Will Ahmed, the Egyptian-American founder of wearable fitness tracker Whoop, says the success of the company and its products can be linked to his upbringing.
Mr Ahmed told The National he credits his father's decision to roll the dice and make a go of it in the US with fuelling his entrepreneurial journey.
"There's some symmetry there in taking risks as a young man and chasing your dreams, I think, that's really in my DNA," he said, noting that he founded Whoop in 2012 when he was 22, the same age his father was when he came to the US.
Mr Ahmed, a Harvard University graduate, said he wanted to take "cumbersome and expensive" medical technology and scale it down into a much smaller form.
What emerged was a watch-like, screenless device that keeps track of heart health, steps and sleep that can go up to 14 days without a charge.
The first Whoop wearable was introduced in 2015, entering a very crowded market that included big names such as Apple, Samsung, Google, Garmin and others.
Mr Ahmed looks back on the company's entrance into the wearable sector with a mixture of humour and amazement.
"I think everyone was sceptical, especially in the early days," he said. "I wasn't an engineer, computer scientist or a doctor, but I was looking to build a company that was at the intersection of hardware, software, design and medicine."
Yet years later, Whoop – which began in the Harvard Innovation Labs – has continued to gain momentum.
It now counts Cristiano Ronaldo as one of its many investors, and the wearable fitness trackers are used by popular professional athletes in just about every sport category.
Mr Ahmed says much of Whoop's success can be attributed to the company's focus on fitness tracking, health data and simplicity.
The wearables, which operate on a subscription model, do not have a screen like many of their competitors, but they synch with smartphones and mobile devices.
Mr Ahmed said relatively few customers are tempted to leave Whoop.
"We have a very loyal base that opens the app every day and they're getting feedback from Whoop data, checking sleep and recovery first thing in the morning," he said.
Though he declined to say how many devices Whoop has sold, Mr Ahmed said his wearable company shows no sign of slowing down.
He also spoke about the product's popularity in the Middle East.
"It has felt very natural to be travelling around the region as an entrepreneur today and seeing those markets grow and expand," he said, reflecting on several projects Whoop has in the works for places such as the UAE, where it was the official wearable sponsor of the 2025 Dubai Fitness Challenge.
"We're bringing Advanced Labs to the Middle East next year, especially the UAE," Mr Ahmed said, referring to the company's "clinician-reviewed plans" and lab-testing partnerships, which seek to provide a "complete view" of user health.
He added that improving the quality of sleep was a high priority.
"The UAE currently ranks third lowest globally for sleep performance," Mr Ahmed said. "The lowest performing is India and following that is Singapore."
Whoop's app, he said, includes a sleep coach he hopes will help to improve sleep quality not just in the UAE but around the world.
Despite all of the features described by Whoop's chief executive, plentiful offerings are not necessarily a guarantee of success. The technology scrap heap is filled with companies that offered superior products that failed to catch on.
Mr Ahmed, however, said Whoop has a keen understanding of why users love the products.
"We won't be losing sight of fitness tracking," he said. Whoop users can expect more features that revolve around strength training functionality, he added: "Health is the north star of these devices and so many companies seem to lose sight of that."
For Mr Ahmed, a long-time fitness aficionado, cracking the code to helping others stay healthy keeps him excited about Whoop's future. From an overall product standpoint, Mr Ahmed did not rule out the possibilities "pushing in a number of new directions" but, ultimately, Whoop is deeply mindful of its fitness-tracking origins.
He also had a message for aspiring entrepreneurs throughout the Middle East.
Starting a business may be harder than many think but he said "it's not nearly as difficult as they tell you".
"It will be a rewarding journey as long as you find a problem that you truly want to solve," he said. "Becoming an entrepreneur tests you in just about every way. But it's important to know there's a big difference between very hard and impossible."
