The Hydrow High: Bruce Smith, Founder & CEO of Hydrow - Episode 312

Oct 17, 2023

Bruce Smith is the Founder & CEO of Hydrow, the leading at-home connected rower that brings the on-water experience of rowing straight to your home. A lifelong entrepreneur, rower and coach, Bruce has dedicated his career to helping others experience the power of the sport at all levels. Bruce founded Hydrow to capture the unique experience of on-water rowing and make it universally accessible, helping people everywhere feel more connected to one another and live healthier lives on a daily basis.

In this podcast, host Kiri Masters and Bruce discuss:

1. How did Bruce first fall in love with rowing?
2. How Bruce led Community Rowing in Boston to become the largest rowing outreach organization in the world, and tripled operating income of the organization, during the great financial crisis.
3. How Bruce came to found Hydrow and early days.
4. How Hydrow is building a content-first, product-led DTC strategy.
5. How personalization has been a big unlock as a strategy - leveraging 1P data from customers. In comparison to a market awareness approach.
6. Hydrow also sells on Amazon. At one point in time, that was taboo for DTC brands. What place does marketplaces like Amazon have for Hydrow, now and in the future?