31: Brynn Putnam, Founder and CEO of Mirror

We are notorious as a society for falling in love with the next “fitness fad.” Whether its diet types, workout regimens or new fitness equipment, we’re suckers for “quick fix” schemes. It’s pretty rare that we come across a product that revolutionizes the way we workout — and in the age of connected hardware and software — we’re living through a paradigm shift that allows us to reimagine the fitness experience from first principles. This week, I got the chance to chat with Brynn Putnam, Founder and CEO of Mirror, a connected fitness system that streams live and on-demand classes to users in-home via a sleek responsive display. Mirror enables users to train with experts, work out with friends and get real-time personalization. The confidence from the venture community for Mirror runs deep — the company has raised $40M+ from leading investors, including Spark, First Round, and Box Group — and it’s easy to see why. The market is huge, the product is fantastic and Brynn is an incredibly thoughtful leader. I found many of her reflections insightful; specifically it was most interesting to hear her talk about: (1) running a combined hardware, software and content business, (2) thinking about the business as a “media company” vs. a “technology company” and (3) the pathway to evolve Mirror from a fitness business into “the defacto screen in your life.”  It was a pleasure to have Brynn on the show to get her thoughts on the future of connected home. This is going to be a fun company to follow.