Before ClassPass settled on the business model it employs today, the service went through many different phases.
Founder Payal Kadakia revealed to Cheddar how she had to change up her strategy a handful of times before finally finding success.
“The third iteration was the subscription, and that’s really when it took off...and became ClassPass,” Kadakia told Cheddar.
The self-proclaimed “mission-obsessed” founder reflected on how the service started as a search engine for fitness classes, but one that didn’t offer a value proposition for users. From there, she tested out a discovery model where users could try different classes around New York City. But she says learned a lot from each of these versions.
“Always question what you’re doing and keep iterating and pivoting until you get to that North Star,” Kadakia said.
ClassPass launched in 2011. The service includes access to around 8,500 studios and is available to consumers in 49 cities.
For full interview, [click here](https://cheddar.com/videos/the-inspiration-behind-classpass).
Oracle soars as it cashes in on the AI boom, Plus: Starbucks shares continue to fall under its new CEO, and does anybody actually want a new iPhone Air?
Swedish buy now, pay later company Klarna is making its highly anticipated public debut on the New York Stock Exchange Wednesday, the latest in a run of high-profile initial public offerings this year. The offering priced at $40 Tuesday, above the forecasted range of $35 to $37 a share, valuing the company at more than $15 billion. The valuation easily makes Klarna one of the biggest IPOs so far in 2025, which has been one of the busier years for companies going public. Other popular IPOs so far this year include the design software company Figma and Circle Internet Group, which issues the USDC stablecoin..
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Online broker Robinhood Markets will join the S&P 500 index Online broker Robinhood Markets will join the S&P 500 index as its stock rides higher on a cryptocurrency wave.
