Peloton - the entire history and strategy behind America's trendiest workout

The Peloton journey has been one seriously wild ride. From can’t raise money to one of Tiger Global’s first venture investments, to pandemic darling to the stock being down 85% in 6 months... there’s never a dull moment in this company’s history. And guess who’s leading the pack for its next chapter: that’s right, THREE-TIME ACQUIRED SUPERHERO, the one and only Barry McCarthy. We had to tell this story. PSA: if you want more Acquired, you can follow our newly public "Acquired LP Show: feed here in the podcast player of your choice. Sponsors: Thank you to our presenting sponsor for all of Season 10, Vanta! Vanta is the leader in automated security compliance – making SOC 2, HIPAA, GDPR, and more a breeze for startups and organizations of all sizes. You might say they’re like the “AWS of security and compliance”. Everyone in the Acquired community can get 10% off using this link: https://bit.ly/acquiredvanta Thank you as well to Vouch and to SoftBank Latin America. You can learn more about them at: https://bit.ly/acquired-vouch https://bit.ly/acquiredsoftbanklatam Links: Barry’s Hill School interview on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9uwcSbe6YoE Episode sources: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Qs4DwVFBTMCyEt7Xxlby6iRCpOs0aRTOWPLjrbFQO8Q/edit?usp=sharing Carve Outs: Barry’s planning framework from the Hill School interview: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9uwcSbe6YoE Switched On Pop on James Bond’s Spycraft Sound: https://switchedonpop.com/episodes/james-bond-spycraft-sound-billie-eilish-hans-zimmer-daniel-craig ‍Note: Acquired hosts and guests may hold assets discussed in this episode. This podcast is not investment advice, and is intended for informational and entertainment purposes only. You should do your own research and make your own independent decisions when considering any financial transactions.

Ben GilberthostDavid Rosenthalhost

Feb 10, 20222h 22mWatch on YouTube ↗

EPISODE INFO

Released: February 10, 2022
Duration: 2h 22m
Channel: Acquired
Watch on YouTube: ▶ Open ↗

EPISODE DESCRIPTION

The Peloton journey has been one seriously wild ride. From can’t raise money to one of Tiger Global’s first venture investments, to pandemic darling to the stock being down 85% in 6 months... there’s never a dull moment in this company’s history. And guess who’s leading the pack for its next chapter: that’s right, THREE-TIME ACQUIRED SUPERHERO, the one and only Barry McCarthy. We had to tell this story. PSA: if you want more Acquired, you can follow our newly public "Acquired LP Show: feed here in the podcast player of your choice. Sponsors: Thank you to our presenting sponsor for all of Season 10, Vanta! Vanta is the leader in automated security compliance – making SOC 2, HIPAA, GDPR, and more a breeze for startups and organizations of all sizes. You might say they’re like the “AWS of security and compliance”. Everyone in the Acquired community can get 10% off using this link: https://bit.ly/acquiredvanta Thank you as well to Vouch and to SoftBank Latin America. You can learn more about them at: https://bit.ly/acquired-vouch https://bit.ly/acquiredsoftbanklatam Links: Barry’s Hill School interview on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9uwcSbe6YoE Episode sources: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Qs4DwVFBTMCyEt7Xxlby6iRCpOs0aRTOWPLjrbFQO8Q/edit?usp=sharing Carve Outs: Barry’s planning framework from the Hill School interview: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9uwcSbe6YoE Switched On Pop on James Bond’s Spycraft Sound: https://switchedonpop.com/episodes/james-bond-spycraft-sound-billie-eilish-hans-zimmer-daniel-craig ‍Note: Acquired hosts and guests may hold assets discussed in this episode. This podcast is not investment advice, and is intended for informational and entertainment purposes only. You should do your own research and make your own independent decisions when considering any financial transactions.

SPEAKERS

Ben Gilbert
host
David Rosenthal
host

EPISODE SUMMARY

In this episode of Acquired, featuring Ben Gilbert and David Rosenthal, Peloton - the entire history and strategy behind America's trendiest workout explores peloton’s rise, pandemic whiplash, and Barry McCarthy turnaround blueprint Acquired traces Peloton from boutique-fitness inspiration (SoulCycle/Flywheel) through a difficult early fundraising journey, retail-in-malls distribution, and the premium positioning that drove unusually low churn.

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