The founders' first go-to-market was not a digital product at all but a series of in-person events.

“we did a few events”

Live-event attendees asking on their own, repeatedly, how to keep practicing after the event was strong enough signal on its own that the founders read it as validation to build a digital, subscription version of Headspace.

Alongside the direct subscription business, the founders built paid partnerships that placed Headspace content inside other companies' own customer experiences, naming an in-flight channel on Virgin Atlantic and a project with department store Selfridges as examples.

Being introduced through a trusted brand's own environment, in the founders' account, gave people implicit permission to try something (meditation) they might otherwise feel unsure about.