Founder Spotlight with Toby Cannon from Myles Wellbeing
Toby Cannon from Myles Wellbeing in GTM’s Founder Spotlight
In an engaging conversation in mid-Jan 2024, Sam Soares from Grow to Market delved into the entrepreneurial journey with Toby Cannon of Myles, a B2B SaaS company focusing on the health and fitness industry. The conversation, aimed at spotlighting early-stage startup challenges and triumphs, was filled with early-stage insights, pivots and the relentless pursuit of growth.
What is Myles Wellbeing?
Myles Wellbeing is a B2B SaaS platform that incentivises employees to move more through gamification and powerful social dynamics. Users link their favourite fitness tracker, record the sports and activities they enjoy and are able to do and earn points for their efforts. The platform focuses on habit forming and behaviour change, with users becoming >2x more active on average after 3 months of using the platform.
Sam Soares (GTM): “I’m thrilled to kick off this series by chatting with founders like you, Toby, who are in the trenches, figuring out what works, facing hurdles head-on, and sharing invaluable advice with fellow entrepreneurs.”
Toby Cannon (Myles): “Happy to share our journey, from the initial idea sparked by personal challenges to pivoting towards a B2B model that better serves our mission of promoting health and movement.”
Toby’s venture into entrepreneurship began with a personal challenge—the cancellation of the Manchester Marathon due to the pandemic. This setback led to the creation of Myles, an app designed to motivate individuals and teams to maintain their fitness through virtual challenges. Initially a consumer-focused product, Myles quickly identified a stronger opportunity in the B2B space, prompting a pivotal shift towards a subscription-based model catering to businesses interested in encouraging employee wellness.
Toby Cannon (Myles): “Transitioning from B2C to B2B was a tough call but necessary. Every line of code was like a commitment to our original vision, yet the shift was crucial for scaling and truly impacting health habits.”
Sam Soares (GTM): “It’s fascinating how startups’ products evolve. What were some of the features in your MVP, and how did customer feedback guide your development?”
Toby Cannon (Myles): “Our MVP was quite basic, focusing on manual input for tracking distances. Customer feedback, however, has been instrumental in enhancing our product, leading us to integrate with fitness trackers and introduce a variety of challenges and rewards to keep users engaged. So whether that’s walking, running, or cycling, healthy habits are built into colleagues’ social dynamics.
Sam Soares (GTM): “Adapting to customer needs is key. What do your users love most about Myles?”
Toby Cannon (Myles): “There are ongoing challenges, monthly leaderboards. And ultimately, people get rewards for moving more.
Organisers appreciate the actionable insights from our stats, while users enjoy the community aspect, particularly the ability to send virtual high-fives as a form of encouragement.”
Toby and his team’s journey underscores the emotional rollercoaster of entrepreneurship, highlighting the necessity of flexibility, the willingness to pivot, and the importance of building a product that resonates with both businesses and their employees.
Sam Soares (GTM): “Have there been key pivotal moments for you and the team when it comes to taking the product to market?”
Toby Cannon (Myles): We were trying to go way too broad, but the messaging we were putting out there, just wasn’t landing, with anyone. I think it’s so hard at an early stage, you never want to say no to someone. We are trying to go after everyone.
So in the Summer 23 we realised, let’s place a bet, double down on one thing, stop to kind of trying to do everything kind of alrightish, let’s try and do like one thing super well, and I could focus on one side of the client. And that has helped us land the right customers for us.
Sam Soares (GTM): “Looking ahead, what’s on the horizon for Myles?”
Toby Cannon (Myles): “Our focus is on achieving profitability and doubling down on our target market. From a product perspective, data and data privacy are pretty big for us in our roadmap. We’re also keen on hosting events to deliver value and establish ourselves as thought leaders in the wellness space.”
Toby Cannon’s story with Myles exemplifies the entrepreneurial spirit—embracing change, focusing on user needs, and navigating the complex journey of startup growth. His advice to fellow founders is to take advice with a grain of salt, integrate it with personal experience, and chart a unique path forward. We are rooting for both Toby and Myles Wellbeing!
Check Myles Wellbeing out https://www.myleswellbeing.com/
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