The Multi-Billion-Dollar Company Changing The Way We Train, Sleep, and Recover

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Hey Friends,

Human Performance Optimization (HPO) is an industry I’m super excited about.

As technology has become deeply ingrained in our daily lives, I believe we have entered a new world, where everyday consumers & professional athletes alike will continue to demand a deeper understanding of their bodies through analytics.

The result?

I’m excited to officially announce my partnership with WHOOP, the human performance company that collects and provides physiological data 24/7 to optimize how you train, recover, and sleep.

Today, we’ll run through why I’m so excited, a brief history of the company, how they make money, their superstar investment team, why you should care, and more.

So let’s get right to it.

First, you’re probably thinking, “Is he really going to write about a company that he just told us he has partnered with?” The answer is yes, and to be honest with you, it’s not because they are paying me.

I have been a WHOOP user for years, written about them multiple times, and tell legitimately every person I speak with about health, wellness, and fitness to check them out. The product is that good.

So, let’s start with some history. When Will Ahmed was captain of Harvard’s squash team in 2012, he found himself training too hard and burning out. Ahmed told CNBC, “I would get to be one of the fittest guys on the team, but then I would also kind of collapse. So I got interested in, what could I measure about my body to prevent this?”

After reading “something like 500 medical papers” and even writing one himself, the answer ended up being much more complex than Ahmed initially thought.

That’s why WHOOP was born — to solve the problem.

Ahmed and his co-founders John Capodilupo (CTO) & Aurelian Nicolae (Chief Engineer) developed their prototype in 2012 at Harvard’s innovation lab—the company was called Bobo Analytics back then—and the business has evolved since.

No, seriously, the hardware has come a (really) long way!

Now, I’m sure you’re wondering, what exactly does WHOOP do?

In simple terms, WHOOP makes non-invasive wearable technology, like their popular five sensor-equipped bands, which collects data 100 times per second to provide a 24/7 comprehensive picture of personalized human performance.

But the difference between WHOOP and a traditional heart rate monitor is the data.

With a screen-free interface and no additional gimmicks, the WHOOP band is only worried about one thing — collecting & analyzing health-related metrics. In return, the WHOOP band is able to capture thousands of additional data points per minute compared to a traditional heart rate monitor.

These data points include both performance-related metrics like average heart rate, resting heart rate, and heart rate variability, but also sleep & recovery-related metrics like sleep stage recognition, latency, and efficiency.

And as data is continuously collected throughout the day, WHOOP analyzes the metrics in real-time using proprietary formulas to display the results in a simple & easy-to-understand dashboard that is personalized to each user.

The user can then review the results to educate themselves on how much strain a workout is causing, how long their body will need to recover, the recommended amount of sleep, and whether your training might result in injury or fatigue.

The product initially debuted at a ~$500 price point, but WHOOP has since pivoted to a subscription-based model with monthly fees that range from $18 to $30 depending on membership length. Not only did that lower the barrier to entry for average consumers, but it also drastically expanded their total addressable market.

And for visual learners like me, this is what the WHOOP dashboard looks like:

But here’s a wild story that shows just how good the WHOOP data is.

Last summer, PGA Tour golfer Nick Watney didn’t feel any symptoms associated with COVID-19. Still, he decided to get tested anyway after noticing that his respiratory rate had spiked within the WHOOP app.

The test came back as positive, and the PGA Tour ended up signing WHOOP as their official wearable partner and procuring 1,000 WHOOP straps for all players, caddies, and other essential personnel across their entire organization.

I’m not sure there is a better testimonial than that.

And as a result of finding product-market fit, investors have flocked to WHOOP.

The Boston-based company has raised a total of $400 million over the last decade and attracted some of the best investors in the world. For example, Japanese investment giant SoftBank led a $200 million Series F funding round earlier this year, and WHOOP’s valuation jumped from $1.2 billion to $3.6 billion in just ten months.

WHOOP Valuation History

• October 2020: $1.2 billion

• August 2021: $3.6 billion

The company is also financially backed by an impressively experienced and diverse group of individuals & organizations across sports, business, and technology.

WHOOP’s cap table currently includes Kevin Durant, Patrick Mahomes, Michael Phelps, Larry Fitzgerald, Eli Manning, Justin Thomas, Rory McIlroy, Twitter & Square CEO Jack Dorsey, Netflix co-founder Marc Randolph, former NBA commissioner David Stern, and both the National Football League (NFL) & National Basketball Association (NBA).

But investor interest isn’t the only thing exploding upward at WHOOP these days — their headcount is also.

WHOOP has seen its headcount increase from 120 employees last year to more than 650 employees today, and given they expect to be at more than 1,000 employees by next summer, they also recently signed a lease for over 120,000-square-feet of office space adjacent to Fenway Park in Boston.

Translation: Even at a $3.6 billion valuation, WHOOP is just getting started.

Now, this type of success doesn’t just go unnoticed — the $6 trillion market cap lineup of Amazon, Apple, and Google appear to be interested also.

Amazon recently released a fitness subscription app named Halo. At the same time, Tim Cook has repeatedly said he wants Apple’s legacy to be within health & wellness, and Google completed its $2.1 billion acquisition of Fitbit in January.

Still, I expect WHOOP to continue to dominate this category.

Not only do I believe that the majority of smartphone users will be wearing a health & fitness wearable within the next 10-15 years, but as someone who has tried essentially every major product on the market, WHOOP’s is by far the best.

As always, I’ll keep you all updated on changes through the sports business landscape, but in the meantime, I highly recommend you check WHOOP out for yourself.

The best part? WHOOP is offering all Huddle Up readers a 15% discount when they use promo code “JOE” at checkout.

Have a great day, and I’ll talk to everyone tomorrow.

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Huddle Up is a daily letter that breaks down the business and money behind sports.

Join more than 50,000 professional athletes, business executives, and casual sports fans that receive it directly in their inbox each morning — it’s free.