EP #471 - Harnessing Human Motion Analysis to Create a Digital Personal Coach

Jan 29, 2025

Joel Roos and Ben Simon, co-founders of VAY, share insights on pioneering motion tracking technology that revolutionizes digital fitness coaching. They discuss their thrilling journey from a startup in Zurich to being acquired by Bowflex, delving into the challenges of share distribution and the pivot to a B2B model in healthcare. The duo emphasizes teamwork and mentorship, navigating the emotional highs and lows of the acquisition process, and how strategic partnerships facilitated their impressive growth in the competitive fitness tech landscape.

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Episode notes

Intro

00:00 • 4min

From Athlete to Entrepreneur

04:28 • 8min

Navigating Share Distribution in Startup Dynamics

12:51 • 3min

Navigating the B2B Shift

15:50 • 22min

Navigating the Acquisition Journey

37:49 • 16min

Celebrating Business Milestones: A Team's Journey

53:42 • 2min

Exploring Financial Trajectory and Investor Strategies

56:00 • 2min

Navigating Post-Merger Challenges

58:01 • 27min

Timestamps:

13:18 - Splitting shares with your co-founders

24:42 - Have they hit product-market fit?

30:48 - Getting Alex Ilic as an advisor and investor

34:43 - Giving an advisor phantom stocks

38:20 - Getting acquired by BowFlex

About Joel Roos & Ben Simon:

Joel Roos and Ben Simon are the co-founders of VAY, a startup offering motion tracking technology for fitness and physical therapy. Joel holds a MSc in Robotics Systems and Control from ETH and worked at Rapyuta Robotics before co-founding VAY in 2018. Ben holds an MA in Accounting and Finance from HSG and worked for atfinity and EY before co-founding VAY with Joel.

VAY digitizes human movements through human motion analysis, to make products more competitive, immersive, and intelligent. They provide real-time tracking and audio feedback from any device and camera. Their target industry is physical therapy, rehabilitation, and digital health apps.

VAY was acquired by Nautilus (now called Bowflex) in 2021 for an undisclosed amount. Alex Ilic is one of their board advisors.

The cover portrait was edited by ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠www.smartportrait.io⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

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