PYSO, ep. 60: Zwift CEO Eric Minutes on tradition and development– VeloNews.com

Zwift has actually redefined indoor biking.

What started in 2014 with a 5km virtual track and a handful of users is now an international phenomenon. Simply last weekend, for instance, Zwift had nearly 90,000 individuals register to ride among the business’s Virtual Trip de France social flights.

On this episode of Put Your Socks On, Bobby and Gus consult with Zwift co-founder and CEO Eric Min about where the company originated from, and where it’s going.

Some of the hurdles are technological: How do you ensure power-measurement accuracy and consistency with riders worldwide using various devices? And some of the hurdles are sociological or mental: It took six years for the Zwift community to accept the concept of a burrito power-up that makes them un-draftable for a few seconds.

“So we’ve taken child steps [in adding video game improvements], today I believe if you took away all the gamification in the game, it would just be dull,” Min said. “We even went to ASO to ask specialists, ‘Do you desire these events to have power-ups or not?’ They overwhelmingly said yes, we want power-ups because why wouldn’t you want to have a gift of an arrow power-up? You understand, ahead of a sprint. It’s a giveaway.”