Careers at Flywheel Sports
Mission
Flywheel Sports provides indoor cycling and barre workout classes, with a view to providing an innovative, enjoyable, and competitive approach to fitness for consumers of all ages.
History
Flywheel Sports was founded in 2010 by Ruth Zukerman (“Zukerman”), Jay Galuzzo (“Galuzzo”) and David Seldin (“Seldin”). The Company has its root in a competing indoor cycle franchise named Soul Cycle, of which Zukerman was also a co-founder.
Zukerman found an interest in indoor cycling in 1996 while working out a Reebok gym. Her talent at indoor cycling led her to be offered a role as an instructor at the same gym, where she worked for several years, gaining some popularity. In 2006 one of her students approached her with a concept for a new boutique fitness studio that would be built around Zukerman’s teaching style. This studio would become Soul Cycle.
Zukerman ultimately left Soul Cycle to pursue her own vision of what an indoor cycling franchise should be, teaming up with Galuzzo and Seldin. The Company has grown significantly since opening its first studio in 2010, now operating more than 35 studios across the US, and two studios in Dubai. The Company has raised more than $108 million in a single round of investor funding, from investors such as Benvolio Group and Global Endowment Management.
Business model of Flywheel Sports
Customer Segments
Flywheel Sports operates a range of fitness classes, namely its Flywheel and Flybarre offerings, which are targeted at the general consumer market. As a health and fitness company, Flywheel Sports’s classes are designed to suit individuals who are interested in exercise and keeping fit. The Company, however, makes it clear that its offerings cater to all fitness levels, from complete novices to experienced fitness enthusiasts. Anyone aged 13 or above is able to take part in classes, with those aged between 13 and 18 requiring permission from a parent or legal guardian.
Currently, Flywheel Sports operates studios primarily in the US, across a number of the country’s major cities, including New York, Atlanta, Chicago, Boston, Washington DC, and Philadelphia. The Company also serves customers in the United Arab Emirates through its studio in Dubai.
Value Propositions
Flywheel Sports provides value to its customers in the following ways:
- Its innovative and unique classes, with the Company providing an innovative exercise experience, using music and technology in its classes of varying length, incorporating climbs, descents, rhythm riding and sprints into its Flywheel classes and broad range of exercises into its Flybarre classes;
- Its performance tracking service, with the Company utilising proprietary technology in its exercise bikes to track the performance of each participant, enabling customers to trace improvements in performance either online or through the Company’s mobile app;
- Its specialist team of instructors, with the Company employing a large team of well-trained and experienced instructors, who are able to provide safe and enjoyable classes and offer advice and assistance;
- Its accessibility and flexibility, with the Company offering an online service that enables customers to book individual classes, packages and memberships through the Company’s mobile and desktop websites; and
- Its affordable classes and discounts, with the Company offering individual classes and packages from around $30 per class, with an introductory offer of $15 per class, as well as monthly unlimited memberships that are comparable to many gym memberships.
Channels
Flywheel Sports operates a website at www.flywheel.com, through which it provides information on its various classes, locations and services. The Company’s website also serves as its primary sales channel, with customers able to browse studio, instructors, and schedules, booking classes at times and locations convenient to them. Customers can also register for monthly memberships and can track their performance through the Company’s online customer portal. The Company operates a separate but similar website for its customers in Dubai, www.dubai.flywheelsports.com. Additionally, Flywheel Sports offers a mobile app for iOS and Android that provides similar functionality to the Company’s website.
Flywheel Sports employs an extensive team of instructors across its network of studios, who specialise in providing either Flywheel or Flybarre classes. These professional instructors, many of whom have higher education qualifications, are able to serve customers directly through 38 studios spread across the US, organised geographically into regions: New York City, Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Florida, Southern California, Northern California, Charlotte, Philadelphia, Pacific Northwest, Texas, Washington DC, Hamptons, Raleigh, Westchester, and New Jersey. The Company also serves customers through two locations in Dubai.
Flywheel also operates small retail operations out of its studios, where customers can purchase branded merchandise and apparel. The Company does not yet have an online sales portal for its merchandise.
Customer Relationships
Flywheel Sports allows customers to reserve and pay for classes, sign up for memberships, and purchase gift cards on a self-service basis through its website and mobile applications. Customers are able to select the details of their classes, including location, length, and instructor, directly from the Company’s digital channels, without interacting with sales representatives.
Flywheel Sports’s team of professional instructors work closely with customers, providing direction and motivation in the Company’s Flywheel and Flybarre classes. These customers are also able to provide additional advice and assistance in person, tailored to the needs of each individual customer.
Flybarre Sports provides a range of support resources on its website, including biographies of instructors, class schedules, FAQS, and workout information, which can be accessed on a self-service basis. Customers are also able to contact support staff directly through an online contact form and receive personalised responses to queries and complaints.
Additionally, customers are able to interact directly with Flywheel Sports through its social media accounts, including with Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
Key Activities
Flywheel Sports is a fitness studio business, engaged primarily in the operation of indoor cycling ride studios in the US, with an additional presence in the United Arab Emirates. The Company provides unique indoor cycling classes that incorporate technology to fuel competition and track performance, under its Flywheel brand.
The Company also provides Flybarre classes, which blend light weight training, dance, and core strengthening exercises to provide a full-body workout to customers. Additionally, Flywheel Sports sells branded merchandise, such as sweatpants and pullovers, and tank tops and T-shirts for men and women.
The Company operates through online and mobile channels that allow customers to buy and reserve classes and memberships on a self-service basis. It operates more than 35 studios across the US, organised into 16 geographic regions.
Key Partners
Flywheel Sports works in conjunction with a range of companies and organisations in providing high-quality services across its network of studios. These partners include:
- Supplier and Vendor Partners, comprising suppliers of tools, equipment, and technologies that are utilised across the Company’s network of studios, this notably includes suppliers of exercise equipment and machines;
- Sponsorship and Marketing Partners, comprising a range of companies across multiple sectors that provide sponsorship to the Company and assist in extending the Company’s own in-house marketing reach;
- Financial and Investment Partners, comprising a range of venture capital partners and financial backers that provide funds to the Company; and
- Community and Social Partners, comprising a range of non-profits and charitable organisations with which the Company collaborates on fundraising projects, notably charity cycle rides.
Flywheel Sports has previously launched a sponsorship partnership with Downy and Tide to promote a new laundry regimen designed to eliminate odours from workout clothes. The Company was also named training partner of cycling tourism company DuVine, promoting cycling destinations across the world.
Key Resources
Flywheel’s key resource are its intellectual properties and proprietary technologies, its equipment and supply chain, its network of studios, online and mobile channels and customer portals, its IT and communications infrastructure, its partnerships, and its personnel – notably its team of instructors.
Despite utilising proprietary technology in its exercise equipment to track user performance, searches of records published by the US Patent and Trademark Office identified no patent applications filed in the name of Flywheel Sports.
Flywheel Sports owns and or leases a number of properties across the US and Dubai, principally its network of 40 studios, which are key to the Company’s ongoing operations.
Cost Structure
Flywheel Sports incurs cost in relation to the development of its technology, the procurement of equipment and launch of new studios, the operation of its existing studios, the development and maintenance of its digital channels and portals, the maintenance of its It and communications infrastructure, the management of its partnerships, and the retention of its personnel.
Revenue Streams
Flywheel Sports generates revenue through the operation of fitness and indoor cycle studios across the US and Dubai. The Company’s revenue is derived from three principal streams:
- Classes and Packages, comprising revenue derived from the sale of individual classes and packages of classes through the Company’s website and mobile app;
- Memberships, comprising revenue derived from the sale of monthly memberships; and
- Merchandise, comprising the sale of branded merchandise and apparel through the Company’s studio network.
Flywheel Sports sells classes in packages of one, five, ten and 20, with classes typically priced around $25 to $30. The Company’s memberships can range from around $220 to $590 per month, depending on the location.
Flywheel Sports remains privately-owned, and therefore is not obliged to disclose its financial results online. Online profiles suggest that the Company generates around $75 million in annual revenue.
Our team
info: Ed Kinnaly (“Kinnaly”) has served as President and Chief Executive Officer at Flywheel Sports since joining the Company in 2015. Kinnaly has held a number of senior leaderships positions, particularly within the sports and fitness sector. He began his career in 1985 at Nike, where he held numerous positions over the course of more than 12 years. In 1999 he joined Bauer Performance Sports, where he stayed for a further 13 years, holding a number of positions, including a spell as Executive Vice President. In 2013 Kinnaly was named Principal at Thunder Road Consulting, a position he held for around 18 months before leaving to join Flywheel Sports.
info: Craig Anderson (“Anderson”) has served as Chief Financial Officer and Chief Operating Officer at Flywheel Sports since joining the Company in 2015. Anderson has worked in a number of roles across multiple business sectors. From 2002 to 2007 he served as an associate at law firm O’Melveny and Myers. After leaving this position he joined The Blackstone Group in 2009, where he served for almost four years as Vice President. Prior to joining Flywheel Sports, Anderson served as President and Chief Operating Officer at Opt-Intelligence from 2013 to 2015. Anderson was also a co-founder of Cumulus Group, where he worked briefly between 2004 and 2005.
info: Tamara Odinec (“Odinec”) has served as Chief Marketing Officer at Flywheel Sports since joining the Company in 2014. Odinec has held numerous positions in relation to business development and marketing, including senior executive roles. From 2000 to 2003 she served as an editor at Time Inc. She moved to American Express in 2005, serving as a senior manager in the New Business Development department for three years, before being appointed Director of Partnerships and Strategy at the Company. She went on to serve as Director of Business Development at American Express and Vice President of Partnerships, Development and Marketing and American Express Bank, before pursuing opportunities as an independent consultant in 2013.