Headspace: Andy Puddicombe and Rich Pierson

How I Built This · 23 Sept 2019 · 1h 12m

What this episode covers

Andy Puddicombe, a former Buddhist monk, and Rich Pierson, a former advertising executive, co-founded the meditation app Headspace after meeting in London. They initially attempted to scale meditation through live events and physical collateral before pivoting to a digital app, securing early funding from Pierson’s father and leveraging partnerships with Virgin Atlantic and The Guardian for distribution. The episode also covers the postscript story of Jensen Brehm and Nikolai Paloni, who founded Ombraz Sunglasses after a broken pair of glasses inspired them to create armless shades using waxed cords.

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