Building WHOOP with Will Ahmed: Fitness Wearable Redefined

Hosted by Tomer Cohen, Chief Product Officer of LinkedIn

Introduction

In this episode of Building One, Tomer Cohen engages in an insightful conversation with Will Ahmed, the founder and CEO of WHOOP, a cutting-edge fitness wearable tailored primarily for professional athletes. The discussion delves into the inception of WHOOP, its unique approach to product development, the importance of focused design, and the future of health monitoring technology.

Will Ahmed's Background and Motivation

Will Ahmed shares his journey from being a Harvard squash player to founding WHOOP. His passion for sports and a personal struggle with overtraining ignited his interest in understanding and optimizing athletic performance through data.

Will Ahmed [03:04]: "I was always into sports and exercise throughout my life... I asked simple questions like, what does it mean to train optimally? What does it mean to peak on a given day?"

Key Points:

• Early Passion for Sports: Growing up on Long Island, Will played squash at Harvard, which ingrained a deep appreciation for athletic training.
• Personal Challenge: His tendency to overtrain led him to seek measurable insights into his body's performance and recovery.
• Academic Exploration: Will leveraged his academic environment to conduct extensive physiology research, identifying key measurements like heart rate variability (HRV) and sleep patterns.

Focusing on a Narrow Product

One of WHOOP's distinguishing features is its narrow and deep focus on health monitoring without the distractions of broader smartwatch functionalities.

Will Ahmed [08:45]: "Whoop is great at all the things that we do for all the things that we don't do. Right? It’s not a watch... we could be really great at health monitoring."

Key Points:

• Avoiding Scope Creep: Unlike many wearables that try to incorporate multiple features (e.g., step counting, notifications), WHOOP concentrates solely on accurate health and performance tracking.
• Targeted Audience: Initially targeting professional and college athletes, as well as high-end military personnel, ensured that WHOOP remained focused on what truly mattered—accuracy, comfort, and reliability.
• Design Philosophy: By not including features like push notifications or GPS, WHOOP maintains a lightweight and unobtrusive design, appealing to users who prioritize performance data over additional functionalities.

Building Original Hardware vs. Integrating Existing Technology

Will faced significant skepticism from investors who advised against building proprietary hardware. However, his commitment to vertical integration became a cornerstone of WHOOP's success.

Will Ahmed [26:06]: "Investors told me I shouldn't build hardware and that I should leverage all these different existing hardwares that were out there... but I felt like there weren't hardwares in the market that would allow us to do the type of sensing and algorithm work that we needed to do."

Key Points:

• Vertical Integration: Owning every layer of the product experience—from sensors to signal processing to the app—allows WHOOP to ensure consistency and high quality across all components.
• Competitive Advantage: By controlling the hardware, WHOOP can optimize data accuracy and reliability, differentiating itself from competitors that rely on third-party components.
• Long-Term Vision: Building original hardware, despite higher initial costs and longer development times, positions WHOOP as a leader in health tracking rather than just another fitness gadget.

Data Collection and Presentation

WHOOP excels in its ability to collect vast amounts of health data while presenting it in a user-friendly manner that avoids overwhelming the user.

Will Ahmed [20:21]: "Instead of flooding users with numbers, it layers insights. You only have three seconds. Great. Let's check if you're red, yellow or green for the day."

Key Points:

• Heart Rate Variability (HRV): A central metric that provides insights into the autonomic nervous system, indicating stress levels and recovery status.
• Layered Information: WHOOP employs a progressive disclosure approach—offering simple, actionable insights upfront and allowing users to delve deeper as needed.
  • Immediate Insights: Quick indicators like "red, yellow, or green" status.
  • Detailed Metrics: Users can explore underlying data such as sleep quality, respiration rates, and HRV scores for a comprehensive understanding.
• Restraint in Data Display: By limiting the amount of information shown at once, WHOOP ensures that users remain engaged without feeling overwhelmed, fostering better user retention and satisfaction.

Behavior Change and Community Building

Will emphasizes the importance of motivation and discipline in fostering long-term behavioral changes through WHOOP's platform.

Will Ahmed [22:16]: "Behavior change requires often some form of motivation. It's much easier to drive behavior change for a motivated customer or audience."

Key Points:

• Motivated Users: WHOOP attracts users who are already committed to improving their health and performance, making behavior change initiatives more effective.
• In-App Features: Features like team-based data sharing and competitive elements foster a sense of community and accountability among users.
• Organizational Culture: Will's approach of incentivizing health metrics within his own company (e.g., bonuses for high sleep scores) demonstrates the powerful role of community and accountability in habit formation.
  • Example: Offering monthly bonuses for employees who achieve specific sleep performance targets encourages sustained engagement with the app.

Future Vision for WHOOP

Looking ahead, Will envisions WHOOP evolving into a comprehensive 24/7 health coach, leveraging advances in technology and data analytics to revolutionize personal and preventive healthcare.

Will Ahmed [37:08]: "At its core, we're building a 247 health coach. What that means is if there's anything you want to improve or there's anything wrong, WHOOP is going to tell you how to do it or tell you what's wrong."

Key Points:

• Expanded Sensing Capabilities: Incorporating new sensors to gather a broader range of health data, enhancing the platform's predictive and preventive capabilities.
• Generative AI Integration: Utilizing AI to interact conversationally with users, providing personalized insights and recommendations based on collected data.
• Preventive Healthcare: Transitioning from reactive to proactive health measures, such as predicting and preventing heart attacks or other medical conditions before they occur.
• Societal Impact: Addressing critical health challenges like declining life expectancy, rising healthcare costs, and obesity through continuous health monitoring and personalized interventions.

Rapid Fire Questions

To conclude the episode, Tomer poses a series of rapid-fire questions to Will, providing personal insights into his habits and perspectives on health technology.

1. Average Sleep Score:

   Will Ahmed [39:19]: "It's about seven hours. I'm not a hero. And then I'm getting eight or nine hours, but I'm getting like the optimal amount for a CEO who's trying to run a company."

2. Unhealthy Habit:

   Will Ahmed [39:39]: "I still drink alcohol from time to time... Alcohol consumption has a negative 12% on average impact on recovery."

3. Desired Future Technology:

   Will Ahmed [40:27]: "Having an alerting system and a leading indicator around cardiovascular disease would have a massive impact."

Conclusion and Takeaways

Tomer Cohen summarizes the key lessons from the conversation, highlighting WHOOP's strategic focus and innovative approach to product development.

1. Avoiding Scope Creep:

   • Maintaining a narrow focus allows WHOOP to excel in health monitoring without diluting its core functionalities.

2. Vertical Integration as a Competitive Edge:

   • Controlling both hardware and software ensures unparalleled accuracy and user experience, setting WHOOP apart in the wearable market.

3. Effective Data Presentation:

   • Utilizing a layered approach to data presentation ensures users receive actionable insights without being overwhelmed by complexity.

4. Community and Accountability:

   • Building a sense of community and accountability through features like team-based data sharing enhances user engagement and fosters long-term habit formation.

5. Aspiration-Driven Design:

   • Designing for professional athletes while ensuring the principles apply to everyday consumers creates an aspirational yet accessible brand identity.

Final Thoughts: The episode underscores the importance of focus, control over the product ecosystem, and intelligent data presentation in building a successful and impactful health wearable. As WHOOP continues to innovate, it stands as a testament to how specialized, user-centered design can lead to transformative products in the health and fitness industry.

Thank you for reading this summary of "Building WHOOP with Will Ahmed: Fitness Wearable Redefined." To gain deeper insights and explore the full conversation, consider listening to the episode on LinkedIn Podcasts or your preferred podcast platform.