At Home With the Health Commandos
An afternoon with the founders of Fount—a highly regimented fitness and supplement startup that tells its moneyed clients what to do and when to do it.
This is “Show Us Everything,” a new feature from The Information Weekend, in which company founders share intimate glimpses of their everyday lives.
Clayton Kim first bonded with his boss, Fount CEO Andrew Herr, over “the crazy shit that we’ve tried on our own bodies.”
Kim, the health and performance startup’s chief technology officer, has done much to his body. I witnessed one small act of craziness when I recently visited Kim’s home, which also doubles as Fount’s makeshift office, in Marina Del Rey, Calif. There, Herr and I watched as Kim, who moonlights as a circus artist and teacher, dangled by a black strap from a double-height ceiling. Suddenly he hooked a loop around the back of his neck and corkscrewed rapidly, his limbs extended like a starfish.
Herr looked up in horror. “I really don’t like that one,” he said, flinching away from his suspended CTO. “It’d be somewhat problematic if he broke his neck.”
An openness to all kinds of extreme physical interventions—and a dissatisfaction with available health coaching—led Herr to launch Fount in 2019. The uber-bespoke health company charges clients nearly $12,000 for four months of hands-on guidance in everything a “cognitive high performer” might need—“nutrition, supplements, meditation, breathwork, sleep, light, temperature, exercise and recovery.” Earlier this month, the company, which now has 24 full-time employees, announced a $12 million Series A led by Amity Ventures. Founders Fund led its 2020 seed round.
