Brynn Putnam has stepped down as CEO of Mirror. The news arrives via a leaked memo to staff also viewed by TechCrunch that notes her exit from the top spot at the connected fitness startup she founded back in 2016. Putnam will continue on as an advisor through next July.
This comes a little over a year after fitness lifestyle brand Lululemon purchased the company at the height of a pandemic-fueled shift toward home fitness.
When we spoke to her in November, the professional ballet dancer-turned chief executive noted, “Mirror was not for sale. We were not looking for an acquirer. But it’s really your responsibility as a founder to always be weighing your vision, your responsibility to your team and your responsibility to your shareholders. And so when the opportunity presented itself — before COVID actually — it felt like really just too good an opportunity to pass up.”
SAN FRANCISCO, CA – SEPTEMBER 06: Mirror Founder and CEO Brynn Putnam (L) and moderator Lucas Matney speak onstage during Day 2 of TechCrunch Disrupt SF 2018 at Moscone Center on September 6, 2018 in San Francisco, California. (Photo by Steve Jennings/Getty Images for TechCrunch)
In her stead, a trio of Mirror executives — Tess Hales, Olivia Lange and Kristie D’Ambrosio-Correll — will serve as co-heads of the brand, reporting to Lululemon CEO Calvin McDonald, as the company searches for a replacement for Putnam.
In quarterly earnings posted earlier this year, Lululemon forecasted up to $700 million in revenue by 2023, for the brand it purchased for $500 million last year. The figure is based on a potential 600,000 subscribers — though Mirror’s parent doesn’t break out specific hardware figures. COVID-19 has been a major driver for the category at large, while questions remain as to how much of that spending will regress as gyms around the country reopen.
Lululemon currently offers Mirror in 150 of its retail locations, with plans to expand to another 50 by end of year — the retail footprint is a clear bid to compete with Peloton’s successful storefront model. The company is also eyeing expansion into Canada.
Lululemon has declined to comment on the news.