Newsletter #15 

­ƒôà  FitX Programming Updates

Interested in launching the next Peloton?

Join FitX, D+B and Tech Club during our premier  Tech Week Event: Designing Inclusive Wellness Products. This workshop will challenge you to approach problems from a new perspective to make products that work better for everyone. During this workshop (specifically for FitX, D+B and Tech members only!), you will learn design and research practices that focus on inclusion. You will learn from Maris Jameson, a Digital Product Manager at Nike, about user problems she faced during her career and best practices for tackling them.The event is on December 3rd from 1-2PM but snag your spot before it fills up!

Love Barry's Bootcamp? Check out exciting news below!

Also coming up in December, join FitX and Barry's Head of Operations, Head of Strategy, and Head of DEI for The Strategy Behind the Red Room: A Q&A with Barry’s Executives. Barry’s Execs will share how they have built such a strong global fitness brand that consumers so strongly believe in. You will also have the opportunity to learn about how Barry's has continued to innovate and led the fitness industry in navigating the ambiguity of COVID-19 and driving towards greater inclusivity. Mark your calendars from 6-7PM on December 7th! 

­ƒæÅ.  FitX Feature - Zach Zimmerman ‘20, Senior Director at FitLab

What was your post-Ross journey to FitLab? 

It was, for better or worse, a classic COVID-era journey, and one that I hope leaves you feeling somewhat optimistic during a brutal year. I turned down a full-time offer from my CPG marketing internship to pursue an off-campus opportunity in live sports and entertainment, only to have that role disappear when the bottom fell out from under the industry. 

As I waited for the dust to settle, I moved back to Portland and reconnected with old colleagues from my agency days, who had left for executive roles at FitLab and were in need of some freelance help. A two-month contract, a few conversations with key stakeholders, and a summer of painful uncertainty later, and I was fortunate enough to receive an offer to join the team and lead brand strategy for FitLab.

What is FitLab and what makes it a unique company within the fitness industry? 

FitLab is an integrated holding company that partners with iconic athletes and sport brands through a combination of acquisitions, incubation and investments. If you don’t know what that means, don’t worry. Neither did I, and I’m still figuring it out.

What makes FitLab special is that it aims to capture consumers at every point in their fitness journey. That means we’re not singularly focused on physical or digital, at home or at the gym, software or hardware, or any other set of dimensions that may limit other fitness companies. 

By partnering with athletes and brands that have proven records of success and industry authenticity, we are able to credibly reach a large pool of global consumers with a variety of different fitness products and services. I’m not allowed to be too specific just yet, but there are exciting things happening very soon.

What are some of your day-to-day responsibilities and projects? 

FitLab is a true startup environment in that we have the professional autonomy to make critical, independent decisions but also the drive to do whatever we need to do to help the team progress forward. 

What I love the most about my role is that it allows me to tap into my creative-leaning marketing background, as I aim to position all of our portfolio brands for scalable, long-term success. This includes things as sexy as developing brand positioning documents or content strategies to things slightly less sexy like creating email marketing campaigns or writing copy for our apps and websites. 

I feel really fortunate to have an influential role in defining the consumer-facing voice of FitLab’s brands, because it’s something that I genuinely love to do. 

From your perspective, what is the future of fitness? 

I don’t even know where to begin. I am one of the millions of people who built a home gym during quarantine. Although I can’t see myself paying for another membership at a commercial gym, I am confident that the social and motivational aspects of in-person fitness can’t be fully replicated at home. With that in mind, I think the future of fitness is the tech-supported, complementary integration of a consumer’s physical and digital experiences. 

I also believe that, for many of us, fitness is a tremendously intimate and personal journey. The major industry players are currently locked in a content war that is aimed at the masses, but I know there’s still a huge opportunity to deliver personalized, goal-oriented programming that feels more like a genuine personal training experience and less like a dance class (not that there’s anything wrong with a Club Bangers Ride). I’m really interested to see what develops, because I don’t believe anyone has cracked the code just yet. 

If you are interested in learning more or chatting with Zach, he is graciously offered to connect with any FitX members. You can shoot him an email here.

ÔÅ®   Industry Highlights

Under Armour to sell MyFitnessPall app at a steep discount of $345M:

Rewinding to 5 years ago, Under Armour forked over $475M for the MyFitnessPal app, which allows users to track their daily caloric and macronutrient intake. At the time of the purchase, the Under Armour CEO had stated ‘data is the new oil’ and clearly was hoping to use the data tracked in the app to build a larger and more engaged community. Unfortunately he missed the mark - MyFitnessPal targets entry-level fitness users while Under Armour’s overall brand targets the ‘Focused Performer’. Under Armour notes this difference as the reason for the sale, but the steeply discounted price indicates there is more to the story than just maintaining their brand focus.

Nestle acquires Freshly, the healthy meal startup, for up to $1.5B:

Freshly is a New York City based startup that offers healthy frozen meals delivered to your home in weekly orders. Unlike other meal kit startups, you can get the benefits of a healthy meal without spending any time cooking it yourself - just cook it in the microwave for a few minutes between zoom calls and voila, a nutritious lunch. Freshly ships more than 1 million meals per week and has forecasted sales of $430M for 2020. With this purchase, Nestle hopes to establish itself as a major player in the ever-growing healthy convenience food market.

Lots of work still needs to be done to reclaim racist narratives within sports:

Nike Master Trainer, Traci Copeland, highlights the racism and microaggressions towards Black athletes that exist within sports. She recounts her experience in high school as a track and field runner, when coaches saw her skin color and type casted her as a jumper and sprinter. At the professional level, when Black athletes win, their success is usually attributed to their physical strength rather than talent and mental prowess (Serena Williams is a great example of this). Unfortunately, many of these athletes avoid acknowledging these experiences publicly because they ‘are fearful that speaking out means not being able to perform or compete.’ This is yet another example of the work that needs to be done in order to dismantle systemic racism. 

Fitbit partners with DOD to develop wearable that detects Covid-19: 

The U.S. Army awarded Fitbit $2.5M to develop a wearable that detects Covid-19 early on. Fitbit, which will soon be acquired by Google, is working with Northwell Health’s Feinstein Institutes to develop an algorithm that detects Covid-19. As emphasized by health experts, carriers of the disease can be contagious without showing symptoms, so detecting the virus early on is imperative to slowing its spread. As of now, the Fitbit algorithm can detect 50% of cases one day before patients report the onset of symptoms with 70% of specificity. Hopefully these efforts can help to flatten the curve and reduce the spread.

­ƒÄÖ Listen In: New Podcasts To Check Out (on your Winter Walks?)

Hear the story behind the ‘Costco meets Whole Foods’ company, Thrive Market.

On this podcast episode Nick Green, CEO of Thrive Market, discusses the importance of increasing access to healthy food, how he raised money for his venture despite multiple disappointments, and why this is just the beginning for Thrive Market.

How we can use technology to improve healthcare workers’ lives.

In this episode, WHOOP VP Kristen Holmes chats with Arena Labs founder, Brian Ferguson to discuss the future of healthcare, and how technology can optimize performance in the operating room, the ICU, and beyond. Especially now, amidst the pandemic, it’s crucial we work to improve the lives of our frontline responders.

­ƒôê  Financial Highlights 

• CLIMBR, creators of the world’s first connected vertical climbing machine closed its first round of funding with an undisclosed amount

• Moxie, a New York-based startup that allows fitness instructors to stream classes on a subscription basis (and keep 85% of the revenue for themselves) , raised $2.1M in seed funding (you can even find Sonja on Moxie - and she might offer some new classes to try out their latest features soon so stay tuned!)

• Nutrium, an app that links dietitians to patients, has raised more than $5M in the latest seed funding round - the app has already acquired 80K nutritionists and more than 800K patients

• Eat Just, Inc. most well known for their lab-grown eggs, hopes to raise about $200M in a transaction that may value the company at more than $2B 

• Popular retailer, Adidas, could be looking to sell their Reebok brand after revenues fell 42% in Q2 of 2020, with private equity firms Permira and Triton showing interest

­ƒÆ╗   Job Postings 

Full-Time

Sr.Product Manager, Health @ FitBit

Product Manager, Inclusion @ Peloton

Brand Strategy Manager @ Peloton

Sr. Product Manager, Health & Wellness @ Walmart

Product Manager @ Whoop

Growth Marketing @ ClassPass

Sr. Product Manager @ Thrive Market

Strategy & Operations Manager @ MIRROR

Internships

Product Analytics Intern @ Strava

Strategic Planning Intern @ Nike

Product Management Intern @ Nike

Strategic Initiatives Intern @ Carbon Health

­ƒÿ£. FitX Fun Facts

McDonald’s unveils new ‘McPlant’ line (yes, seriously that’s the name), to produce their first plant-based burger patty. The new plant-based burger will be tested in key markets next year, and if all goes well, the McPlant line could add offerings such as plant-based chicken and breakfast sandwiches too. Clearly McDonald’s is trying to capitalize on two major consumer trends that have increased during the pandemic: comfort foods and plant-based protein. What do you think, can McDonald’s do both? Would you eat a McPlant burger?

Feedback, thoughts, or partnership ideas for us? Send a note to Sonja.