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

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

#221

Post by FpUser » Tue, Feb 08, 2022, 6:14 PM UTC

muh_gradle wrote: post #19

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.

I'm pretty well versed in the fitness industry. Peloton, SoulCycle, Mirror value proposition never made any sense to me. With people going back to the office and gyms opening up again, people will want their normal fitness classes, gyms instead. EDIT: apparently some of you disagree. Change my mind.

>"Peloton, SoulCycle, Mirror value proposition never made any sense to me."

To be fair Peloton was doing ok before pandemic I think. They got disproportionally hyped since pandemic and now returning back to what is realistic value. Myself, I would not touch it with a wooden pole but that's just personal preferences - I do not participate in organized activities. Do everything on my own.

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

#222

Post by radicaldreamer » Tue, Feb 08, 2022, 6:15 PM UTC

The issue with Peloton is not that the pandemic is ending, people are going to gyms again etc. but their failure to evolve the product.

It was innovate when first launched but their half fitness-half entertainment focus has left them unable to do either effectively. Competitors have taken a much more serious approach to fitness and have a better product or have focused mostly on casual fitness (Apple Fitness) and have a more polished end user experience.

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

#223

Post by kilbuz » Tue, Feb 08, 2022, 6:16 PM UTC

radicaldreamer wrote: post #222

The issue with Peloton is not that the pandemic is ending, people are going to gyms again etc. but their failure to evolve the product. It was innovate when first launched but their half fitness-half entertainment focus has left them unable to do either effectively. Competitors have taken a much more serious approach to fitness and have a better product or have focused mostly on casual fitness (Apple Fitness) and hav…

Do you think they also are running out of new customers in the luxury home gym market?

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

#224

Post by alfalfasprout » Tue, Feb 08, 2022, 6:16 PM UTC

cbm-vic-20 wrote: post #173

Anecdotally, it appears that Zwift usage is still growing. It's more race and social oriented than Peleton, and less of a "spin class simulator", but it's only $15/mo and doesn't require as much of an up-front equipment investment. I think Peleton believed too much of their own BS and flew too close to the sun.

While I like Zwift it's not at all like Peloton. Yeah, it's more race oriented but also it's not as prescribed-- i.e you have to figure out what exactly you want to do for a workout.

Also, a good Zwift setup will cost more than a Peloton. A reasonable road bike with an 11-speed cassette starts at ~$1k, then you'll need an extra cassette (~$100), smart bike trainer (~$1k), ipad or computer+tv (~$1k), etc.

That said, a TacX Neo2T + Wahoo speed sensitive fan + TV is a fantastic combo.

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

#225

Post by ttcbj » Tue, Feb 08, 2022, 6:17 PM UTC

zaptrem wrote: post #51

sharkweek wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My partner might as well have joined a cult with how obsessed she is with not just the peloton but the culture of the peloton class. That being said, she argues she’s never felt healthier in her entire life and so I can’t complain if she’s happy!

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?

My wife fits the “almost in a cult” description. I think she loves the positivity, and feels engaged by the classes. She started with bike, but now also does peloton outdoor runs.

She is focused on the Peloton power zone classes. For power zone, you take an FTP test every 6 weeks which measures your ability to produce power output over 20 minutes. The bike then knows your 7 power output zones, from easy effort to max output. Based on that, Peloton instructors design classes which are zone based, and drive improvement at whatever your level is.

I tried powerzone after seeing my wife do it, and although it’s only a part of my exercise, I really like it. You can really see the improvement. I’ve never liked exercise classes in the past, but I like the powerzone classes and instructors.

My wife also signed up for some third party website (I forget what) that is essentially like a team based and powerzone based training plan. It motivates her over longer periods.

Having tried it, I think the peloton bike product is really good. It may have pulled forward a lot of demand and grown too much, but it offers a lot of real value.

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

#226

Post by qbasic_forever » Tue, Feb 08, 2022, 6:17 PM UTC

no_wizard wrote: post #13

I think we’re starting to see a bit of “post pandemic” economic factors and that explains some of the shake up on Wall Street as of late. I always felt this about Peloton more than anything though, that it was not going to be able to sustain growth numbers as the pandemic when either of these came to pass: 1) ended officially 2) waned on to the point that it became "normalized" in how to handle day to day activities…

The pandemic isn't over, FYI.

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

#227

Post by alfalfasprout » Tue, Feb 08, 2022, 6:18 PM UTC

kilbuz wrote: post #223

radicaldreamer wrote: post #222

The issue with Peloton is not that the pandemic is ending, people are going to gyms again etc. but their failure to evolve the product. It was innovate when first launched but their half fitness-half entertainment focus has left them unable to do either effectively. Competitors have taken a much more serious approach to fitness and have a better product or have focused mostly on casual fitness (Apple Fitness) and hav…

Do you think they also are running out of new customers in the luxury home gym market?

I mean, not really. Gyms are open in many cities but people that built home gyms are still actively using them.

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

#228

Post by josephg » Tue, Feb 08, 2022, 6:19 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.

Me too; but for now zoom is simply the best product in the video chat space.

Everyone else seems to be betting the farm on webrtc and web browsers. But video meetings in chrome or Firefox don’t look or sound as good as zoom does. And Google Meet and the rest are at the mercy of web standards. Its much easier for zoom to add features to their product because they’re in control of the entire stack.

I hope the situation changes, but I think it’ll be several years before browsers are able to meaningfully catch up to where zoom is today.

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

#229

Post by kodah » Tue, Feb 08, 2022, 6:19 PM UTC

radicaldreamer wrote: post #222

The issue with Peloton is not that the pandemic is ending, people are going to gyms again etc. but their failure to evolve the product. It was innovate when first launched but their half fitness-half entertainment focus has left them unable to do either effectively. Competitors have taken a much more serious approach to fitness and have a better product or have focused mostly on casual fitness (Apple Fitness) and hav…

I thought about getting a Peloton because I like to bike every day, but it gets a bit cold for me to do so. The deal breaker on Peloton for me was that they locked down their platform. I couldn't install Zoom or any other apps that I wanted, I had zero control over the camera, etc... I really wanted to do PR/Code review on my bike, but if I can't even install Zoom then that's definitely a no-go.

Why was any of this necessary on an exercise bike that is otherwise great quality?

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

#230

Post by kevstev » Tue, Feb 08, 2022, 6:20 PM UTC

Delphiki wrote: post #108

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.

We initially bought a cheaper Schwinn IC4, subscribed to the Peloton app ($12.99/month), and used our 7 year-old iPad to get nearly the same experience (minus the Leaderboard functionality and probably other things). Eventually we wondered why we were even spending $12.99/month on it, as my partner only had a few instructors that she liked, and neither of us could understand, or get behind, the "Peloton culture". We…

ha! Well the leaderboard and live stats and gamification where you can see where you are compared to your previous best at this point in a ride of the same length is IMHO what has made me get on the thing consistently and constantly push PRs. After being a couch potato for years, I am now on a 100 week streak and probably in the best shape of my life. High fiving people keeps me engaged through a class and prevents me from getting bored.

Its kind of like saying "Quake is cool, but I don't know why I would ever want to play multiplayer..."

If you have the motivation to keep yourself on a bike with just some headphones or a video on a tablet, more power to you, but there are many of us who can't do that. Add in that this has replaced my wife's multiple times a week soul cycle habit, with each class being $40, and Peloton is actually a significant cost savings in my home.