Entrepreneurship: Julie Rice, Elizabeth Cutler, and Ruth Zukerman opened the first SoulCycle studio on Manhattan's Upper West Side. Land: They found an old dance studio space and built from there. For the bikes they decided to use stationary Schwinn bikes with chain drives. Link

Capital: After opening two additional studios in NYC and an additional studio in Scarsdale, SoulCycle was acquired by Equinox in 2011, which effectively led to more studios popping up in areas around the U.S like San Fransisco and Greenwich, Connecticut.

Come 2009, Zukerman left Cutler and Rice behind in their executive roles and stepped away from SoulCycle to found its biggest competitor, Flywheel, just one year later in 2010. The why? She wanted to get away from the very ambiance she helped create. “The cultures at SoulCycle and Flywheel were completely different. At SoulCycle, we very quickly became the club you can’t get into, and that has a lot of appeal to a lot of people."

Stephen Ross, the founder of SoulCycle's parent company, hosted a fundraiser for President Trump that went against the mission of Soul Cycle which is "all souls are welcome". SoulCycle trainers were also shocked to hear of the event; in fact, “numerous instructors, many of whom identify as LGBTQ and nonwhite, and who are paid to spread a message of positivity and welcomeness, felt frustrated, blindsided, and hurt by the news." Loyal riders decided to cut back on tap-backs and stay away from the studios they had come to know and love.

When the pandemic hit, SoulCycle was late to the game with their at-home bike. This gave Peloton the perfect opportunity to drop in and release their bike, which led to a 66% increase in revenue in 2020. Riders couldn't be in the studio any longer, so peloton was the answer. This then led to SoulCycles decrease in class sign-ups post pandemic, to then now.

SoulCycle created their mission, "all souls are welcome", and created a studio environment where they could do so. Labor: They employed various fitness instructors that would thrive in the SoulCycle environment. Employees have to be light-hearted, easy going, extremely extroverted, and welcoming to "all souls"

SoulCycle announced it would raise $100 million in a public offering with which it would pay down debt and open even more studios. After dragging its feet for three years, the company then announced in 2018 that it would withdraw its IPO request due to “market conditions,” CNN business reports. The claim was met with skepticism; industry leaders believed it had much to do with competition.