Learn From The $1 Billion Man

Peloton is a company worth $1.25 billion in the insanely competitive fitness market. And everything is riding on its second-ever product, a high-tech, $4,000 treadmill it kept a secret for 18 months—until this year. Can Peloton keep the pace?

- Stephanie Schomer

John Foley can’t find his desk. The cofounder and CEO of Peloton is showing me around the Manhattan headquarters of his company—which streams boutique-style cycling classes to high-tech, at-home exercise bikes—and explains that the open floor plan was recently rearranged. It’s something they do every six months to keep the space feeling fresh and get different departments talking, he says. It’s a practice he loves, and he stands by it. Though it can be disorienting.

“Oh, here it is!” He practically giggles. It turns out his desk is now next to Hisao Kushi’s, one of his cofounders. As our tour continues through the offices, Foley is warm and affable with the ever-increasing number of staffers. The company moved here a year and a half ago and took up two full floors; today it occupies six. In turn, those staffers seem at ease with their leader. More than one pokes fun at his new mustache.

“Oh, hey, John, nice…’stache,” remarks an employee who flies past us on the stairs, her tone a mix of confusion and irony. 

“Thank you; it’s new!” Foley shouts back. 

Foley is not what comes to mind when you envision the CEO of a fast-growing tech company. He’s neither a serial entrepreneur nor a hoodie- wearing millennial. He’s a 46-year-old father of two whose business experience stretches from manufacturing at Mars, Inc., to CEO of Evite, to heading up e-commerce at Barnes & Noble, where he most recently served as president. His success can be traced back to humble beginnings—his first job was at McDonald’s, when he was 14. By working the fast-food circuit, he put himself through college and eventually landed at Harvard Business School.