Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Peloton Confidentially Files Statement for Proposed IPO

prnewswire.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

81–90 of 176 posts

Re: Peloton Confidentially Files Statement for Proposed IPO

#81

Post by smacktoward »

spyspy wrote: post #6
codeulike wrote: post #2

When I see Peloton now, I always think of this twitter thread that critiques their adverts https://twitter.com/clueheywood/status/1089699762331217920

My sides. I have friends working there that have tried getting me to apply. Glassdoor reviews indicated their backend interview is unnecessarily difficult and I have little faith in their business model. How many people are willing to spend thousands on an exercise bike? Let alone one that requires a $40/month subscription? It feels the same as Blue Apron - the market is people rich and lazy enough that don't want do…

> How many people are willing to spend thousands on an exercise bike?

In an age when wealth is highly concentrated among a few people, you can make a lot of money selling those few people absurdly overpriced luxury goods.

Are there lots of them? Not really. But they have all the disposable income, so...

Re: Peloton Confidentially Files Statement for Proposed IPO

#82

Post by foolfoolz »

bluedino wrote: post #17
bruceb wrote: post #8

A friend of mine got a Peloton, and I as a good friend razzed him about it a couple times. Like a $2k stationary bike, come on! But now I get it. He is a busy professional who would not always have time to go to the gym. He is also a bit of a special case as he legally blind and could walk fast to exercise but could never ride a regular bike. This being said he has lost a decent amount of weight. Part of it is the in…

$2k isn't absurt for an exercise bike once you think about it. These are the same people who buy a $10,000 bike for recreational riding, remember. You are dead on with the point about the instructors. My wife hated biking but they have Pelotons in her work gym, and she loves them, and talks about the instructors like they are real people. People are fitness crazy right now. Crossfit gyms are $100-200 a month, Rogue h…

the first time i heard about the vitamix was when someone emailed the company for-fun mailing list asking for blender recommendations and immediately got 5 replies suggesting vitamix. its better than any other blender. it will change your life. buy them, they're a customer (of the company we were working at).

i seriously thought everyone was pulling an inside joke and i just didnt get it. i looked at the website, a $600 blender??

Re: Peloton Confidentially Files Statement for Proposed IPO

#83

Post by bogomipz »

bstar77 wrote: post #19
spyspy wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My sides. I have friends working there that have tried getting me to apply. Glassdoor reviews indicated their backend interview is unnecessarily difficult and I have little faith in their business model. How many people are willing to spend thousands on an exercise bike? Let alone one that requires a $40/month subscription? It feels the same as Blue Apron - the market is people rich and lazy enough that don't want do…

This bike is for people that don't want to go to a gym and/or don't have lots of time to leave the house on a daily basis. You can also finance the bike so the hit isn't so bad. Additionally, there's no extra charge for multiple accounts (up to 10), so if everyone in the house uses it, the cost makes more sense. I work out of home and this is the only way I get consistent exercise. My fitness has gone up tremendously…

Not leaving the house regularly is a serious quality of life issue. That is most certainly not going to be addressed by the purchase of a stationary bike.

Re: Peloton Confidentially Files Statement for Proposed IPO

#84

Post by alasdair_ »

bruceb wrote: post #8

A friend of mine got a Peloton, and I as a good friend razzed him about it a couple times. Like a $2k stationary bike, come on! But now I get it. He is a busy professional who would not always have time to go to the gym. He is also a bit of a special case as he legally blind and could walk fast to exercise but could never ride a regular bike. This being said he has lost a decent amount of weight. Part of it is the in…

I’m a huge fan and recently bought a second one so my wife and I don’t have to share.

The bike itself is well made - heavy, easily adjustable, zero wobble even with a heavy guy on it.

The classes are superb - I had never done a spinning class before and I was quickly hooked. The combination of music synced to the workout cadence and a live human (and leaderboard) make me want to compete and thus push a lot harder than if I was solo.

Re: Peloton Confidentially Files Statement for Proposed IPO

#85

Post by rossdavidh »

bedhead wrote: post #11

Peloton has better legs than most, but the reality is that every fitness craze has eventually died whether it’s equipment (eg Bowflex) or method (eg Tae Bo). It’s just human nature, this and diet (eh Atkins) aren’t sustainable things with how most people are wired. Peloton will fade one day just like all the others before it as people inevitably get bored with it and doing it becomes a drag.

I'm sure there's a few people for whom this makes sense, but mostly people are either: 1) disciplined and/or organized enough to just exercise, or 2) not disciplined and/or organized enough to keep doing Peloton

But, I suppose the real question is, how many do they actually need in order to be profitable? If 1 person in 1,000 is enough, which would be 300,000+ people in the U.S., then maybe they could do all right.

Now, if some VC fund threw 50 billion dollars at them and insisted they try to grow to Facebook size, then this will never work.

Re: Peloton Confidentially Files Statement for Proposed IPO

#86

Post by aczerepinski »

spyspy wrote: post #6
codeulike wrote: post #2

When I see Peloton now, I always think of this twitter thread that critiques their adverts https://twitter.com/clueheywood/status/1089699762331217920

My sides. I have friends working there that have tried getting me to apply. Glassdoor reviews indicated their backend interview is unnecessarily difficult and I have little faith in their business model. How many people are willing to spend thousands on an exercise bike? Let alone one that requires a $40/month subscription? It feels the same as Blue Apron - the market is people rich and lazy enough that don't want do…

I could imagine getting one if I had some amount more money. I work from home and my gym is just far enough away that I can’t go there on a standard lunch break. In the summer I run or bike outside. A Pelaton for me would just be for lunchtime workouts in the winter... can’t justify that financially but I do see the appeal.

Re: Peloton Confidentially Files Statement for Proposed IPO

#87

Post by andrewgioia »

These types of companies are really interesting to me, I had no idea they've raised close to $1B over 5 rounds/7 years though[1]! Curious what they've needed that for, I would presume they've sold quite a few of these plus the whole subscription model.

[1] https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/peloton-interactive

Re: Peloton Confidentially Files Statement for Proposed IPO

#88

Post by ndiscussion »

sneak wrote: post #67
bedhead wrote: post #11

Peloton has better legs than most, but the reality is that every fitness craze has eventually died whether it’s equipment (eg Bowflex) or method (eg Tae Bo). It’s just human nature, this and diet (eh Atkins) aren’t sustainable things with how most people are wired. Peloton will fade one day just like all the others before it as people inevitably get bored with it and doing it becomes a drag.

The LCHF diet is not only sustainable, it has changed the lives of many people I know, including people who claim it has improved their mental states, emotional states, chronic pain, and weight gain. I myself was pre-diabetic from the standard western diet of 2000kcal+ daily refined carbohydrates, and have pulled back from the brink by going LCHF. Don’t dismiss it without a little bit of experience. It’s a growing mo…

I read "How Not to Die" recently. By LCHF, are you referring to an "Atkins" diet of sorts? High meat/animal fats, vegetables, low carb, low fruit?

I'd be interested in any sources that support that diet for anything other than weight loss - I was under the impression it led to pretty poor health outcomes (apart from bmi/diabetes management)

Re: Peloton Confidentially Files Statement for Proposed IPO

#89

Post by bogomipz »

kevin_thibedeau wrote: post #59
rchaud wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You could not go to a gym for 3 years and your membership fees would still cost you less than the $2000 bike, let alone the monthly subscription.

People are paying over $100 per class for yoga and spin classes in major cities.

Genuinely curious - which places charge more than $100 per class?

Re: Peloton Confidentially Files Statement for Proposed IPO

#90

Post by aczerepinski »

rchaud wrote: post #29
kevin_thibedeau wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

People pay for gym memberships that they never use. They also buy home exercise equipment that collects dust for most of its life. Then you have active cyclists that will splurge $5K+ on a real bike and want a way to ride when the weather makes it troublesome. There is a market.

You could not go to a gym for 3 years and your membership fees would still cost you less than the $2000 bike, let alone the monthly subscription.

There are numerous upscale gyms in my area that cost $200-400 per month. The demographic that is considering a Pelaton is probably buying in addition to a gym membership like that or comparing against it.
Post reply on HN