Uploaded July 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago

---

Will Ahmed was 22 when he started building WHOOP out of the Harvard Innovation Labs. He had never started a company or held a full-time job.

He says 143 investors rejected him before WHOOP became one of the biggest names in wearables.

Today, WHOOP is valued at $10.1 billion and has 2.7 million members across more than 200 countries.

Watch the latest episode of “Founder Effect” on the link below to see how Ahmed turned a personal health problem into a screenless wearable used by athletes including LeBron James, Cristiano Ronaldo and Michael Phelps.

#CNBC #CNBCMakeIt #Entrepreneur #FounderEffect #WHOOP

-----

Subscribe: @cnbci

CNBC International Live: @cnbcinternationalive

LinkedIn: linkedin.com/showcase/cnbc

TikTok: tiktok.com/@cnbc

Facebook: facebook.com/cnbc

Instagram: instagram.com/cnbc

Threads: threads.net/@cnbc

X: twitter.com/CNBC

Telegram: https://t.me/cnbc