Live data from Hacker News

Peloton – A call for action [pdf]

blackwellscap.com

131–140 of 280 posts

Re: Peloton – A call for action [pdf]

#131

Does anyone here actually use Peloton equipment? My spouse wants one of the bikes but I'm wary of having a subscription to a company with questionable future longevity.

I absolutely love it. Tried it for a few days on vacation because the resort had a few, then started doing it at my work gym, then bought one. I was an athlete in high school and college and now in my 30s I’ve tried all kinds of aerobic fitness equipment over the years. It is the most immersive and exciting piece of fitness equipment I’ve ever used, and singularly the only one that has been able to keep my attention as a real option to train versus going outside and running or cycling. I have also heard very similar stories from colleagues.

I think the people calling it a dumb treadmill or saying it can be replaced by YouTube and a used exercise bike are clueless.

Re: Peloton – A call for action [pdf]

#132

I get the impression they don't like the CEO very much. That was an impressively brutal attack on him, with probably the worst damage inflicted by the CEO's own statements. Blackwells is obviously not a neutral party here, there's a reason they created this thing. But on first glance it looks like a pretty solid argument that the management at Peleton is seriously flawed. I don't really buy the arguments on why Pelet…

In my one of my MBA classes, we were discussing, whether Peloton's original super optimistic slides were reflective of reality ( most of the class agreed, it seemed more like a niche product rather than a gym replacement or even a $300 boutique training replacement as this presentation claims ) and were comparing it to AT&T Time Warner saga. We never touched on Peloton's management, but if we did, the quotes are pret…

> it seemed more like a niche product

Yes. The Peloton 'model' reminds me of the gym model, at least in the UK.

You always get a bunch of people sign up in 'fat' January for 12 months. They go to the the gym for a few weeks and stop. But continue paying £50pm or whatever for the next 11 months.

Peloton feels similar in that people are made to want the shiny thing in the TV adverts, find that they don't have a room with a view to put the bike unlike the adverts, use it for a few weeks, and then have to see out their subscription. I'm sure Peloton's insider numbers probably show a slower drop off, but I'd bet it's still there.

There's probably a big intersection of those that have bought a Peloton bike as well as joined a gym but rarely used it.

The free alternative of course, is go outside and cycle or run.

Re: Peloton – A call for action [pdf]

#134
post #124

Earlier quoted context omitted.

At the very least, it shows poor communication skills. If you have a fantastic CFO, that's great. Just say that. "I'm very confident in person X." or "We have a great team who's been doing a great job." Things like that. You don't say: "I don't add any value." That makes you sound like an empty suit. Also the "I haven't talked to my CTO in months" sounds really bad. How the eff are you planning new product launches?…

This might be a cultural bias, but for me (being German) what the CEO said sounds much more honest and trustworthy than what you suggest.

No post body was provided.

Re: Peloton – A call for action [pdf]

#135
This is yet another chapter in the long series of stories about investors who destroy the goose that lays golden eggs. The analysis is a "well, what did you do for us lately?" that disregards unsustainable, explosive growth in 2020 and an obvious correction 2021.

Putting con-imbeciles on a board is a recipe for disaster.

Re: Peloton – A call for action [pdf]

#136

I get the impression they don't like the CEO very much. That was an impressively brutal attack on him, with probably the worst damage inflicted by the CEO's own statements. Blackwells is obviously not a neutral party here, there's a reason they created this thing. But on first glance it looks like a pretty solid argument that the management at Peleton is seriously flawed. I don't really buy the arguments on why Pelet…

TBH the arguments are fairly compelling it should be a solid business. Maybe not valued what it is.

Particularly the lack of churn on subscribers rings true. Their customers are loyal, they feel more part of a community, etc than your random Netflix subscriber.

There's a large addressable market, as seen by Tonal and others coming into the fray.

The counterargument IMO is that fitness is increasingly a fractured market between these home workout things, boutique gyms, budget gyms (Planet Fitness), fancier gyms, country clubs, people that just want to workout on their own...

Re: Peloton – A call for action [pdf]

#137

So many words trying to obfuscate the simple fact that “We are a treadmill maker trying to masquerade as a tech company.”

"tech company" is an obsolete term now. all companies are tech companies

> "tech company" is an obsolete term now. all companies are tech companies

Just have an ear what many employees talk about at the water cooler or coffee machine:

* technology (in the engineering sense): tech company

* software: software company

* something else: ... company (for example finance company)

In other words: Is producing software the actual goal of the company or a means to an end?

* If software is in the opinion of most employees the actual goal of the company: software company

* Is software a means to the end of producing engineering products: tech company

* Is software written for high-frequency trading: finance company or investment company

etc.

Re: Peloton – A call for action [pdf]

#138
post #99
post #80

Earlier quoted context omitted.

[flagged]

Does your political affiliation change the size of your penis in any way? Why is it relevant here, aside from enforcing the age-old body shaming ideals that "big peepee good, bad peepee small, stupid man bad, bad man have small peepee"

To be technical, I never said anything about size. I said "inadequate".

Also, one can be opposed to patriarchy while, at the same time, pointing out that the men who run capitalism fail on their own archaic and patriarchal terms. That these self-asserted "leaders" fail at being what they themselves want to be makes it all the more probable that they fail at being what we in society want or need them to be.

Post reply on HN