AI for Online Cycling

Summary

Bloomberg Businessweek: AI for Online Cycling

Date: October 7, 2025
Hosts: Carol Massar and Tim Stenovec
Guest: Eric Min, Co-founder & CEO of Zwift

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Episode Overview

This episode dives into how Zwift — the online cycling platform — is revolutionizing virtual training and racing by leveraging AI and hardware innovations. Hosts Carol Massar and Tim Stenovec catch up with Eric Min, Zwift’s CEO, on the state of the business, its growth trajectory, hardware evolution, and their forward-looking roadmap, including new AI-driven personalized training and a major map expansion in New York City.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

Zwift’s Business & Hardware Growth

• Zwift’s Hardware Evolution

  • Initially founded as a software-only company, Zwift shifted to making its own hardware — notably, the $1,300 Zwift Ride smart bike, launched to make onboarding easier and attract a wider market.
  • Eric Min: "We really landed a product that resonates with the masses. So it's been very successful. This is our second year, and the sales have been very, very strong so far." (02:53)

• Addressing Market and Friction Points

  • The move into hardware is about eliminating friction for new users, making it much easier to experience virtual cycling and widening Zwift’s appeal beyond core cycling enthusiasts.
  • Min notes reaching a key competitive price point after years of iteration: “It's taken us 10 years, a lawsuit, lots of investment in hardware to finally get [to the right] price point. And I can tell you that it's finally working.” (04:33)

• Growth & Financial Health

  • While specific numbers are withheld, Min references steady, double-digit revenue growth and a pivotal post-COVID shift: "We had a crazy, crazy growth during COVID years. I think now we're in sort of responsible growth.” (05:15)
  • Defining 2025 as the first year of “meaningful profit”: "This isn't the first year we're profitable, but this is the first year we are, I'd say profit in a meaningful, meaningful sense." (06:17)

Zwift’s Strategic Focus and Future

• Capital and IPO Prospects

  • Unlike many tech peers, Zwift isn’t pressed for capital as it used to be. Min emphasizes prudent, focused investment: “I don't think capital is the issue anymore. It's really just where do we want to place our bets?” (05:31)
  • On IPO rumors: Min remains non-committal. "We need some more time to grow into a story like that... What we just need to do is just create a great business, great product experience and I think hardware is a big, big part of that.” (06:49)

• Product Roadmap: AI & Personalization

  • Zwift is betting heavily on AI for personalized training, quantifying user progress, and optimizing recommendations based on an individual’s recent ride history.
  • "Every Zwifter who shows up on Zwift should be recommended the best content, given what they've done, you know, perhaps the day before, the week before, the month before. So we're really investing in training and personalized training. So this is where AI comes in, and this is something that we'll start delivering this fall." (07:26)

New Features: NYC Map Expansion

• Virtual New York Experience
  • A new expansion to Zwift’s New York City map, encompassing Brooklyn and Times Square, adds a layer of nostalgia and excitement, especially for Min as a New Yorker.
  • "This is the first expansion of the city. I'm really excited. We're going to Brooklyn, we're going to Times Square. And so this is a bit of nostalgia for me. This is my playground for many, many years." (08:22)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Building for the Masses:
  “We started the business as a software company, really discounting the hardware. We didn't want to be in the hardware business, but it's just such an important part of the overall experience.”
  — Eric Min, (02:53)

• On Responsible Growth:
  "We had a crazy, crazy growth during COVID years. I think now we're in sort of responsible growth."
  — Eric Min, (05:15)

• On Profitability:
  “This isn't the first year we're profitable, but this is the first year we are, I'd say profit in a meaningful, meaningful sense. And that's because we've just become more efficient as a business.”
  — Eric Min, (06:17)

• On AI and Personalized Training:
  "Every Zwifter who shows up on Zwift should be recommended the best content given what they've done... So we're really investing in training and personalized training. So this is where AI comes in, and this is something that we'll start delivering this fall."
  — Eric Min, (07:26)

• On the NYC Expansion:
  "This is the first expansion of the city... We're going to Brooklyn, we're going to Times Square. And so this is a bit of nostalgia for me."
  — Eric Min, (08:22)

• Light-hearted NYC Cycling Banter:
  "No bikes allowed in [the Hudson] tunnel, Carol."
  "Yeah. Casey Neistat did it a few years ago... It's kind of scary."
  — Carol Massar & Tim Stenovec, (09:09–09:20)

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Key Timestamps

• 01:30: Carol & Tim introduce Eric Min and Zwift’s vision
• 02:53: Eric Min on Zwift Ride and hardware strategy
• 04:33: The challenge of hardware pricing and market fit
• 05:15: Discussion on growth trends and profitability
• 06:49: IPO considerations and business principles
• 07:26: AI-driven personalized training and future roadmap
• 08:22: New York City map expansion details and personal resonance

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Conclusion

This episode offers a comprehensive and forward-looking snapshot of Zwift — where AI-enhanced training and seamless hardware integration are propelling indoor cycling into the future. Eric Min’s insights provide a deep sense of strategic focus and optimism, underlining Zwift’s evolution from a niche enthusiast app to a widely accessible, profitable fitness technology platform. The coming months, with AI features and an expanded New York map, promise even richer experiences for virtual cyclists.

Transcript

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[Eric Min]

Experience matters.

[Narrator/Announcer]

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[Carol Massar]

You're listening to Bloomberg Business Week with Carol Massar and Tim Stanvak on Bloomberg Radio. Well, Carol knows this. I do bikes a lot.

[Tim Stankus]

You do?

[Carol Massar]

Less than I used to. As much as I can, though. And I'm a big Zwifter. It's well known among cyclists as a way to train or compete when it's too cold or rainy to go ride your bike outside or you want to get a quick workout in. It's like the majority of cycling that I do now is on Zwift.

[Tim Stankus]

Is it really?

[Carol Massar]

Yeah, yeah. It's like much easier for me to.

[Tim Stankus]

Get a good workout sometimes.

[Carol Massar]

It is, it is. You're just trying not to fall off, which is very easy to do, you know, Very easy not to fall off. I mean. Yeah, it's not an issue. The app connects cyclists riding their bikes inside to real time races in virtual worlds through a mobile device, a computer, Apple TV, kind of anything. The company's raised $620 million. Backers include KKR Premier Holdings, Amazon's Alexa fund, adding up to a market cap of more than $1 billion. We've got back with us the co founder and CEO of Zwift, Eric Min. He joins us from New York. Eric, welcome back. How are you? It's good to see you. We're going to work on getting your audio all set up. You're here in New York because you've got a new map out. It's essentially an update to the game that allows people to ride in different, play in a different place. We're going to get to that in a second. But it's been close to a year since we caught up, so I just wanted to get an update on the business. So about a year ago, you had just announced the Zwift ride. It's this $1300 smart bike to get more people on the app. Has it worked?

[Eric Min]

Yeah, you know, we started the business as a software company, really discounting the hardware. We didn't want to be in the hardware business, but it's just such an important part of the overall experience. And I think after, you know, years of working hard and investing in hardware, I think we really landed a product that resonates with the masses. So it's been very successful. This is our second year, and the sales have been very, very strong so far.

[Tim Stankus]

Talk to us a little bit about how strong they've been. Can you give us some idea in terms of growth year over year, what kind of momentum you're seeing, what kind of growth?

[Eric Min]

Yeah, so, you know, the hardware business is really just to help facilitate the onboarding. You know, we've been. We probably spent the last 10 years figuring out how to just remove friction in the whole onboarding and getting customers just get on Zwift. So we see this as just a huge opportunity as we sort of widen the audience from, you know, sort of the core cycling enthusiast to a broader audience that just, you know, likes to ride bikes and like to exercise indoors. And cycling happens to be one of the, you know, one of the most. The easiest and the safest and one that is most enjoyable, I think, out of all the different activities that are out there. But in terms of growth, we are seeing really strong growth in our. Both in our subscription and our revenues. So, yeah, we think that the hardware is an important aspect of that. I think one of the early and early, early investor that I spoke to, this was like almost 10 years ago, he said to me that the right price point for this hardware, this is the, you know, the trainer part, which you attached to the bike back then. He said $500 is the right price point. And it's taken us 10 years, a lawsuit, lots of investment in hardware to finally get price point. And I can tell you that it's finally working.

[Carol Massar]

How much?

[Lucas Shaw]

Well.

[Carol Massar]

Go ahead, Carol.

[Tim Stankus]

Well, I Know, you're a private company and so you don't necessarily have to reveal tons of metrics, but we are Bloomberg, you know, and I am curious about what kind of growth you've seen in terms of bike sales because it does sound like it's an important part just, or your top line overall, how much it's growing.

[Eric Min]

Yeah, so we've seen, you know, revenues grow, you know, double digit growth. You know, we're not, we're sort of not in that phase of growing, doubling our business every year. We had a crazy, crazy growth during COVID years. I think now we're in sort of responsible growth. And I think, you know, over, over the last few years we sort of went through the painful adjustment of making sure that the, the business is right size and the business is really strong now. We're very profitable and we have, you know, plenty of capital to, to invest in all sorts of a blessing that, and you know, it was a blessing that we were able to raise a lot of capital. I don't think capital is the issue anymore. It's really just where do we want to place our, our bets? And I think it's, it's. Yeah, it's, it's business the old fashioned way. Right.

[Carol Massar]

Well, it's funny, every time I've spoken to you year after year, you've said you don't have to raise more capital, you don't have to raise more capital. I think this is the first time I've heard you say that you're very profitable though.

[Eric Min]

That's right. This isn't the first year we're profitable, but this is the first year we are, I'd say profit in a meaningful, meaningful sense. And that's because we've just become more efficient as a business. You know, we've made a number of mistakes in the past and I think now we know where we're really good at and we're focused on investing in those areas. And I think, you know, we're not going to start making spec of investments like we did back, you know, perhaps a few years ago.

[Carol Massar]

So does that mean an IPO is on the horizon?

[Eric Min]

I think, I think for us we need some more time to, to grow into a story like that. I. What we just need to do is just create a great business, great product experience and I think hardware is a big, big part of that. I think they're exciting. We have an exciting product roadmap both on the software and the hardware side. I think for us going forward, it's got to be side, side to side by side. But our focus will remain for the foreseeable future around the experience of cycling. So then, so.

[Carol Massar]

So what does that roadmap look like?

[Eric Min]

Well, I mean, there's just so much we can do on the. On the. On the product side, the product experience side and AI is something that we're really investing heavily in. I think, you know, many people show up unbeknownst to them perhaps to get into shape. And I think we've done. I think we can do a much better job in demonstrating how they can improve, quantify those metrics and showing progress. I think every Zwifter who shows up on Zwift should be recommended. The best content, given what they've done, you know, perhaps the day before, the week before, the month before. So we're really investing in training and personalized training. So this is where AI comes in, and this is something that we'll start delivering this fall.

[Tim Stankus]

Hey, before we go, Eric, we've just got about a minute or under a minute. How does the new New York City map kind of fit into all of what you are saying?

[Eric Min]

Well, you know, I'm a New Yorker, so I'm super excited. When we launched the business, we didn't start with Central park, so we landed that a number of years ago. And this is the first expansion of the city. I'm really excited. We're going to Brooklyn, we're going to Times Square. And so this is a bit of nostalgia for me. This is my playground for many, many years. So we're here in New York activating and launching the expansion.

[Carol Massar]

Well, next time you hear Eric, come by. We always love it when you join us on Bloomberg Businessweek Daily and give us an update on Zwift. Once again, Eric Min, he's the co founder and CEO of Zwift, joining us this afternoon from New York.

[Tim Stankus]

And there's the Hudson Tunnel in this map.

[Carol Massar]

No bikes allowed in that tunnel, Carol.

[Tim Stankus]

Really?

[Carol Massar]

Yeah. Casey Neistat did it a few years ago. Many years ago.

[Tim Stankus]

Just saying.

[Carol Massar]

There's an old YouTube video of him doing that.

[Tim Stankus]

I'll check it out.

[Carol Massar]

Yeah, it's kind of scary.

[Tim Stankus]

I can only imagine.

[Carol Massar]

Yeah, no bikes in there.

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