Episode 439: Ben Katz - CEO & Co-Founder, HYBRD

Episode 439 of The VentureFizz Podcast features Ben Katz, CEO & Co-Founder of HYBRD. Did you know that Y Combinator originated right here in Boston back in 2005? It was a legendary cohort with names like Sam Altman, Alexis Ohanian (yes, Reddit started in Boston), and Justin Kan all working on startups in Cambridge for the summer. While the accelerator decided to keep the program exclusive to Silicon Valley long ago, Ben Katz and his team at HYBRD are proving that Boston founders can still break through YC’s ultra-competitive admissions process and leverage that momentum, learnings, and network to build a high-growth startup in Boston. Ben is a WHOOP alum and a lifelong athlete who realized that existing fitness apps were limited and didn’t tell the full picture. To solve this, he co-founded HYBRD, an AI-powered fitness coach that integrates with your wearable devices and apps like Apple, WHOOP, Garmin, and many others. It takes the data from all these sources to create personalized, adaptive training plans that automatically adjust around your life, recovery, and daily schedule. In this episode, we cover: 00:00 Introduction to Ben Katz and HYBRD 03:35 Quick Details on HYBRD 04:43 Applying and Getting into Y Combinator 09:25 What the YC Experience Was Like 11:47 Ben's Background & Early Career 16:54 Working at WHOOP 17:45 Building Fitness Apps at Appex 20:22 The Founding Story of HYBRD 24:28 How HYBRD is Different in the Fitness Category 26:56 Boston's Fitness Tech Ecosystem 28:45 All the Details about HYBRD & How it Works 33:28 HYBRD's Acquisition Strategy 37:05 HYBRD Funding Details 38:07 Details on the HYBRD Team 38:47 Advice for Building a Consumer Company 39:45 What Makes a Great Product Manager 40:47 The Importance of Building a Personal Brand & Voice 44:09 Ben's LinkedIn Strategy 44:45 Building in Boston vs. San Francisco 47:42 Favorite Apps and Recommendations 48:32 Book / Podcast Recommendations 50:26 Hobbies Outside of Work