Ben Katz
Founder and CEO at HYBRD
In this episode of the Startupr Founder Series, we sit down with Ben Katz, founder and CEO of HYBRD, an AI powered performance hub built for the modern athlete.
Before launching HYBRD, Ben led growth at WHOOP and managed the fitness app portfolio at Appex, gaining deep insight into how athletes and everyday users interact with health and performance tools.
Now, with HYBRD, he is unifying strength, cardio, and recovery data into one platform. From validating product ideas to scaling through Y Combinator, Ben shares what it takes to build in one of the most competitive consumer markets.
Watch the full interview above or dive into the key highlights below.
The Vision for HYBRD: Uniting Strength, Cardio, and Recovery
Ben describes HYBRD as the hub at the center of performance metrics. Athletes today rarely fit into just one training category. Runners lift, lifters run, and everyone uses multiple tools to track progress. HYBRD pulls all that data into one space and uses AI to fill missing inputs.
You can log workouts via voice, image recognition, or manual entry, and HYBRD turns that into structured, comparable data across modalities.
“The modern athlete wants to be strong and fast. HYBRD is the unified platform for that.”
Lessons from WHOOP and Data Driven Mindset
At WHOOP, every decision was tied to metrics. Each team built hypotheses, measured impact, and iterated with data. Ben carried that rigor into founding HYBRD.
“We ask ourselves: what metric shows we’re solving a real problem? How would we prove that it works?”
Even without full data yet, HYBRD structures decisions around what metrics would validate each hypothesis — forcing discipline, prioritization, and focus.
✅ Related reading: Howard Lerman on building Roam
Validating with Users Before Building
HYBRD’s origin story is grounded in personal pain and user empathy. The founding team was tracking workouts across spreadsheets because nothing else unified strength and cardio.
Rather than assume others felt the same, they conducted over 150 user interviews before writing a line of code. Each conversation ended with referrals — this created a referral network and first waitlist of users.
“Those early conversations did more than validate the idea — they built community and credibility.”
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The Founding Member Program: A Smart Launch Strategy
With just 10 weeks between conception and YC Demo Day, Ben’s team launched a Founding Member Program as a proof point for demand and commitment.
They offered lifetime access for 25 members at $200. Benefits included swag, early access, and direct input into product development. They received over 70 applications and expanded to 30 memberships.
“We thought selling 25 would be tough. We sold all spots in days. Those users became our biggest promoters.”
That early base delivered feedback, evangelism, and word-of-mouth growth.
✅ Recommended reading: Travis Rosser on scaling with purpose
Building the MVP: Focus on the Core Problem
Ben’s team held firm: build the simplest version of their vision that solves a singular problem.
HYBRD’s V1 simply aggregated workouts from connected platforms into one dashboard. No analytics, no insights, just unified data.
To accelerate integration, they partnered with Terra API, which aggregates fitness data like Plaid does for finance. That single connection unlocked access to platforms like Garmin, Apple Watch, Whoop, and Polar — speeding up HYBRD’s time to market.
“Our first version just brought all the data together. That foundational step proved value immediately.”
Growth and Retention: Metrics That Matter
From the start, retention was a priority over acquisition. Ben’s strategy: build features that users engage with daily.
They designed the Hybrid Score, a composite performance metric combining strength and cardio metrics. It is normalized for age, weight, and gender to allow benchmarking.
They also extended Training Load to include both cardiovascular and muscular stress — filling a gap in existing platforms that only measure cardio load.
These insights help users avoid overtraining, understand tradeoffs, and stay in optimal zones.
“You may feel ready based on heart rate, but your muscles might tell a different story. HYBRD captures both.”
Creative Growth and Guerilla Marketing
Ben’s growth playbook blends imagination with scrappiness.
He built side projects like RoastMyWorkout.com, where users upload workout screenshots for a humorous AI critique. He also placed QR flyers in HYROX event bathrooms offering free performance analysis to attendees.
“It sounds wild, but athletes noticed. Those QR codes turned into users.”
These creative lead magnets drove organic growth, email lists, and word-of-mouth momentum without heavy ad spend.
✅ Related reading: Daniel Snaider on systematizing outreach
YC, Speed, and Fundraising Lessons
Ben calls Y Combinator a game changer — for speed, mindset, and accountability.
“YC pushed us to launch sooner than we thought possible and charge almost immediately.”
He emphasizes:
Speed matters early — experiment, learn, iterate
Metrics must align with monetization and traction
The YC founder community offers support and sanity in chaos
“Founders are lonely. YC gave me people who get it.”
Advice to Founders: Launch, Learn, Iterate
Ben’s advice is direct:
Launch earlier than you feel comfortable
Validate pay before scaling features
Retention beats acquisition in long run
Trust your instincts, filter investor noise
He also noted a line from Brian Chesky that resonates:
“VCs sit courtside at the game, but that doesn’t make them the coach.”
Ben urges founders to stay conviction-driven and deliberate.
Connect with Ben Katz
Ben is open to connecting with founders building in fitness tech, performance, or product led communities.
HYBRD Website: https://www.hybrd.app/
LinkedIn: Ben Katz
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