A small but growing number of founders are betting on bringing people together offline

https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/StrictlyVC-with-Brynn-Putnam-and-Tristan-Walker.jpg?resize=1200,800

Brynn Putnam and Tristan Walker have already done something that most founders only dream about: created companies so compelling that bigger outfits bought them. Putnam, a trained ballerina with a small chain of boutique studios, built the connected-fitness company Mirror and sold it to Lululemon for $500 million in cash less than three years later. Walker, who interned at Twitter while at Stanford business school, built the popular men’s grooming brand Walker & Company Brands, selling it five years later to Procter & Gamble for undisclosed terms (reportedly in the range of $20 million to $40 million).

That both of them are at it again is less surprising than what each is building. Founders tend not to love working inside other people’s companies — Putnam has hinted that life as a GM inside Lululemon wasn’t for her, while Walker lasted five years inside Procter & Gamble before striking out...

Copyright of this story solely belongs to techcrunch.com. To see the full text click HERE

Read more