1/ Today, @Lululemon announced its planned acquisition of @getthemirror. Congrats to @BrynnPutnam & the entire team! From prototype to blockbuster launch to an exciting outcome, I'm in awe of this incredible journey. Some reflections on how it got started: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/29/business/lululemon-buys-mirror.html

2/ Back in 2001 @BrynnPutnam and I were college classmates. We reconnected years later as fellow NYC founders and I became a regular at Brynn’s boutique fitness studio @RefineMethod, which she founded after “retiring” as a professional ballet dancer. https://www.wellandgood.com/refine-method-debuts-a-splashy-high-tech-west-village-studio/

3/ Fast forward to 2016, when I invited @BrynnPutnam to attend the @firstround CEO Summit in SF. Brynn responded and asked for my feedback on a new concept she was noodling on: A “digital mirror that streams workouts in-home and then personalizes them in real-time.”

4/ It may seem like an intuitive move now, but @BrynnPutnam's concept was a big bet on the in-home market—set against the backdrop of an in-studio boutique fitness explosion in the first half of the 2010s, which created a high bar for aspirational and effective workouts.

5/ I remember during diligence Brynn met our fitness biz expert @PhinBarnes and shared a demo of the early prototype with our NYC team. It had some rough edges, but it was clearly evocative of what could be a truly magical immersive in-home workout experience. We voted to invest.

6/ Post investment, it was a thrill to see @BrynnPutnam in action as a VC backed tech founder. She communicated an ambitious vision while also staying steadfastly committed to getting the details right. She religiously sought feedback while staying true to her unique expertise.

7/ After 2 years in stealth mode, Brynn’s clear vision and detail-oriented mentality paid off with a blockbuster launch in September 2018. In a video shared on Instagram, @aliciakeys captured the pure delight of what it feels like to own a Mirror: https://twitter.com/getthemirror/status/1200460263847276544?s=20

8/ From earning glowing write ups in the press and impressive customer feedback to rolling out one-on-one personal training and physical showrooms, Mirror scaled quickly. I snapped this shot of their first billboard when heading home from @firstround's NYC office.

9/ Reflecting back, the story of Mirror is particularly inspiring, as it is a reminder that founder talent comes in many forms. When we invested in Brynn, she was a former ballet dancer and small business owner, not a typical tech startup founder.

10/ On top of that, @BrynnPutnam was 9 months pregnant when she pitched the @firstround partnership. She signed the docs for our investment in @getthemirror while at the hospital to give birth (See her tell the story to @Forbes below.) https://twitter.com/i/status/1275103426469408771

11/ I know Brynn’s accomplishments will be a beacon of inspiration for future founders, especially women. Her story shows that founders who are experts in their field and understand how tech can help supercharge their craft are capable of reaching incredible heights.

12/ But of course, access to capital and connections are crucial ingredients—and there's far too many structural barriers standing in the way for founders from different backgrounds. If you're building something & think I could help, drop me a line: hayley at firstround dot com