Bryn Putnam

Founder of Bored and Mirror; serial entrepreneur in the fitness and tech industries.

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Key positions and views

Advocates for a product strategy that de-risks execution by building unique software experiences and intellectual property on top of mature, commodity hardware.

Believes that post-acquisition integration is a critical failure point, citing her experience with Mirror's user experience being degraded by Peloton streaming landscape content to its portrait-oriented hardware.

Focuses on creating novel human-computer interactions by blending physical objects with digital interfaces, as demonstrated by Bored's ability to recognize non-electronic game pieces on a touchscreen.

Employs a pragmatic and vision-oriented approach to early-stage fundraising, including using non-functional prototypes to convey the user experience and securing capital from previous investors who have seen success with her.

Plans for an open ecosystem for her platforms, intending to release an SDK for third-party developers and launch an App Store for the Bored console.

Podcast consensus on Putnam

Points of consensus

▶Bryn Putnam's company, Mirror, was acquired by Lululemon for approximately $500 million in March 2020, less than two years after its launch.Apr 2026

▶Putnam's product development strategy, used for both Mirror and her new company Bored, involves building proprietary software and intellectual property on top of commodity hardware to de-risk execution and manage costs.Apr 2026

▶Following the Lululemon acquisition, the Mirror business was ultimately sold to Peloton, the original hardware is no longer sold, and existing devices now stream Peloton content.Apr 2026

▶Putnam's new company, Bored, has developed a touchscreen console that uses a custom software stack and embedded AI to recognize unique physical game pieces without electronics in them.Apr 2026

Points of debate

▶While the sale of Mirror to Lululemon for $500 million was a significant financial success, the subsequent sale to Peloton and discontinuation of the product line represents a failure to sustain the original vision and business.Apr 2026

▶Putnam expresses pride in the original Mirror product and its rapid success, but also criticizes the degradation of the user experience under Peloton's ownership, where landscape-oriented content is streamed to portrait-oriented hardware.Apr 2026

▶Putnam's entrepreneurial journey includes both the successful launch and high-value exit of Mirror, as well as the closure of her brick-and-mortar HIIT studios which operated for 10 years before shutting down during the COVID-19 pandemic.Apr 2026

▶Putnam's fundraising approach has evolved from using a non-functional 'smoke and mirrors' prototype to secure Mirror's seed round, to leveraging her past success to raise a $15 million seed round for Bored from her previous investors.Apr 2026

Key themes

▶Hardware De-Risking and Software InnovationApr 2026

A core theme in Putnam's strategy is the deliberate choice to use mature, commodity hardware (like touchscreens) and focus innovation, investment, and intellectual property on the software layer. This was the strategy for Mirror and is being repeated with Bored, which uses a custom AI stack to give a standard touchscreen novel capabilities.

This strategy minimizes manufacturing risk and supply chain complexity, allowing the company to focus capital on creating a defensible software moat and unique user experience, which is likely more attractive to venture investors.

▶The Full Lifecycle of a Startup ExitApr 2026

The narrative provides a complete arc for Mirror, from its 2016 seed funding and 2018 launch to its $500 million acquisition in 2020 and its eventual sale to Peloton and discontinuation. Putnam reflects on the financial success of the exit but also the subsequent degradation and termination of the product she created.

This case study highlights the significant risk to a founder's product vision post-acquisition, demonstrating that a successful financial exit does not guarantee the long-term survival or integrity of the original product.

▶Novel Human-Computer Interaction (HCI)Apr 2026

Putnam's current venture, Bored, is centered on creating a new form of physical-digital interaction. The technology enables a touchscreen to recognize the identity, location, and movement of physical game pieces that contain no electronics, using capacitive patterns and proprietary machine learning models. This is supported by an acqui-hired HCI team.

Putnam is betting on a new interaction paradigm that blends the tactile nature of board games with the dynamic possibilities of digital software, potentially creating a new market category for 'phygital' gaming.

▶Pragmatic and Iterative EntrepreneurshipApr 2026

Putnam's career shows a pattern of pragmatic business creation, starting with a fitness studio funded by $15,000 in personal savings. For Mirror, she secured seed funding with a non-functional prototype that sold the user experience. Now with Bored, she has leveraged her track record to raise a substantial $15 million seed round from previous investors.

Her fundraising and startup strategy adapts to her circumstances, demonstrating a savvy ability to use the resources and reputation available at each stage of her entrepreneurial journey to achieve the next milestone.

Source episodes

Sentiment over time

Not enough data for timeline

Changes over time

Pre-2016

Started her first business, a fitness studio, using $15,000 in personal savings from her career as a professional dancer. The studios operated for 10 years.

Fall 2016

Raised initial seed funding for her new company, Mirror, using a non-functional 'smoke and mirrors' prototype to demonstrate the concept.

September 2018

Launched the Mirror product after approximately two years of development.

March 2020

Sold Mirror to Lululemon for approximately $500 million, less than two years after launch.

2021

Closed her brick-and-mortar HIIT studios due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Post-2020

Lululemon sold the Mirror business to Peloton. Putnam founded her next company, Bored, and raised a seed round of approximately $15 million from previous Mirror investors.

Suggested prompts

How does Bryn Putnam's strategy of building software IP on commodity hardware impact the scalability and defensibility of her ventures compared to vertically integrated competitors? &nearr;What does the full lifecycle of Mirror—from its $500M acquisition to its eventual discontinuation by Peloton—reveal about the risks of post-acquisition integration in the connected fitness industry? &nearr;Analyze the technological innovation of Bored's physical-digital interface. What are the primary challenges and market opportunities for this new form of human-computer interaction? &nearr;Compare and contrast Bryn Putnam's fundraising tactics for Mirror (using a non-functional prototype) versus Bored (leveraging past investors), and what does this evolution indicate about her standing as a founder? &nearr;

Key concepts

Mirror (company) 1 ep Bored (company) 1 ep Hardware Strategy 1 ep Software & AI/ML 1 ep Fundraising 1 ep Acquisitions & M&A 1 ep Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) 1 ep Product Development 1 ep Entrepreneurship 1 ep

Notable quotes

“Was it sad to leave and then watch the company basically go to zero I mean it was sold to Peloton and doesn exist anymore”

Bryn Putnam · She Sold Her Startup for $500 Million, Here’s Her Next Idea

“we spent two years training a 24-inch touchscreen to do what no other touchscreen can do, which is recognize physical pieces, what the piece is, where it is on the board, and what it's doing in real time.”

Bryn Putnam · She Sold Her Startup for $500 Million, Here’s Her Next Idea

“our pieces don't have any electronics or sensors in them, but they do have a special unique pattern on the base that's made with capacitive material that allows the board to recognize what the object is, where it is, and what orientation it's at in real time.”

Bryn Putnam · She Sold Her Startup for $500 Million, Here’s Her Next Idea

“was building a prototype that was basically an animated explainer video behind a piece of one-way glass in this very hacky frame that really showed you what it was going to feel like, but was not functional.”

Bryn Putnam · She Sold Her Startup for $500 Million, Here’s Her Next Idea

Report last updated: Apr 21, 2026

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