How Oura's Smart Ring Bridged the Gap From Tech Bros to Normies
Tom Hale, who runs Finnish smart-ring maker Oura Health Ltd. from its office in San Francisco, has noticed a bit of a stoicism gap between the Nordic and American cultures. 'One of the things Finns really don't like about Americans is that we get very excited. Everything's 'Great! It's amazing!' ' Hale, who was raised in Reno, Nevada, says on a sunny San Francisco afternoon. 'For them, when something's quite good, it's 'OK.'' he says, chuckling. 'So now I always say, 'Good job, you guys. You did very OK.' '
Hale, 56, is cruising through a chicken-kale salad at Per Diem, a yuppie FiDi haunt. He joined Oura in 2022 after stints leading Cars.com, HomeAway and SurveyMonkey. Oura's rings—which look like slightly chunky wedding bands—track a wearer's heart rate, sleep and activity levels and analyze the data with an app that gently suggests improvements. The vibe is less 'Get ripped, bro!' and more 'Age well, friend.' Since Oura's founding in 2013, more than 2.5 million people have paid to put its biometric Big Brother on their finger.
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