Behind the Scenes of the ‘Most Ambitious Launch’ in WHOOP’s History

You’ll never hear anyone at WHOOP tell another person to “act their age.”

The company knows that age is simply a number based on a person’s birth certificate, not an accurate indication of the rate at which that individual’s body is aging. So its team thought: Why not gauge a person’s physiological age to render a more accurate picture of their health?

This was the thought process behind one of WHOOP’s newest product features, Healthspan. The feature analyzes nine key metrics to calculate an individual’s “WHOOP Age” to assess whether their body is aging faster or slower than their chronological age, while highlighting daily actions that affect their long-term health the most. 

“[Customers] wanted to know if their choices were compounding toward better health,” Senior Product Manager Emily Smith said. “That insight shaped Healthspan, which gives members a holistic, scientifically grounded view of their trajectory.”

Healthspan is simply one feature that defines both WHOOP 5.0 and WHOOP MG, the company’s newest wearable wellness devices. This new class of products reflects a commitment to technological innovation and an unrelenting focus on those who leverage the devices to take charge of their personal well-being.

“We’re not afraid to take bold bets, but we pair ambition with a deep focus on the member experience,” Smith said. 

WHOOP 5.0 and WHOOP MG are designed to empower the company’s members to improve performance and extend longevity, which Senior Director of Strategic Initiatives Patrick Pash believes sets the company apart from other wearable device developers.  

“Whether members seek peak performance, sharper focus or long-term health, WHOOP now meets them wherever they are in their journey,” he said.

The Work Behind WHOOP’s Latest Launch

Creating Healthspan challenged Smith “both technically and emotionally” as a product manager. In addition to defining the vision and strategy for the feature, she also took part in over 50 member interviews to understand how people interpret long-term health data and coaching, ensuring the company balanced scientific accuracy with a motivating experience. 

“It pushed me to advocate across disciplines, navigate hard tradeoffs and always return to our mission,” she said. “I came away more confident, curious and energized than ever by what we can build at WHOOP.”

Smith’s team worked closely with the company’s engineering, data science, design, marketing and performance science divisions, relying on weekly syncs to flag blockers early on and maintain momentum. She noted that the creation of fast feedback loops became critical to fostering seamless collaboration. 

“That helped us stay nimble and aligned without losing sight of the bigger picture,” Smith said. 

When WHOOP’s teams came together to bring WHOOP 5.0 and WHOOP MG to life, they weren’t just committed to the member experience — they were “obsessed” with it. 

“Every last-minute change, every design iteration, was grounded in delivering a better product for our members,” Elizabeth Schanne, Head of Hardware Program Management, said. 

“Every last-minute change, every design iteration, was grounded in delivering a better product for our members.”

She helped oversee the inception of several key features offered by WHOOP 5.0 and WHOOP MG, including the Wireless Powerpack, which provides 14 days of device battery life. Schanne explained that long battery life is critical to the company’s devices, especially considering many members rely on the devices’ medically cleared features to manage health conditions. 

“One of the most surprising and exciting realizations was just how exceptional the battery life turned out to be,” she recalled. “Battery life is crucial to enabling 24/7 wear for our members, so both hardware and software teams continually pursue power optimization.”

According to Schanne, the creation of WHOOP 5.0 and WHOOP MG marks the first launch of multiple membership tiers, each with its own distinct hardware. That means the company’s hardware team was tasked with developing four unique devices while aligning each one with the same launch timeline. 

“To manage this complexity, we structured the hardware engineering team into focused workstreams for each product, while maintaining shared technical leadership across the programs,” she said. “This balance between decentralized execution and centralized strategy enabled us to deliver all three tiers with a relatively lean team.”

Schanne’s team worked closely with nearly every function at the company, including marketing, finance and product, which was critical to carrying out what she considers “the most ambitious launch in WHOOP’s history.” 

Throughout the development of WHOOP 5.0 and WHOOP MG, Pash worked closely with nearly every function across the company. While some weeks required him to “think from a 4,000-foot view,” other weeks compelled him to “parachute in” to tackle pressing issues — and throughout it all, he learned what it meant to embrace the unknown.

“I became more comfortable with ambiguity and pressure, learning to stay composed, focused and solutions-oriented even when things went wrong, and they often did,” Pash said. “There were hundreds of issues along the way, and we found solutions for them.”

A Team Culture Built on Speed, Science and Empathy

“Many companies are great at either software or hardware, but very few are strong at both,” Pash said. “WHOOP is one of the rare exceptions.”

He considers himself “deeply grateful” to WHOOP for allowing him to lead the cross-functional execution of the launch of WHOOP 5.0 and WHOOP MG, both of which reflect the company’s commitment to improving members’ lives and its uncompromising approach to product quality. 

“I’m incredibly proud of what we accomplished together and the exceptional product we delivered to our members,” he said. 

Smith echoed this sentiment, sharing that she feels “incredibly lucky” to work at WHOOP, where she has spent the past three years of her career and of which she has been a customer for almost six years.

“It’s rare to work on something you genuinely believe in and even rarer to do it alongside people who care so much about a shared mission,” she said. 

“It’s rare to work on something you genuinely believe in and even rarer to do it alongside people who care so much about a shared mission.”

Schanne added that the company’s values are deeply embedded into its culture and are reflected in how team members work together. Whenever help is needed, employees from across the organization step in to help, whether they’re entry-level engineers or senior vice presidents. 

“That kind of solidarity and willingness to roll up one’s sleeves is rare in this industry, but it’s the norm at WHOOP,” Schanne said.

That’s because everyone at WHOOP cares about building features that drive real behavior change, according to Smith. This universal desire to make a difference, coupled with tight feedback loops with members, makes the company a truly unique place to build one’s career. 

“That blend of speed, science and empathy is rare, and it makes building products here feel both high-impact and deeply meaningful,” Smith said.