PULSE CHECK ISSUE NO. 02
Recalibrating the Future of Human Performance
From brain labs and autonomous racing to gamified fitness and temperature-regulating tech, this edition maps the next evolution of performance. But it’s not just about chasing extremes, it’s about refining how we live, train, recover, and sustain, starting with the basics.
Whether you're an athlete pushing physical limits, a founder managing relentless cognitive load, or a builder shaping the next wave of wellness infrastructure, consider this your scan of the performance landscape. What’s working, what’s emerging, and what’s worth your focus.
🔍 Field Notes: Frontlines of the Future of Performance
From brain labs to autonomous race cars, what we’re seeing, learning, and bringing back
🧠 NESTRE: Cognitive Training, Expanded
Willpower CEO Bill recently visited NESTRE Human Performance in Florida, a neuroscience and AI-driven training center founded by former collegiate football player Dr. Tommy Shavers. NESTRE helps high performers build mental stamina, focus, and recovery through personalized cognitive training.
Now, they’re scaling. Fast.
From launching a West Coast location in Monterey to being featured at Rolex Motorsports Weekend, Concourso Italiano, and the 75th Anniversary of Formula 1, NESTRE is leaning into high-stakes performance culture. On the tech side, they’ve rolled out App Release 1.5 and a streamlined Neurolabs platform, improving cognitive scoring, reporting, and user experience across corporate, collegiate, and individual settings. They’ve also secured collaborations and partnerships with AdventHealth, Exos, U.S. Dept of Veteran Affairs and SimLEARN VHA, with pilots in the works for 50+ bespoke wellness sites.
Why it matters: As mental performance becomes non-negotiable, NESTRE is building the infrastructure to make cognitive health measurable, scalable, and actionable across industries.
🧪 CODE19 & Autonomous Racing: Where AI Meets Human Potential
Last month, Bill had the opportunity to attend the CODE19 Summit, a high-level gathering focused on autonomy, artificial intelligence, and national security. One of the most striking initiatives discussed? The fusion of AI and motorsport. specifically, the development of autonomous racecars that can operate and learn in high-speed, high-pressure environments.
What does racing have to do with human performance? A lot more than you’d think.
Autonomous racing isn’t just about eliminating drivers, it’s a proving ground for AI decision-making under extreme conditions. The lessons learned here have direct implications for military readiness, cognitive load management, and real-time adaptability. The Department of Defense is already watching closely, as these systems could one day support human operators in mission-critical scenarios.
But what’s especially interesting is how these initiatives are now exploring hybrid autonomy models—where humans and machines work together, not apart. Think: AI copilots that augment focus, reduce response time, and extend human capacity without replacing it.
Why it matters: While much of human performance has focused inward, nutrition, recovery, resilience, this is a clear signal that performance augmentation is headed outward, too. In the future, the edge won’t just be what’s inside your body, it’ll be how seamlessly you can interact with the intelligent systems around you.
🏋️ When Boutique Goes Big
The boutique fitness world is booming, and investors have taken notice. In recent years, private equity and venture capital firms have poured funding into top-performing studio concepts, helping them scale nationally and sharpen their infrastructure.
This kind of backing can be game-changing: access to capital allows studios to open more locations, invest in tech, and streamline operations. But with rapid growth often come growing pains. As these brands scale, some early adopters are noticing a shift, packed classes, stretched instructors, and less of the personal, high-touch experience that originally set them apart.
Some notable examples include:
Solidcore, acquired by L Catterton (backed by LVMH), is expanding aggressively, aiming to double its footprint by 2028.
Barry’s Bootcamp, backed by PE since 2015, was recently acquired again by Princeton Equity Group.
Crunch and EōS Fitness have each been involved in billion-dollar PE-backed transactions, signaling a broader trend toward mass-market fitness consolidation.
Why it matters: There’s no doubt investment accelerates access and scale, but the challenge is maintaining brand integrity along the way. For wellness operators, it raises a key question: how do you grow without losing the soul of the experience?
🎮 Ergatta x iFIT: Performance Gets a Gaming Engine
Ergatta, the connected rower known for its game-based interface, just announced a major expansion of its partnership with iFIT, unlocking new content, gameplay modes, and fitness modalities across both platforms.
It’s not just rowing anymore, this partnership paves the way for Ergatta’s signature game logic to expand into cycling, strength, running, and more, delivered across iFIT’s connected hardware. Think leaderboards, unlockable challenges, and skill progression, a full-blown gaming engine layered over your workout routine.
Why it matters: Gamification isn’t a gimmick, it’s a proven driver of consistency, motivation, and habit formation. As fitness becomes more digital, the brands that win will be the ones that combine purpose, play, and progression. This could be a blueprint for how fitness hardware evolves into full-on performance ecosystems.
🔁 Fuel / Rest / Regulate
Daily rituals and tools for long-haul performance.
💥 Creatine, Reconsidered
Long relegated to the gym locker room, creatine is finally getting the mainstream recognition it deserves, not just as a muscle-building aid, but as a powerful tool for cognition, recovery, and overall resilience. Backed by decades of research, creatine supplementation has been shown to support mental clarity, short-term memory, and cellular energy, benefits that extend far beyond the weight rack.
Today, it's showing up in new contexts: used by endurance athletes to delay fatigue, by founders looking to reduce brain fog, and by aging populations to preserve muscle mass and cognitive sharpness.
Why it matters: Creatine is one of the most well-researched, effective, and affordable performance tools available, yet it's still misunderstood or overlooked due to outdated stereotypes. As the performance landscape shifts toward holistic, lifespan-driven optimization, it's critical we separate science from stigma. This isn’t just about bulking; it’s about building a foundation for how we think, move, and recover across every chapter of life.
😴 Eight Sleep’s Sleep Fitness Innovation
Eight Sleep, founded in 2014 in NYC, has pioneered the concept of “sleep fitness”, using biometric AI mattresses (Pods) to enhance recovery through temperature regulation and tracking. Their partnership roster now includes Formula 1 champion Charles Leclerc, who serves as both an investor and ambassador. Leclerc credits the Pod’s actionable sleep data with giving him a performance edge under grueling race conditions.
This year, Eight Sleep unveiled its Women’s Sleep Initiative, launching Hot Flash Mode, a rapid-response cooling feature designed to relieve menopausal night sweats. In tests, nearly 80% of users felt relief within 10 minutes, and menopausal sleepers experienced on average 55% fewer hot flashes. These insights now power in-app “Hot Flash Reports” that track and personalize recovery.
Why it matters: Women have long been overlooked in sleep and recovery innovation, most tools in this category were designed around male physiology, with little consideration for hormonal shifts, menopause, or real-world user experience. Eight Sleep’s latest initiative doesn’t just offer recognition, it offers a real solution. By pairing personalized technology with lived female experience, it marks a major breakthrough in closing the gender gap in performance-focused recovery.
🔥 Heatables: Thermal Comfort, Reimagined
A recent study out of the University of Tsukuba in Japan introduced a prototype in-ear wearable called Heatables, which uses near-infrared and infrared LEDs to gently raise the body’s perceived ambient temperature by approximately 1.5°C (~2.7°F). Without actually increasing skin temperature, this subtle shift helped participants feel warmer, more comfortable, and more cognitively steady in a chilly setting.
The trial involved 24 participants placed in a cool office environment (17.5°C / 63.5°F) for 150 minutes. Those using Heatables reported significantly delayed cold discomfort and higher thermal acceptability—even in parts of the body untouched by the device.
While Heatables are not yet commercially available, the research points toward a future of micro-regulation tech: discreet, wearable tools that help people maintain comfort, clarity, and mood stability in overstimulating or uncomfortable environments (think: freezing office buildings, drafty studios, long-haul flights).
Why it matters: Not all performance tools need to shock the system. Heatables offer a glimpse into ambient resilience—quiet tech that helps the nervous system stay balanced without the extremes. If cold plunges are a hard reset, this is your steady-state layer. It’s early, but promising—and worth keeping an eye on.
🗽 Catalyst Series NYC: Quick Bits from the Big Apple
Last Tuesday, we hosted Catalyst Series: Cutting Through the Noise in NYC, bringing together 75+ brand leaders across CPG, wellness, and performance to talk honestly about what it really takes to break through in saturated markets.
Our panel, Manny Lubin (Co-Founder, Slate Milk), Robbie Bent (CEO & Co-Founder, Othership), and Tatiana Kuzmowycz (VP of Brand, WHOOP), set the tone with stories of building with vulnerability, leading with intention, and creating brands that center real human connection.
The conversation hit on everything from nostalgic indulgence with a functional edge (Slate), to the irony of tracking sleep while sacrificing it for impact (WHOOP), to the rise of sober social spaces that double as wellness experiences (Othership).
A few takeaways that stuck:
Wellness doesn’t have to be joyless, or isolating.
Performance doesn’t mean perfection.
And growth isn’t just about standing out, it’s about building something that people feel.
Drinks were flowing, the room was buzzing past bedtime, and connection was the real ROI.
If you're building in the CPG, wellness, or performance space—you're gonna want to be in the room.
We’ve got two upcoming Catalyst Series events:
📍 Austin – August 19 | Partnerships for Growth
Don’t miss out; the conversations keep getting better.
🧠 Closing Thoughts
Not Just Stronger, Smarter. More Grounded. More Resilient.
The future of performance isn’t about intensity for intensity’s sake, it’s about integration. The tools covered here aren’t trends; they’re signals. They reflect a shift away from quick fixes and toward systems that support clarity, adaptability, and endurance, physically, mentally, and emotionally.
As the line blurs between technology and biology, what matters most is not how hard we push, but how intelligently we operate.
Performance isn’t a peak to chase, it’s a state to cultivate.
Let’s build from there.
🛰️ Up Next: Feds Supernova Afterparty
Where Innovation Meets Real Conversation
📍 August 20 | 6:00–9:30 PM
After a day of panels, pitches, and policy at Feds Supernova, join us to change up the pace.
We’re bringing together founders, operators, and builders working at the edge of defense, wellness, and dual-use innovation for an invite-only afterparty designed for deeper connection.
No pitches, no pressure. Just thoughtful conversations in a space where the future of performance, tech, and human systems intersect.
Hosted by Willpower. Curated for those building what’s next.
This event is invite-only and open to Feds Supernova 2025 attendees.
