Bill Murphy

Building @willpowerhq. Growth through community. Consumer Brands, Wellness & Human Performance

[Cheryl (Yeoh) Sew Hoy @cherylyeoh]

Last Fri at @sxsw, I joined @pranithapat (@function) and @ScottHickle (@ThroneScience) for a panel moderated by @samok (@paywithflex) at Wellness House by Willpower in Austin.

@billmurphy42 was a powerhouse with infectious energy that blew everyone away. Thank you for having me.

I’ve been thinking about a few themes from our conversation:

𝟭. 𝗠𝗮𝗻𝘆 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘀𝘂𝗺𝗲𝗿 𝗵𝗲𝗮𝗹𝘁𝗵 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗮𝗻𝗶𝗲𝘀 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗿𝘁 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗮 𝗵𝗲𝗮𝗹𝘁𝗵 𝘀𝗰𝗮𝗿𝗲.
Almost every founder on stage had a personal story – a moment when the system failed them or someone they loved. That kind of experience creates a real founder–product fit and the drive to solve the problem.

𝟮. 𝗧𝗿𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝗶𝘀 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗶𝗻 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘀𝘂𝗺𝗲𝗿 𝗵𝗲𝗮𝗹𝘁𝗵.
People are trusting you with their health and health data and expecting clear, evidence-backed next steps.

Early on, I read the first thousands of emails sent to [email protected] – scanning for patterns and often calling customers to learn more. I also personally onboarded the first few hundred micro-influencers from Instagram, working directly with them to interpret their results. Because I cared that much about our customers.

Those early unscalable actions shaped how we evolved the product to meet people’s real needs and that’s what builds trust.

𝟯. 𝗔𝗜 𝗶𝘀 𝗯𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗳𝗶𝗿𝘀𝘁 𝗼𝗽𝗶𝗻𝗶𝗼𝗻. 𝗗𝗼𝗰𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗱.
Pranitha shared how AI surfaced a recent diagnosis for her son in about 30 minutes, while the traditional process took nearly a full day — a glimpse into how AI can save time for both patients and doctors.

Doctors will always be essential, increasingly serving as the expert validator and decision-maker.

But AI is only as good as the data behind it. In areas like the gut microbiome, where the science is still evolving, you have to take outputs with a grain of salt.

That’s why we’re building our own Tiny AI, trained on proprietary longitudinal microbiome data, not static research papers. 🔥👀Users test multiple times per year, giving us a real-world view of how the gut changes with diet, supplements, and lifestyle.

𝟰. 𝗦𝗹𝗲𝗲𝗽 𝗶𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗺𝗼𝘀𝘁 𝗳𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗵𝗲𝗮𝗹𝘁𝗵 𝗵𝗮𝗰𝗸.
If you’re not getting high-quality sleep, nothing else really matters.

Next comes the basics: community, sunlight – and gut health, where the majority of your immune system lives.

Only then does it make sense to layer in supplements, cold plunges, or optimization.

𝟱. 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝗰𝗮𝗹𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝗰𝗵𝗿𝗼𝗻𝗶𝗰 𝗱𝗶𝘀𝗲𝗮𝘀𝗲 𝗶𝘀 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗼𝗻𝗹𝘆 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗴𝗴𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝗴𝗿𝗼𝘄𝗶𝗻𝗴.
50% of kids and 75% of adults now live with multiple chronic conditions. This should not be the new norm.

The hopeful part: I truly believe that the companies the 4 of us are building can dramatically reduce that number over the next decade through better prevention, earlier diagnostics, and timely interventions.

[Bill Murphy @billmurphy42]

@recap_david Agent

[David Roberts @recap_david]

I built an AI marketing agent to run my $100K media company.

After 4 months of prompting, tooling, and integrations, I built this agent that effectively replaced my content team.

Here’s how it works under the hood:

→ Scrapes Reddit, Hacker News, X, and Google News
→ Publishes a Morning Brew–style daily AI newsletter (10k daily readers)
→ Repurposes that content into:
 • viral Twitter threads (like this one)
 • short-form videos for TikTok & Instagram
 • Reddit posts
 • high-engagement LinkedIn updates
→ Produces content that’s driven millions of impressions
→ Generates custom, brand-aligned images for every unique asset

All automated.

The entire system runs through Jarvis-like voice commands, powered by ElevenLabs + n8n (see video below, I literally trained it on Jarvis from Iron Man).

No manual content creation.
No team to manage.
Runs while I sleep.

I'm no longer focusing on this business, so I'm giving all this away for free. If you want the complete system, prompting, n8n templates, & setup walkthrough:

Comment “AGENT”
Like & Retweet
Follow me (so I can DM you)

I’ll send everything over.

[Sam Parr @thesamparr]

I’ve been building communities (online and offline) for +13 years.

A few things I’ve been thinking about lately.

Sponsors. Don’t do it (in most cases). Charge customers membership fees and don’t let sponsors muddy the waters. Communities are sacred. Sponsors aren’t. We don’t do it. Sponsoring a podcast, fine. But community is for members. If you’re an online platform, ads maybe are ok.

Integrity. Speaking of, if you have a bar for who gets in and what values the community stands for, don’t bend the rules for anyone.this is hard! We have thousands who apply and let in a tiny fraction (4-5% maybe). It sucks turning down money. But If you say admissions are X but the sales person is willing to bend the rules, likely bad sign. If someone breaks the rules, regardless who they are, punish them.

Be suspicious of fast growth early on. A community can last 100 years and make you a billionaire. Great business. But early on, growth should likely be slower than you want. Community is so easy to sell, particularly if you’re new. But so hard to maintain. You need to indoctrinate early members carefully. Help them feel special. Then slowly add. It will take years. Or decades. But will be worth it.

Decentralization. Just about every big, powerful, successful community I know of is decentralized. Meaning there are local nodes that sorta call the shots, create the culture, then a centralized hq that creates the infrastructure. This feels unnatural because you won’t to control everything. Don’t listen to that urge.

I’ve made all these mistakes. And will make many more (these examples included). But these are the things I’m thinking about lately.

It’s funny because I like to be alone more often than not. Yet, Community, particularly Hampton, is likely going to be my life’s work. And so I’m learning (and have learned) so much this past decade owning communities. I’ve owned a book club, half a dozen small to big fb groups, conferences, event series, and more. And when doing those things, I always wished I could've done tech or Ecom or something “scalable”.

But then I realized: 1 community does scale. Just differently. 2 they can be huge, impactful products and incredibly great companies (but most don’t know how to do it or have the patience…I’m still learning!)

[Bill Murphy @billmurphy42]

Absolute game changer of a product. Take @takezest when you go to bed, and wake up 8 hours later.

[Jason Jin @jasonljin]

It's a new dawn for caffeine:

@takezest 2.0 has landed.

We re-engineered caffeine to deliver instant morning energy – and realign your circadian rhythm.

Now smarter, smoother, and more personalized than ever 👇

[Bill Murphy @billmurphy42]

@RosenZone @fittinsider @BryanECano @rabahrahil @AlexaKilroy @robbiebent1 @othership_us @WHOOP @MannyLubin Just trying to manifest it 🙏🙏 I see @AlexaKilroy in other cities more than the one we live in 🤣

[Bill Murphy @billmurphy42]

NYC peeps interested in CPG, Wellness and Human Performance… boy do we have line up for you next week 🔥🔥🔥

@fittinsider @BryanECano @rabahrahil @AlexaKilroy @robbiebent1 @othership_us @WHOOP @MannyLubin

[Willpower @willpowerhq_]

The noise is loud.

CPG. Wellness. Performance. Everyone’s fighting for attention.

The bold brands break through by:
✅ Turning nostalgia into protein power
✅ Making recovery the new night out
✅ Turning data into human performance

RSVP Now → https://t.co/rJi6A77vcO

[Bill Murphy @billmurphy42]

Escaping to NYC for July and hosting another Brand Catalyst Series with our last speaker from @WHOOP !

Big focus on wellness this time around and bringing other NYC legends w/ @othership_us 🔥❄️ & @slatemilk 🥛

CPG, Wellness and Human Performance - my favourite things all in one room.

Dw… there will also be (protein) ice cream 😈 cc. @eatsmearcase ..

[Willpower @willpowerhq_]

We are excited to announce speaker #3: Tatiana Kuzmowycz, VP of Brand @WHOOP !

Tatiana will be sharing insights on:
✅ Building brand meaning
✅ Turning data-driven products → lifestyle must-haves
✅ Performance meeting creativity

Link to RSVP: https://t.co/rJi6A77vcO

[Bill Murphy @billmurphy42]

@steevevakees WOAH !!! Congrats dude 🥹🥹 God Bless The United States of America🫡🇺🇸 (as a Canadian 🇨🇦)

[Bill Murphy @billmurphy42]

@drinkwillpower Lets gooooo

[Bill Murphy @billmurphy42]

@drinkwillpower is coming in hot to NYC this week with some killer brand events. If you are around May 27th come on out!

@rabahrahil @AlexaKilroy

[Willpower @willpowerhq_]

Calling all NYC brand builders — whether you're here for The Lead Summit or building something bold in CPG.

We’re bringing together two breakout brands that didn’t just launch..

They built momentum, moved markets, and redefined how modern brands scale:

[Rabah Rahil @rabahrahil]

SXSW @drinkwillpower event was FIRE! Beautiful, sunny Austin day with the city absolutely buzzing (Austin only does this twice a year - ACL in fall and SXSW in spring).

The venue was perfect and packed with founders and leaders from @kettleandfire, @everydaydose, @getgraza, @tushy_com, @CatalinaCrunch, and @momofuku sharing real insights.

Wellness activations were next level:

→ Ice baths (nothing says entrepreneur like networking while freezing!)
→ @Hyperice compression treatments
→ Amazing hydration from @sapsoriginal electrolytes and Soul sparkling beverages
→ Pickleball

Massive shoutout to @billmurphy42 for pulling this together. The music was fantastic (a dj with a saxamaphone), the vibes were great, and attendance was incredible.

This reinforced my thesis: people need to know you, like you, and trust you before they'll transact with you. In-person events remain undefeated for building those connections.

[Bill Murphy @billmurphy42]

UFC in Space?

We are wrapping up our entire human Performance summit programming on March 9th with our last panel about…

Fighting in Space.

With renowned Astronaut Tom Marshburn & American Soldier, Green Beret, & Professional MMA fighter Tim Kennedy

Incredibly stoked to for this one.

Apply below: https://t.co/uNxtEaJdBe

[Willpower @willpowerhq_]

Has anyone seriously considered the feasibility of combat sports in space? 🤔 We have. And we’re bringing in the experts to break it down. Join @TimKennedyMMA and astronaut @TomMarshburn THIS Sunday as they explore how combat, elite training, and space tech intersect.

[Bill Murphy @billmurphy42]

@RosenZone making a stop after Expo 👀

[Bill Murphy @billmurphy42]

Any consumer brand leaders around for SXSW In Austin?

Hosting our 2nd annual Wellness House on March 8th in Austin, exclusively for the brand leaders… and we are loaded with the *Quintessential Austin* Event Starter Pack 😂:

- Pickleball w/ @RanchersPB
- Sauna & Cold Plunge @Kohler @KLAFS_Sauna_Spa
- Compression Therapy @Hyperice
- Lunch by @sweetgreen
- Incredible speakers 🔥🤯 (I 👀 u @jwmares @twinmiki @EricHinman )

Who’s coming ?

[Bill Murphy @billmurphy42]

@deancbrennan see you there ?? 👀

[Bill Murphy @billmurphy42]

Apply here: https://t.co/vOamhgG0hB

[Bill Murphy @billmurphy42]

Wellness House - March 8th - ATX

Power Sports Panel: @Hyperice, @c4energy @DRINKSUPERCO @spurs

LETS GO !!
@rabahrahil @AlexaKilroy @fermatcommerce

[Willpower @willpowerhq_]

🚨 Panel Announcement: Winning the Game 🚨

How do brands collaborate with athletes, teams, & sports organizations to drive influence & credibility? We’re breaking it all down at #WellnessHouse2025 in Austin on March 8th.

🧵👇

[Willpower @willpowerhq_]

HUMAN PERFORMANCE SUMMIT 2025
📍 03.09 | Austin, TX
In partnership with @NASA & @DIU_x, Willpower Performance is bringing together top minds in human performance, defense & elite sports for a full-day summit on performance, recovery & innovation.

Sponsored by @Orrick & @Hyperice