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SoulCycle: Spinning towards Success
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Last modified on December 4, 2015 at 6:39 pm
Introduction SoulCycle is a rapidly growing boutique fitness brand whose studios offer indoor cycling classes.   In the last two years, the Company has opened a total of 24 studios and grown revenue and EBITDA at compound annual growth rates in [...]

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On December 14, 2015, Bridget C commented on Shake Shack winning in fast casual :

Thought this was great! You know I’m a big fan of enlightened hospitality, and think Danny Meyer has been really successful at bringing the concept to fast casual

I was wondering if you thought about the international expansion piece at all? My understanding is that. like many QSR concepts, international Shake Shacks are licensed. But I wonder if that poses a particular risk in this case given the Company’s unique hospitality focus. I think they do require their licensees to meet particular standards, but was curious if you had considered their ability to continue to deliver on their customer promise internationally without full control.

On December 14, 2015, Bridget C commented on ClassPass: Serving a Two-Sided Marketplace with Class(Pass) :

Thought this was a great write up! And thanks to responding for Vitali’s point about population density, because I was wondering the same thing.

Was also wondering what you thought about potential risks of the business model from the view of fitness studios. As particular classes become more popular, my guess is that they’d “need” Classpass less and therefore be able to fill most of their classes through their individual interfaces. That said, users of Classpass see it as a way to get access to lucrative classes that they’d prefer to not pay the full price for, so if those studios drop, Classpass may be less appealing. While I agree it totally works for now, do you think CP has made itself relevant enough to avoid that outcome? In particular, it seems like they’ve come under a bit of scrutiny because CP users detract from the full payer experience (where studios make their money): http://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/02/fashion/classpassdeep-discounts-but-some-discontent.html

Would love to hear your thoughts!

On December 14, 2015, Bridget C commented on BirchBox: A BEAUTY-FULL monthly gift :

Really enjoyed reading this, and thought you highlighted some great points about how BirchBox changed our traditional view of beauty retail!

Would love to hear your views about how two recent strategic initiatives play into their original core strategy – I’m not sure whether I think they’re additive or not. The first is the move into bricks and mortar, which while potentially complementary, certainly signifies a shift from the mailed box format. And second, what do you think about their recent expansion into a proprietary color line? I think this second one is particularly interesting while they manage relationships with existing suppliers. Though Sephora has a very significant private label presence (so it’s certainly manageable), they also have the power of LVMH behind them and I wonder if that positions them differently with regard to this potential conflict.