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Peloton – A call for action [pdf]

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Re: Peloton – A call for action [pdf]

#161

Post by sireat »

helsinkiandrew wrote: post #41

Interesting to note that the CEO (39.6%) and co-founders (18%) have 58% of the voting power of Peloton's stock.

The sad thing is that they own much less(how much?) than 58% of the stock.

Just like FB, Google and many other companies. You can sell majority ownership and still hold the majority voting power due to dual(and triple) class shares.

This is a perversion of common stocks and stockholders rights.

In old days there would be such a thing as preferred stock which at least granted liquidation preferences to those buying preferred.

I am still shocked that the CEO actually listened to the 5% holders and stepped down.

As Matt Levine rightly stated, Peleton CEO could have let the company burn to ground and there was nothing that minority stockholders(which could have owned the majority of the company but not the voting rights) could do.

Re: Peloton – A call for action [pdf]

#162

Post by Salgat »

skywal_l wrote: post #35
willcipriano wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"Well--well look. I already told you: I deal with the god damn customers so the engineers don't have to. I have people skills; I am good at dealing with people. Can't you understand that? What the hell is wrong with you people?"

"Office Space" reference for anyone wondering[0]. Another Mike Judge's gift to us. [0] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hNuu9CpdjIo

It's funny, before I starting working as a developer I thought this guy was useless, but now I understand how valuable not having to deal with the customers actually is.

Re: Peloton – A call for action [pdf]

#163

Post by slingnow »

AndrewOMartin wrote: post #90
roland35 wrote: post #83

Peloton does have a lot going for it. From everyone I've heard, their physical products are well made (with the exception of the treadmill issue..). They have extremely low churn which is hard to do in fitness. The main problem is that they grew too fast. All the pandemic sales were probably just pulled forward from future sales, not a sign of sustainable growth. They overcommitted and now need to trim back again.

Agreed, apart from the fact that their treadmill kills kids, their products are exemplary.

Exemplary? Have you even tried other stationary bikes? You can get a BETTER stationary bike for less than the cost of a Peloton bike.

Re: Peloton – A call for action [pdf]

#164

Post by brailsafe »

CamperBob2 wrote: post #74
brailsafe wrote: post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Treadmills are a uniquely obtrusive, pointless, and expensive product

You've never owned, or likely even used, a really good one. I don't know if Peleton makes good ones, but Precor certainly does. That said, it was weird of Peleton to overpay for a company that makes expensive fitness equipment purchased largely by gyms, who probably aren't purchasing much of anything these days.

It's not a personally derived anecdote, just an observation. I just don't see people who aren't sufficiently motivated enough to go for a real bike or workout at a gym changing their mind because they consoomed a new $$ one. I do know some people who do, but they basically have no choice in the matter but to do something in winter.

It's like buying an iPad pro and expecting yourself to find an interest in illustration.

Re: Peloton – A call for action [pdf]

#165

Post by abliefern »

treyfitty wrote: post #158

I'm in awe of how many different sources a person had to sift through in order to get all this data. Is there software in this space? My naive sense is that it took months to get this deck together.

Well sure that's what analysts at these funds do, continuously keeping a very close eye on portfolio companies. Also: entire teams of interns.

Re: Peloton – A call for action [pdf]

#166

Post by dmamills »

mschuster91 wrote: post #37
adrianomartins wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A treadmill maker trying to get users to pay monthly subscription to use it...

The subscribers aren't subscribing for using the treadmill, they are subscribing for fitness courses and the likes. Which... isn't a bad business model per se IMO. With the current trend of "self improvement", there are enough people willing to pay lots of money, for everything from gym memberships to individual personal trainers. The issue is: this is not going to be an exponential-stock-growth-style business model,…

> With the current trend of "self improvement"

Expecting long term income from trend followers.

Re: Peloton – A call for action [pdf]

#167

Post by nikanj »

ltfey wrote: post #156
nikanj wrote: post #146

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sorry I misunderstood you. What did you mean by ”inadequate”?

It actually doesn't much matter. My point is that these people fail on their own terms. Fascism runs on a certain archaic masculine presence, and that is true whether we're talking about Mussolini's centralized variety, or the kind we see here where we live under the petty tyranny of a thousand employer-states. Toxic masculinity is at the core of old-style fascism and neofeudalist corporate capitalism alike. If you m…

It seems somewhat futile to say you were misunderstood, but then refuse to clarify.

Re: Peloton – A call for action [pdf]

#168

Post by mannykannot »

sireat wrote: post #161
helsinkiandrew wrote: post #41

Interesting to note that the CEO (39.6%) and co-founders (18%) have 58% of the voting power of Peloton's stock.

The sad thing is that they own much less(how much?) than 58% of the stock. Just like FB, Google and many other companies. You can sell majority ownership and still hold the majority voting power due to dual(and triple) class shares. This is a perversion of common stocks and stockholders rights. In old days there would be such a thing as preferred stock which at least granted liquidation preferences to those buying pr…

> This is a perversion of common stocks and stockholders rights.

It is a step in the refeudalization of society.

Re: Peloton – A call for action [pdf]

#169

Post by geodel »

slingnow wrote: post #163
AndrewOMartin wrote: post #90

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Agreed, apart from the fact that their treadmill kills kids, their products are exemplary.

Exemplary? Have you even tried other stationary bikes? You can get a BETTER stationary bike for less than the cost of a Peloton bike.

I thought above poster was sarcastic.

Re: Peloton – A call for action [pdf]

#170

Post by VoodooJuJu »

JohnJamesRambo wrote: post #10

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

And HN eats it up because this company is on the front page on a seemingly weekly basis, so something's working for them.
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