We can learn many business lessons from the beautiful and talented Payal Kadakia Pujji. One of those lessons, is that it is ok to fail. In fact, that failure could lead to something bigger than you ever could have imagined. In this week’s Ladies Who Lead Spotlight, I am going to talk about Payal Kadakia Pujji, founder and CEO of Class Pass
Who is Payal Kadakia
Who is Payal Kadakia? She is the female founder of Class Pass, a subscription-based fitness class booking platform. The MIT graduate is a classically trained Indian dancer, and she used that passion for dance to launch her first entrepreneurial venture, Classitivity. You probably have never heard of it before because it failed.
Fun fact, every day I ask myself, “what did you fail at today.” I think failure is a good thing. It is also a tough pill to swallow when you are a type A personality like I am. However, the answers to these questions are the pillars for my next big idea or business pivot.
Her Business
Back to Payal and Class Pass. Payal started class pass in 2013, after failing with her initial idea, Classitivity. The initial concept of the business was a membership program that offered access to a variety of fitness classes in multiple studios, with a limited number of classes per month.
Payal disrupted the traditional fitness industry with this subscription based service allowing customers to take classes at various studios. Her brilliant business model helped her receive funding from high profile investors, like Ashton Kutcher, Eric Schmidt (former Google executive), and Quincy Jones (music producer). Along with this investors, she received funding from venture capital firms and individual investors. Here is a list of some of those VC firms that invested, not only once, but multiple times in her business!
- General Catalyst: A venture capital firm that has invested in ClassPass multiple times, including in a $40 million funding round in 2016.
- Thrive Capital: A venture capital firm that has also invested in ClassPass multiple times, including in a $30 million funding round in 2014.
- Founders Fund: A venture capital firm that invested in ClassPass in a $40 million funding round in 2016.
- Temasek: A Singaporean sovereign-wealth fund that invested in ClassPass in a $85 million funding round in 2018.
- GV (formerly Google Ventures): A venture capital firm that invested in ClassPass in a $30 million funding round in 2014.
- Expedia Group: An American travel company that invested in ClassPass in a $40 million funding round in 2016.
- Astarc Ventures: A venture capital firm that invested in ClassPass in a $40 million funding round in 2016.
Payal sold her billion dollar company to Groupon/Mind Body in November of 2020 and since she is an active angel investor and invests in several startups.
I mean, Payal, girl, you are GOALS! For all of us aspiring entrepreneurs, the lesson to learn here is, it is ok to fail. That failure might be saving grace, because your next idea, and your next group of supports and investors are going to be bigger and better than you could have ever imagined.
BE A DISRUPTUER. Don’t let an industry, or a person, or an investor neutralize your uniqueness. You might fail, and you might be told no, but if you truly have a good business model that serves a customer, the right opportunity will present itself. Stay positive, stay encouraged, and keep chasing that dream.
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