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Introducing our latest Alder Man, Raj Thiruchelvarajah! He is the CEO and Co-Founder of Hytro, a brand of wearable performance clothing with intergrated blood-flow restriction (BFR) technology. An incredibly thoughtful and perceptive interview, we discuss his journey with Hytro and his life advice to his younger self.
Hi Raj, would you like to introduce yourself and explain what you do?
I’m Raj, the CEO at Hytro. We are the world’s first Blood Flow Restriction (BFR) wearable, proven to improve performance and accelerate recovery. We have integrated BFR technology into clothing to make it accessible for the first time.
To explain BFR briefly, it involves applying a strap to the top of the arms or legs, while performing exercise at a low intensity (BFR Training) or recovering from exercise (Recovery BFR). The strap allows blood to flow to the muscles but restricts the amount that then returns to the heart. As a result the muscles are forced to work harder, delivering quicker and more effective adaptations including rapid muscle growth, increased endurance and quicker recovery. This makes Hytro BFR a powerful performance tool.
How did Hytro come about? What is the Story behind it?
My co-founder Dr. Warren Bradley has a PhD in human physiology and worked in elite sports for over a decade. During this time he saw BFR training being used but only for rehabilitation. With his understanding of human physiology, he delved into the research on BFR and found that it was a potent and scientifically proven technique to improve performance and accelerate recovery. The question then was, ‘why isn't everyone using it or even heard about it?’ He asked practitioners, who said the current BFR products weren't accessible. They were either really expensive and required supervision by a practitioner or crude, unsafe and difficult to use. To solve these problems Warren came up with the idea of integrating BFR into clothing.
Warren brought the idea to Paul (our other co-founder) and me, we agreed that it was a phenomenal idea and decided to create Hytro together. One of the challenges we have at Hytro is that it is applicable to so many different people, in so many different ways. So, you have your guys in the gym looking to build muscle mass, cyclists wanting to increase their functional threshold power, elderly people affected by sarcopenia and people recovering from joint replacements. Hytro BFR is applicable to all these groups and everyone in between. The challenge is how do you get to everybody but not start with everyone? At the moment our focus is showing authentic performance transformation in elite sports and we have recently signed partnerships with Blackburn Rovers, St Helens and Alpine Academy with more in the pipeline.
How do you think about sustainability personally and in the business?
In a similar manner to Alder & Green; it permeates through the entire business at Hytro and is something we constantly look to improve. Our manufacturing partners in Portugal are GOTS certified but the challenge for us is that the product is difficult to make 100% organic, so we have a journey to go on before we make it fully sustainable. Our packaging is recycled and recyclable and the office recycles 50% of its waste with zero to landfill. Our fulfilment house operates on solar panels and our brand colour is glowing blue, part of the Glowing Glowing Gone campaign which is about ocean sustainability awareness.
How do you approach style in the workplace?
It relates back to Hytro a lot. We are, in part, a clothing brand, so when we were making our products, comfort and a premium feel was really important. Similarly, on a day-to-day basis I just want to feel comfortable. Since we are a start-up, most days are just hoodies and jeans but I would put on a shirt or something more formal when talking to investors or more formal engagements.
What advice would you give to your 21-year-old self?
Life goes in waves as you go through it. I've found hard work and resilience tends to get you through the tough moments but there is also an element of patience. It was true for me and I think true for many people that in your twenties you want everything now and you don’t have the foresight of thinking, 'what do I need to do now, to get to a place when I'm in my thirties or forties and set up for success?'Learn as much as you can, if you're not in a job where you are learning go and do something else. Take more time to understand the world through other people's eyes as well. Travelling and seeing the world but really travelling and not just sitting on a beach in Bali. That will help you have a better understanding of life, work, people and business.
My job as CEO is to make as many good high quality decisions as possible and so all of that experience ladders up to that. The more you learn and the more you understand the better your decisions will be.
What is your best piece of business advice?
Do as you say you will do. It’s another way of saying build trust by delivering. Otherwise, you lose that precious commodity of trust and ultimately other people will not want to do business or work with you. Just be honest with what you can do and then get it done.
