What makes Mirror’s Brynn Putnam an exceptional founder

During a recent conversation with Glen Coates, CEO and Founder of Handshake, now at Shopify, Glen said he’s noticed founders have different weightings between Product, Process, and People. Some founders over-index on Product, becoming product obsessed — it’s what drives and energizes them. According to Glen, Tobi Lütke, Shopify founder and CEO, fits this mold. Steve Jobs may be the archetype. Mirror Founder and CEO Brynn Putnam, whose business was just acquired by lululemon athletica, belongs in this mix.

We met Brynn in 2016 when she was running her own boutique fitness business, Refine Method, which started out of a 500-square-foot room in a Russian Orthodox church. A Harvard grad and former professional ballet dancer, Brynn had no shortage of inquisitiveness, determination, drive, grit, and vision. As a veteran of the fitness industry, Brynn had developed crucial key insights:

• Boutique fitness was diverse in genre, and those genres were constantly evolving and changing in popularity.
• The convenience of exercising at home dating back to the Jane Fonda/VHS era democratized access, but the experience was limited. The sense of community, the energy of live instructors, and the types of workout classes left much to be desired.
• At Brynn’s Refine Method studios, the most popular request was more mirrors. Whether to check form or boost energy by seeing yourself and classmates, the reflection as part of the experience made a huge difference.

Four years ago, Brynn was pre-launch, and only had an early prototype of a product that she had assembled. It was extremely raw, and you had to heavily rely on imagination to believe it would be a compelling experience that people would pay over $1,000 for, plus a monthly subscription. Brynn shared every detail she was thinking about with us in taking an early prototype product to launch and beyond, and it was clear she was someone special.

Creating a connected fitness device that is such a unique form factor requires incredible product vision. Brynn had no technical hardware or software background, but her product obsession prevented that from being an obstacle. I am sure she had her skeptics and doubters, but it was clear that Brynn’s passion for what she was building was unwavering. Seeing Brynn’s evident determination and passion was a lesson that as a seed investor, there are factors that you realize you cannot diligence. Diligencing product vision at these pre-launch phases is pretty futile, and what you are diligencing is product obsession. To figure out whether we’re inclined to invest, after pitches we often ask the question — would you bet against this person? In Brynn’s case, we knew immediately that you didn’t want to bet against Brynn, especially her product obsession. She was going to deliver something special and we knew we wanted to come along for the ride.

It has been less than two years since launch, and we had seen the fruits of that obsession materialize. Celebrity advocacy, amazing revenue traction, thriving growth during the pandemic, and now a future under the lululemon banner are all reasons why we’re so excited to continue to witness what’s to come for Brynn and the Mirror team. As investors in the NY Tech ecosystem, it’s amazing to watch the true product innovators in our industry. Seeing another big outcome from New York not only inspires and encourages us — it makes us grateful for our work as the fortunate investors who get to support these tremendous founders.

— Ben Sun, Primary General Partner and Co-Founder

For more about the Mirror acquisition, check out lululemon’s press release and the New York Times article.

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