Peloton replaces CEO and lays off 2,800 people • Hacker News Board

Re: Peloton replaces CEO and lays off 2,800 people

#141

Post by graywh » Tue, Feb 08, 2022, 5:14 PM UTC

ivanche wrote: post #86

FinalBriefing wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's a lot cheaper than a monthly gym membership, but way more than say, Apple Fitness and others offer. Having not used their software or hardware, I'd assume that for people purchasing a really expensive bike, $40/mo isn't bad. Still...it feels steep.

Waaat? How much is gym membership in the US then if $40 is much cheaper? Edit: Thanks everybody for the explanation. In my head, gym == myself + good ol' iron. It seems that that is cheap in the US as well as in Europe :)

anything less than $40/month is probably just access to weight lifting equipment

if you want classes led by an instructor, you're probably paying more than that -- e.g., the YMCA in my city starts at $50/month/person

Re: Peloton replaces CEO and lays off 2,800 people

#142

Post by potatolicious » Tue, Feb 08, 2022, 5:14 PM UTC

dehrmann wrote: post #116

dkobia wrote: post #54

Peloton has pretty expensive products and induces the same reaction folks had to iPhones before other companies released similarly priced flagships. Generally I think it's easy to hate on these products if you don't have one. I was pretty skeptical myself. "Was", because my partner picked up the Peloton Bike and subsequently the Peloton Tread. Like some other comments here, the almost cultish following is quite fasci…

> Peloton has pretty expensive products You can buy a set of kettlebells up to 24kg, a barbell, and enough plates to make 315 lbs for the cost of a Peloton. Completely different crowd, though.

Yeah, but even within Peloton's own sphere competition is fierce and IMO some of the biggest "pros" of Peloton are liabilities.

The customer base also includes me - I ended up getting an exercise bike during the pandemic, was in the price range for a Peloton (expensive as it may be), but ended up not choosing the Peloton.

The biggest factor for me is that I didn't want to tie an expensive bike (which will last for many years) to the upgrade cycle of a consumer electronics device. Which is to say, I wanted to bring-my-own-tablet, knowing that I'd want to upgrade the screen far more often than I'd ever want to upgrade the bike. The tight integration here is actually - at least for me - a downside.

There are also a plethora of subscription services now that do on-demand/livestreamed classes that aren't Peloton, and bringing your own tablet allows you freedom to choose any of them. Oddly enough - subscribing to Peloton's own content on an iPad is cheaper than doing so via their own bike, which further compromises the appeal of their hardware.

I ultimately got a Bluetooth-enabled bike that didn't have any screen at all, but instead has a large tablet holder. Throwing my iPad on it and putting in my AirPods has been very usable.

Re: Peloton replaces CEO and lays off 2,800 people

#143

Post by xxpor » Tue, Feb 08, 2022, 5:15 PM UTC

nine_k wrote: post #71

JumpCrisscross wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Zoom is most definitely here to stay. I am confident that remote work culture will continue to be a part of normal working culture going forward. I'm with you on the second statement. I don't see the first immutably flowing from it. Zoom is dominant, but switching costs are small and their competitors are well capitalized and eagerly assaulting its fortress. Add to that their geopolitical vulnerability and their lo…

Zoom is here to stay ≠ Zoom is poised to remain the leader indefinitely. But I don't see why Zoom would lose so much market share or revenue streams as to disappear or become a marginal player. Something extraordinary should happen for it to cease to be here to stay.

Zoom could get put on the entity list and get Huawei'd.

Re: Peloton replaces CEO and lays off 2,800 people

#144

Post by cr1895 » Tue, Feb 08, 2022, 5:15 PM UTC

ubermonkey wrote: post #109

llampx wrote: post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is Zoom here to stay or is video conferencing here to stay? Google Meets and MS Teams are pretty good and built into their respective Office suite products.

I sure hope Zoom goes away; they way they've repeatedly lied about behavior and security just ASTONISHES me, especially since they've experienced zero backlash. They've got CIOs utterly snowed, which is honestly a huge indictment of CIOs, including and especially those in "government" roles.

Perhaps I'm misremembering, but wasn't there actually quite significant backlash towards their security flaws in the early days, causing them to rectify the problems?

Re: Peloton replaces CEO and lays off 2,800 people

#145

Post by AlwaysRock » Tue, Feb 08, 2022, 5:16 PM UTC

ohgodplsno wrote: post #111

zaptrem wrote: post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've heard the same thing about "Peloton Culture" elsewhere, but not a good explanation of what that culture is. Can a HN Peloton user elaborate?

Take HN's hive mind tech bro culture, and apply it to overpriced classes that are basically a youtube video.

Unfortunately there are not good alternatives. I have a fairly nice bike at home and a standing desk that I can fit it under comfortably. I told my partner we don't need a Peloton because I could find spin class videos online. Nope. There really isnt any quality content out there. I guess I could just sign up for the Peloton platform with my own bike but I was surprised there wasnt at least a handful of Youtube videos of spin class instructors.

It seems similar to Yoga where you can find incredible quality online but its really not.

Re: Peloton replaces CEO and lays off 2,800 people

#146

Post by xxpor » Tue, Feb 08, 2022, 5:17 PM UTC

ThisIsTheWay wrote: post #78

thedougd wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It was outsourced to freight companies. The same companies that deliver and put together your Pottery Barn furniture. There was nothing special about their 'white glove' delivery.

That is not true in all locations. They have delivery specialist reqs open right now. https://boards.greenhouse.io/peloton/jobs/3883515

In addition, they'll have people come out and repair your bike if needed. Just shocked these days they didn't (completely) contract that out.

Re: Peloton replaces CEO and lays off 2,800 people

#147

Post by RHSeeger » Tue, Feb 08, 2022, 5:18 PM UTC

llampx wrote: post #50

muh_gradle wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Zoom is most definitely here to stay. I am confident that remote work culture will continue to be a part of normal working culture going forward. There's too many advantages for both labor and businesses to keep remote work alive.

Is Zoom here to stay or is video conferencing here to stay? Google Meets and MS Teams are pretty good and built into their respective Office suite products.

Every time I see I have a meeting with MS Teams, I get annoyed.

- Most of the time, people don't setup a dialin number, so I can't use my phone

- There's no way to display both the attendees list and the chat at the same time

Those are two examples of things that just cause it to be an "also ran" in my mind. It's just missing a lot of the "nice to have" features; much the way Zoom did when it was first release... it feels incomplete and unpolished.

There's another one that I forget the name of that used to have the mute and hang up buttons right next to each other. I would constantly drop off calls because of it. Video and sound quality are important, but so is UX.

Re: Peloton replaces CEO and lays off 2,800 people

#148

Post by bladegash » Tue, Feb 08, 2022, 5:19 PM UTC

ubermonkey wrote: post #118

Upgrayyed_U wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Already there: https://www.zoomgov.com Zoom for Government

Which I'm utterly sure is in NO way more secure or less of a liability than regular Zoom. Zoom has proven itself to be completely craven about behavior and pseudo-apologies; I'm amazed they have any credibility with CIOs.

It’s FedRAMP authorized at the moderate baseline. That requires implementation of a pretty sizable and stringent set of security controls, continuous monitoring, and more. I’d say it’s probably a bit more secure than their commercial offering, but that likely depends on your opinion of the control catalog’s requirements and compliance does not always equal secure.

Re: Peloton replaces CEO and lays off 2,800 people

#149

Post by ubermonkey » Tue, Feb 08, 2022, 5:20 PM UTC

CountDrewku wrote: post #48

N_A_T_E wrote: post #17

Is it just me or is $40 a month too much for the content they provide? I would spend a couple thousand on fancy exercise equipment, or maybe get one as a gift for my parents but the required subscription gives me rent seeking vibes.

No, it's ridiculously overpriced for the equipment and content. Buy a real bike and go outside. It's way more interesting and better for you. If you HAVE to stay inside for bad weather or something get a trainer for that bike. There are several youtube channels/patreon channels that film their mountain-biking/road biking and you can put those on and feel like you're riding along if you need that aspect. I feel like t…

"Do something else!" is not much of an argument. It really just points out that you're unaware of the distinction between what Peloton sells and cycling in general.

Spin classes have their appeal and benefits that aren't the same as regular riding. A spin class is (typically) a high-intensity activity done for a fairly short period of time (say, an hour). An hour spent outside on your bike does not impart the same benefits, plus issues of weather and traffic detract (for some) from the overall appeal.

I'm a serious road cyclist, so I kinda dismissed Peloton initially, because I figured because it looked kinda like a bad deal for road-cyclist indoor workouts then it must be the same thing, but it's really not. I have a fancy indoor riding setup using a Wahoo trainer and one of my bikes and an iPad, and that's PERFECT for the kinds of FTP-boosting workouts my coach sets up for me, but Peloton isn't in my market AT ALL. Just because it'd pedaling indoors doesn't make it the same thing.

Spin has its own (typically well-heeled) devotees, and Peloton is pursuing that market. There is almost ZERO overlap between the sets of "my serious cycling pals who do indoor training" and "my friends who own Pelotons," which just highlights the difference.

Re: Peloton replaces CEO and lays off 2,800 people

#150

Post by dcchambers » Tue, Feb 08, 2022, 5:21 PM UTC

Peloton has a solid product, solid revenue, and a very devoted following. I think they will be fine as a medium sized company. The reality is they were just overvalued as a result of the pandemic. It should have been obvious to anyone that the insane user growth they had wasn't sustainable.