technology industry, he was recognized as a 2018 Sports Business Journal Forty Under 40 recipient.

Previously, Deepen was a Partner at Interplay Ventures, an early-stage technology incubator and investor, where he was part of launching/building 15+ companies and investing in another 6 companies.

Deepen started his career as an Associate at UBS Financial Services and earned his BA in Economics from the University of Maryland, College Park. He currently resides in New York City with his wife, Rakhi (who works at Major League Soccer) and his daughter Prem.

More on Courtside

Courtside Ventures is a leading early-stage VC fund, backed by several professional sports team owners, public media companies, global family offices and strategic individuals and athletes. They focus on investing across sports/digital media, fitness/wellness and gaming. Across Fund I and Fund II (which they are in the process of closing), they've invested in 45+ companies, including The Athletic, StockX, The Drone Racing League, Religion of Sports, Beam (acq by Microsoft), Rebel (acq by Salesforce), Freeletics, 100 Thieves, Players Lounge, RecoverX, Future.fit, Gainful, Silofit, Paceline, among several others.

More from Fitt Insider

Fitt Insider is a weekly newsletter and podcast about the business of fitness and wellness.

From product launches and funding news to game-changing innovation, Fitt Insider provides listeners with insights and analysis on this ever-evolving industry.

Join your peers and colleagues from companies like Equinox, Apple, Peloton, Goldman Sachs, Nike, and ClassPass by subscribing.

Website: http://insider.fitt.co

Let's talk about the business of wellness…

 

My guest today is Will Ahmed, Co-Founder and CEO of WHOOP, a ground-breaking wearable health tracker designed to measure sleep, recovery, and strain. Founded in 2011, WHOOP recently closed a $100 million Series E fundraising round valuing the business at an incredible $1.2 billion. 

 

In this episode, Will shares with us his idea of entrepreneurship, how he never wanted to start a business but did so as ‘a by-product of solving a real problem’. He talks us through why WHOOP initially targeted world-class athletes, how their target market has expanded and what he plans to do with their latest cash injection. 

 

Thank you to our sponsors:

- The go-to legal firm supporting the wellness industry Bird & Bird

- Modern accountancy firm dedicated to saving you money, GrowFactor

- The software booking experts serving gyms, spas and salons worldwide, Mindbody

 

To find out how Welltodo can help you grow your business and support your career objectives, head to welltodoglobal.com today.

Today I'm joined by Nick Green, CEO of Thrive Market.

In this episode, we discuss:

• Thrive's business model that's been described as Costco meets Whole Foods.
• The importance of increasing access to healthy, high-quality foods.
• How Nick was able to raise $250M after getting turned down by countless investors.
• Why he says the company is just getting started.

About Nick

Nick Green is the co-founder and CEO of Thrive Market, an online market on a mission to make healthy living easy and accessible for every budget, lifestyle, and geography. For $60/year, Thrive Market members save 25% or more on a curated catalog of the world's highest quality healthy and sustainable food, home, and beauty products. Each paid membership also sponsors a free one for a family in need and enables Thrive Market to ship every member order using carbon-neutral shipping from its zero-waste fulfillment centers. Since its inception in 2015, Thrive Market has grown to a community of over 800,000 paid members, each committed to the health and wellbeing of their families but also united around a vision for a healthier and more sustainable world.

More from Fitt Insider

Fitt Insider is a weekly newsletter and podcast about the business of fitness and wellness.

From product launches and funding news to game-changing innovation, Fitt Insider provides listeners with insights and analysis on this ever-evolving industry.

Join your peers and colleagues from companies like Equinox, Apple, Peloton, Goldman Sachs, Nike, and ClassPass by subscribing.

Website: http://insider.fitt.co