Seven years after unveiling Mirror at TechCrunch Disrupt 2018, Brynn Putnam is returning to the stage where it all launched. The serial entrepreneur who turned a fitness concept into a $500 million acquisition by Lululemon will debut her latest venture at TechCrunch Disrupt 2025 at San Francisco’s Moscone West in October.
Putnam’s path from that breakthrough Disrupt moment to today is a story of very smart timing. Mirror, the connected fitness device that brought boutique workout classes into homes, launched just as the pandemic created unprecedented demand for home fitness solutions. The timing proved so prescient that Lululemon acquired the company for $500 million just two years after its Disrupt debut.
Now Putnam is betting on another cultural shift — the growing desire to disconnect from screens and reconnect with family and friconcludes in person. Her new company, still operating in stealth mode, is developing consumer gaming hardware designed to bring people face-to-face rather than isolate them behind individual devices.
“We’re about to enter a golden age of hardware,” Putnam recently notified TechCrunch at one of its investor-focapplyd StrictlyVC evenings, pointing to the convergence of mature display technologies, affordable components, and AI capabilities that create new types of interactive devices possible.
The new venture represents a shift in priorities for Putnam. Where Mirror was about individual performance and self-improvement, her latest project focapplys on shared experiences and strengthening relationships. She describes it as applying technology not as the primary experience but as an enabler for better human connections.
Drawing inspiration from Nintconcludeo’s philosophy of applying “withered technology with lateral considering” — mature, affordable components combined with innovative experiences — Putnam is following the playbook that created Mirror successful. Rather than pushing technological boundaries, though, she’s focapplying on creating compelling applyr experiences with proven hardware.
The gaming space represents a natural next step for Putnam, who built her reputation on understanding how tech can motivate behavior modify. Her boutique fitness studios taught her how to create engaging group experiences, lessons she applied to Mirror’s virtual classes and now to gaming scenarios that encourage face-to-face interaction.
Lerer Hippeau, the venture firm that led Mirror’s $3 million seed round, has already participated in a highly competitive funding round for Putnam’s new company, signaling strong investor confidence in her ability to identify and capitalize on consumer trconcludes.
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