ClassPass: Payal Kadakia

How I Built This · 29 Jun 2020 · 1h 16m

What this episode covers

Payal Kadakia, co-founder of ClassPass, explains how a frustrating search for dance classes in New York City led to the creation of a fitness booking platform. She details the company's multiple pivots, starting with Classivity, a search engine that failed to drive bookings, to a 'Passport' trial product, and finally to the subscription-based ClassPass model. Kadakia discusses the operational challenges of balancing studio partnerships, managing unit economics with unlimited plans, and navigating the existential threat of the COVID-19 pandemic by launching digital streaming services.

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