Late last month, Peloton, a fitness company, filed its S-1, meaning it’s going public.
Peloton launched in 2012 as a stationary bike company that allowed its subscribers to live-stream digital cycling classes. Since then, the company has debuted a treadmill with live-stream and on demand classes, and a second studio where it films yoga, guided meditation and running classes, among other features.
So, you might say Peloton is turning health and wellness into an experience. You could say it’s creating community. You might even say it’s making fitness more accessible.
What Peloton says it’s doing, however, is “selling happiness.”
A lofty pursuit, to be sure, and not the only one to make its way into a S-1 filing.
Just a few weeks earlier, The We Company, a co-working company, filed its own S-1.
Its mission? Oh, just to “elevate the world’s consciousness.” No biggie.
Earlier this year, Uber went public with a humble plan to “ignite opportunity by setting the world in motion,” while its nearest competitor, Lyft, set out to “improve people’s lives with the world's best transportation.”
And by the way, this isn’t a new trend.
When cloud storage company Dropbox went public last year, it did so with the unassuming task of unleashing “the world’s creativity by designing a more enlightened way of working.” And when Facebook went public in 2012, it was with a vision of making the world “more open and connected.”
Now, there’s nothing wrong with having an ambitious mission — we have one too! — but there is something to be said about ensuring your mission is measurable.
Can Peloton sell happiness?
Well, no, not literally. Instead, it can continue to sell its products (bikes and treadmills) and video subscriptions, and in turn boost its member growth beyond its current 1.4 million members.
But supposing it does? It’s a stretch, but maybe then Peloton’s CEO John Foley would have been correct when he said: "It’s simple science: exercising creates endorphins and endorphins make us happy. On the most basic level, Peloton sells happiness."
Can Lyft improve people’s lives?
Yes, and it does so beyond its main act of ride-sharing. For example, its ‘Free Rides to Polls’ initiative provided people in underserved communities with free and discounted rides to the poll booths during the American midterm elections last year.
Has Facebook made the world more open and connected?
Sure. Although, when measuring this, you’d need to include how we’re connected in ways we probably don’t want to be, thanks to data-sharing and ad targeting.
When all is said and done, investors have proved willing to look beyond starry-eyed mission statements if they feel a company has the potential to put its money where its mouth is. But that will remain the true test of success: was the company all talk and no action?
As for whether The We Company, can elevate the world’s conscious, perhaps if it… nope. Not even I can make a case for how they’ll measure that.
P.S. If you’re wondering, this newsletter’s mission is to amplify ideas through dazzling language.
