Making waves with CITYROW Founder and Author Helaine Knapp
Lessons from an entrepreneur that experienced a rapid rise and fall of a company
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Helene Knapp, the founder of CITYROW and author of Making Waves, shares the real, raw, and gritty story of her journey as an entrepreneur building and ultimately winding down CITYROW.
Here is an excerpt from the Helaine’s book:
“This is not your typical hero's journey. This isn't a rainbows and butterflies fairytale. This is the real, raw and gritty story that is unfortunately more like the untold stories of most founders. So if you choose this path, admire this path or are in some way a part of this path, know you're not alone in the loneliness, the heartbreak and the true insanity it takes to embark on this start-up journey.
Helaine founded CITYROW in 2014 as a brick-and-mortar fitness studio with a focus on intelligently designed workouts before expanding into the digital space during the connected fitness boom alongside companies like Ergatta and Peloton. In this episode, we dive into Helaine’s insights on building and scaling a business, the challenges she faced, and the lessons she learned throughout her entrepreneurial journey. See the top takeaways below.
Episode Highlights (~1.5 Minutes, Full Episode Linked Above)
Top Takeaways
The Realities of Entrepreneurship:
Helaine discusses the challenges and heartbreaks of the startup journey, emphasizing that her story is more reflective of the true experiences of many founders.Founding and Growing CITYROW: Helaine shares how a personal injury led her to found CITYROW in 2014. She highlights the importance of intelligently designed fitness and how CITYROW was one of the early adopters of the digital at-home connected fitness space, which positioned them well during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Navigating Market Challenges: Helaine talks about the difficulties faced in acquiring customers during the peak of the connected fitness boom and the subsequent decline in demand. She explains how the company tried to adapt by being scrappier, cutting costs, and eventually deciding to sell the company to WaterRower.
The Emotional Journey of Winding Down: Helaine reflects on the emotional challenges of winding down CITYROW, sharing how it was an incredible journey despite the difficulties. She emphasizes the importance of asking for help and normalizing the support needed by founders and builders.
Resources
Full List of Topics Covered
Helaine personal injury and the founding of CITYROW
The importance of intelligently designed fitness
Early adoption of digital at-home connected fitness
Challenges during the peak of the connected fitness boom
Decision to sell CITYROW to WaterRower
Emotional and practical challenges of winding down a company
The need for support and asking for help as a founder
Reflections on the entrepreneurial journey
Hope you enjoy the conversation. Feel free to share and let me know if anything resonates with you in the comments.
-Adam
Dang...this is powerful. Great interview and share.
“This is not your typical hero's journey. This isn't a rainbows and butterflies fairytale. This is the real, raw and gritty story that is unfortunately more like the untold stories of most founders. So if you choose this path, admire this path or are in some way a part of this path, know you're not alone in the loneliness, the heartbreak and the true insanity it takes to embark on this start-up journey.