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Peloton replaces CEO and lays off 2,800 people

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

#281

Post by lnsru »

birken wrote: post #261
999900000999 wrote: post #234

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Zoom doesn't have massive manufacturing overhead. Peloton forgot how easily they can be replaced. You can buy a used exercise bike, and play whatever YouTube videos you need on a mounted iPad. For a while Peloton started to position itself as a tech company, competing with FAANG when it came to total comp. I've also seen an explosion in fitness tech companies. Peloton struck gold, and should've remained a much smalle…

Every company in history could have remained smaller and more efficient. Amazon could still be an online bookstore with higher margins than they have now. It is very normal and natural for companies take risks to grow, and sometimes those risks pay off and sometimes they don't. It is very results oriented to see what happened and then say they shouldn't have tried. Peloton is also far from insolvent. I'm not saying t…

Wrong comparison. Peloton is manufacturer of fitness gadgets with limited market size. While Amazon is a marketplace gathering fees from sellers with virtually unlimited market size. Everything with hardware is close to death with one leg in the coffin. One mismanagement in supply chain and you are gone. Look at the poor car manufacturers right now. Maybe there is exception - one phone manufacturer that is managing supply chain very well.

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

#282

Post by alistairSH »

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.

Not just you. I'm a cyclist and runner, who dabbles in yoga and other stuff.

Currently, I have one of my bikes mounted in the basement on a $1000 Wahoo Kickr smart trainer and use Zwift for $15/month (which I cancel over the summer).

When I do yoga, I want a live class because I want the instructor to adjust poses based on my skill/flexibility. Mindlessly cycling through sun salutations does nothing for me.

A few family members who aren't fitness buffs have Pelotons. They all slowly stopped using them over time. So the bike is basically a very expensive coat rack.

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

#284

Post by spacemadness »

biztos wrote: post #260
dehrmann wrote: post #116

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 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.

> Completely different crowd, though. I find these differences fascinating. I used to work out at one of the top bodybuilding gyms in Europe (I’m not a bodybuilder but my trainer was) — and none of the hardcore members would have been caught dead swinging a kettlebell. Now I work out at a more corporate gym and am trying to learn to stop worrying and love the functional because my trainer is in fact a professional an…

It goes both ways. Pure bodybuilders scoff at anything that doesn’t help sculpt, but I think there’s equal derision in the functional and strength training crowd to folks that only focus on pure bodybuilding. Personally I say do what makes you happy and not worry what the obsessive purists think. I always find the rigid thinking in fitness crowds to be very off putting.

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

#285

Post by anm89 »

birken wrote: post #261
999900000999 wrote: post #234

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Zoom doesn't have massive manufacturing overhead. Peloton forgot how easily they can be replaced. You can buy a used exercise bike, and play whatever YouTube videos you need on a mounted iPad. For a while Peloton started to position itself as a tech company, competing with FAANG when it came to total comp. I've also seen an explosion in fitness tech companies. Peloton struck gold, and should've remained a much smalle…

Every company in history could have remained smaller and more efficient. Amazon could still be an online bookstore with higher margins than they have now. It is very normal and natural for companies take risks to grow, and sometimes those risks pay off and sometimes they don't. It is very results oriented to see what happened and then say they shouldn't have tried. Peloton is also far from insolvent. I'm not saying t…

I think that's the exact point the parent is making. Most companies can figure out a way to raise and grow. The point was that it was a bad idea in the specific case of Peloton.

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

#286

Post by 8ytecoder »

sharkster711 wrote: post #263
loudtieblahblah wrote: post #257

Earlier quoted context omitted.

this makes how locked down it is even more ridiculous. commercially available single purpose computers are such a scam

Yes, they're an environmental disaster.

It’s with this mindset that I went the Zwift route with an iPad and my own bike. But boy is it hard to get everything to work together! With peloton you could just climb on and start pedalling. With Zwift there’s always a sensor that won’t connect at first. There’s a reason these tightly integrated systems are popular. I wonder if peloton would be this seamless if the tablet was open. Too many configurations make things messy for the typical consumer.

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

#287

Post by boringg »

threeseed wrote: post #283
boringg wrote: post #20

Apple should buy them - this would be an amazing asset for their health platform.

It's not really how Apple does acquisitions. They prefer smaller companies who aren't going to overwhelm the culture of the company.

That's true. I was just thinking it would be an easy product to integrate into the health offering and it would be a pretty significant amount of people. Also if it was re-branded as Apple it would attract an even greater amount of people.

That said I would imagine apple would need to repackage and improve the product offering so it is up to snuff.

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

#288

Post by boringg »

geodel wrote: post #114
tombert wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> The profit seems to be in selling the recurring subscription to exercise videos and gamification, which Apple already offers. Sure but they would inherit the memberships that Peloton has, and if they were smart about it they would do a gradual transition towards merging the platforms, similar to how they handled Beats music IIRC.

Huh, One more kid get wrangled/stuck in bike in some tragic accident and Apple would lose ten times more than Peloton ever lost. Besides endless memes about "Killer Apple" and so on. I guess Apple would prefer to stay dumb on this thing.

I mean aren't they looking into driverless cars? Seems like has a much greater legal risk than anything peloton could ever present.

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

#289

Post by teh_klev »

Aloha wrote: post #213
teh_klev wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think you're interpreting that 20% from the article incorrectly. It actually says: "cutting 2,800 jobs, including approximately 20 per cent of corporate jobs at the New York City company." The headcount figures for January before this announcement were: 3281 - US 283 - UK and Germany 71 - Taiwan https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peloton_Interactive

So they're cutting 60% of their workforce give or take - from 3600 people or so down to 835. I have to wonder what on earth those other 2800 people were doing? I would expect a company like Peloton to have a workforce of around 700-1200 people, just based on the market they're in. 20% of that in Manufacturing, Manufacturing Engineering, and Logistics 40% of that in Operations (web, sales, marketing, productions, IT,…

Apparently they have (had) 123 showrooms (and perhaps concessions). So imagine if you need to keep these open 7 days a week, maybe 10 hours a day and staff them to cover holidays then you're probably looking at ~6-10 staff per site which is a fair old chunk. They might not all be full time so that headcount might go up even further. Then on top of that area managers, maybe 10-15 show rooms per manager? It all adds up.

Their headcount certainly surprised me for a cycling on the internet company :)

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

#290

Post by dmode »

The absolute bloodbath of VC funded companies with weak fundamentals is finally catching up. Peloton, Robinhood, WeWork, Opendoor, Clover health, and countless others with major layoffs, stock down 60-80%, no profitability or sustainable business model in sight.

My back of the envelope calculation suggests that over the last decade $200-300bn has been spent by VCs on startups, led by Softbank. And with very little to show for it. 95% of tech revenue, profit, and market cap is dominated by MSFT, Apple, Google, Facebook, and Amazon - companies that took very little to no VC funds.

Just makes me ask what a world with little VC influence will look like. Will most likely be more resolute companies and founders building more sustainable businesses who take on this big 5.

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