Will Ahmed, founder of Whoop, a fitness monitoring app endorsed by stars like LeBron James, dives into his inspiring entrepreneurial journey. After grappling with injuries in college sports, he passionately researched health and created Whoop to optimize performance. Ahmed shares innovative company practices, like rewarding employees for good sleep, and insights on resilience during financial struggles. He also discusses the balance between technology and well-being, emphasizing the transformative power of health monitoring in daily routines.

Will Ahmed, founder and CEO of WHOOP, shares his journey of building a $3.6 billion health tech company. He discusses how signing elite athletes like LeBron James and Michael Phelps propelled his brand's credibility. The conversation dives into the importance of sleep quality for performance, insights on balancing leadership with personal wellness, and the innovative shift from a one-time purchase model to a subscription service. Ahmed also explores future health trends, personalized diets, and the potential impact of technology on our lives.

Will Ahmed and Jaime Waydo discuss the WHOOP Coach, a personalized performance coaching experience powered by AI. They highlight the partnership with OpenAI, key use cases of the Coach, education and membership support features, data retention and privacy, and the vision for a 24/7 performance coach.

In this introductory episode, I had the pleasure of conversing with Will Ahmed, the CEO of health & fitness monitoring brand ‘WHOOP’. The Whoop strap, renowned for its technology in analysing core health metrics, has become a mainstay in an athletes’ recovery regime owing to its actionable and personalised insights on performance enhancement. Our conversation covered a wide range of subjects, some of which are highlighted below; » Topics «EntrepreneurshipStress management and medita...

Will Ahmed, founder of Whoop, shares profound business insights drawn from his entrepreneurial journey. He discusses the emotional rollercoaster that comes with building a startup, emphasizing resilience and self-reflection. Ahmed highlights the significance of strategic decision-making and product development, while also shedding light on community engagement as a key branding strategy. Listeners gain valuable advice on navigating the challenges of early entrepreneurship and maintaining authenticity in a competitive landscape.

Will Ahmed is the founder and CEO of Whoop, the wearable device that monitors your recovery, sleep, training, and health. Will launched Whoop in 2012 whilst he was at college. As an athlete himself, he was constantly overtraining, and as a result, got interested in how he could prevent it by learning more about his own physiology. Ten years on, Whoop has a valuation of $3.6 billion, some and 500 employees. So how did the guy who crafted an empire around dialling in good-for-you habits get there? What did he learn along the way? What does the future hold for wearable tech? What were his lessons to high performance? . . . . . . . High Performance Live Podcast Tour 2022  - Sign up here - thehighperformancepodcast.com/signup Pre-order our audiobook: https://adbl.co/3xQQSCF Get a special signed copy, out Dec 9th: https://bit.ly/3kCqhFpPre-order link: http://smarturl.it/hv0sdzThank you to our founding partner Lotus Cars who are back for the new series! Lotus we love you, and wouldn’t be here without you! Check them out at lotuscars.com Thanks also to GIVEMESPORT - the exclusive sports partner of the High Performance Podcast. To gain further access to editorial and social content from the Podcast click here https://www.givemesport.com/podcast

Will Ahmed, founder of WHOOP, shares his journey from a college athlete to creating a groundbreaking fitness wearable focused on health optimization. He discusses key design decisions that set his product apart in a competitive market and how WHOOP has matured into a powerful health tracker. Will also highlights the future of wearables in preventative health monitoring, emphasizing the importance of recovery and data-driven insights for enhancing performance. His vision redefines how we approach health and well-being through technology.

This Week in Startups is brought to you by… Vanta. Compliance and security shouldn't be a deal-breaker for startups to win new business. Vanta makes it easy for companies to get a SOC 2 report fast. TWiST listeners can get $1,000 off for a limited time at vanta.com/twist CLA. Innovation takes balance. Our CPAs, consultants, and wealth advisors can help you get from startup to where you want to end up. Get started now at CLAconnect.com/tech Notion just launched Notion Projects, which includes new, powerful ways to manage projects and leverage the power of their built-in AI features too. Try it for free today at notion.com/twist. * Today’s show: Whoop Founder and CEO Will Ahmed joins Jason to discuss Whoop’s journey (1;50), the driving paradigm behind Whoop’s innovative product designs (31:38), the future of wearable tech (41:26), and more! * Time stamps: (00:00) Whoop Founder and CEO Will Ahmed joins Jason (1:50) The “Quantified Self” movement and features that set Whoop’s product apart (4:04) How the device interprets health data and obtains consistent results (7:24) Whoop’s customer base (8:52) Vanta - Get $1000 off your SOC 2 at https://vanta.com/twist (9:59) The decision to pivot to a subscription business model (14:31) Amazon turning from potential investor to failed copy-cat competitor (20:09) Incorporating new strategies into the business (24:49) CLA - Get started with CLA's CPAs, consultants, and wealth advisors now at https://claconnect.com/tech (26:21) Developments since the product’s inception (31:38) Whoop Body and the driving paradigm behind the product design (40:00) Notion - Try Notion Projects for free today at notion.com/twist (41:26) What lies ahead and the future of wearable tech (44:47) The ability to share the recorded health data (47:20) AI utilizing large health datasets and the Whoop Journal * Follow Will: https://twitter.com/willahmed Check out Whoop: https://www.whoop.com * Read LAUNCH Fund 4 Deal Memo: https://www.launch.co/four Apply for Funding: https://www.launch.co/apply Buy ANGEL: https://www.angelthebook.com Great recent interviews: Steve Huffman, Brian Chesky, Aaron Levie, Sophia Amoruso, Reid Hoffman, Frank Slootman, Billy McFarland, PrayingForExits, Jenny Lefcourt Check out Jason’s suite of newsletters: https://substack.com/@calacanis * Follow Jason: Twitter: https://twitter.com/jason Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jason LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jasoncalacanis * Follow TWiST: Substack: https://twistartups.substack.com Twitter: https://twitter.com/TWiStartups YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/thisweekin * Subscribe to the Founder University Podcast: https://www.founder.university/podcast

CEO of WHOOP, Will Ahmed, delves into wearable tech and data-driven health improvement with Gary Brecka. They discuss heart rate variability's importance, sleep optimization, predictive analytics for health issues, and the future of wearable technology in enhancing longevity and performance.

Will Ahmed, Founder and CEO of Whoop, shares insights from his journey in wearable tech aimed at optimizing human performance. He discusses the unexpected value in early struggles and when founders should persist or pivot. Ahmed challenges the notion of realism, advocating for idealism in entrepreneurship. He reflects on his strategies for attracting elite athletes without payment, emphasizing the importance of vision and authentic engagement. The conversation also touches on balancing innovation and leadership, and how sleep quality complements fitness performance.