• Home
  • Latest
  • Fortune 500
  • Finance
  • Tech
  • Leadership
  • Lifestyle
  • Rankings
  • Multimedia

Trendingnow

1

Bolt CEO says he let go of his entire HR team for creating problems that didn’t exist: ‘Those problems disappeared when I let them go’ 

2

Despite a $500 million net worth, Shaq just finished his fourth degree. He warns graduates: 'Your character will take you further than your resume'

3

Meet a 21-year-old community college student who's going to China as the first American woman welder in the trades Olympics

1

Bolt CEO says he let go of his entire HR team for creating problems that didn’t exist: ‘Those problems disappeared when I let them go’ 

2

Despite a $500 million net worth, Shaq just finished his fourth degree. He warns graduates: 'Your character will take you further than your resume'

3

Meet a 21-year-old community college student who's going to China as the first American woman welder in the trades Olympics
Leadershipclasspass

ClassPass Founder Payal Kadakia Is Stepping Down As CEO

By
Polina Marinova
Polina Marinova
Down Arrow Button Icon
By
Polina Marinova
Polina Marinova
Down Arrow Button Icon
March 17, 2017, 1:00 PM ET
Courtesy of Classpass

ClassPass is shaking up its leadership.

Payal Kadakia has stepped down as chief executive of the fitness startup and will assume the role of executive chairman, the company told Fortune on Thursday. The new CEO will be Fritz Lanman, a ClassPass investor and its current executive chairman.

In essence, it’s a role swap. Lanman will take on more of the day-to-day operations of the fitness class booking company, while Kadakia will focus on product and design. This transition has been in the works for the last 15 months.

Lanman, an angel investor who led the startup’s seed and Series A rounds, calls himself Kadakia’s “secret partner.” Kadakia reportedly reached out to him for help last year when the business began scaling rapidly, and she found herself focusing more on the business operations and less on product development.

So in the beginning of 2016, Lanman stepped beyond his executive chairman position and took a more active role within the company. In fact, he took on so many responsibilities that rumors began to swirl last summer that Kadakia had “effectively stopped being CEO,” and that ClassPass staffers were reporting to Lanman instead.

“I had started to take more of an operating role, and this was a title mismatch,” Lanman told Fortune on Thursday. “The CEO was supposed to be the operator, and the executive chairman was supposed to be the person handling more key strategic projects. So we just changed titles because we organically evolved to this place.”

Kadakia, who was on Fortune’s 40 Under 40 list last year, admits it’s difficult to hand over the reins of the company she founded. “[T]here’s really no other way I would ever make this decision if it wasn’t Fritz,” she says.

Lanman is a seasoned entrepreneur and angel investor, having built three companies and invested in startups including Square, Pinterest, and Wish.

While Lanman has been co-operating the company, ClassPass has undergone quite a bit of change in an effort to focus on profitability—it reworked its business model, discontinued its popular unlimited class option, and hiked membership prices. All of this caused backlash from users, but Lanman and Kadakia say it was good for the company’s bottom line.

 

With more than $84 million in venture capital, the three-year-old company has reportedly brought in more than $150 million in revenue as of September 2016. This year, ClassPass has launched two new features—a social component that allows users to see friends’ workout schedules and an option to frequent studios more than the previous limit of two or three times per month. These tweaks, Lanman says, have boosted subscriber growth to record levels in the first quarter of 2017.

What does that mean for customers? Well, for one, no more price hikes. “I think we’re done doing price increases. The business is now in a place where we have sustainable gross margins,” Lanman says.

While Lanman focuses on achieving profitability, Kadakia will get back to the creative side of the business. She’ll be working on projects involving design, user experience, and innovation. She says she is not leaving the company nor working on another venture.

“The title is ‘executive chairman,’—not just ‘chairman’ and not ‘adviser to the company,'” Lanman says. “If this was anything more than what we’re telling you, you wouldn’t see the title of executive chairman, which carries a lot of weight.”

Although the duo claims the title change is just a matter of semantics, it raises the question of whether a company’s founder is always the best person to lead it. Kadakia, for her part, previously hinted that she doesn’t care much about having the chief executive title, saying that “founders all want to go back to creating.”

About the Author
By Polina Marinova
See full bioRight Arrow Button Icon

Latest in Leadership

Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025

Most Popular

Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Fortune Secondary Logo
Rankings
  • 100 Best Companies
  • Fortune 500
  • Global 500
  • Fortune 500 Europe
  • Most Powerful Women
  • World's Most Admired Companies
  • See All Rankings
  • Lists Calendar
Sections
  • Finance
  • Fortune Crypto
  • Features
  • Leadership
  • Health
  • Commentary
  • Success
  • Retail
  • Mpw
  • Tech
  • Lifestyle
  • CEO Initiative
  • Asia
  • Politics
  • Conferences
  • Europe
  • Newsletters
  • Personal Finance
  • Environment
  • Magazine
  • Education
Customer Support
  • Frequently Asked Questions
  • Customer Service Portal
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms Of Use
  • Single Issues For Purchase
  • International Print
Commercial Services
  • Advertising
  • Fortune Brand Studio
  • Fortune Analytics
  • Fortune Conferences
  • Business Development
  • Group Subscriptions
About Us
  • About Us
  • Press Center
  • Work At Fortune
  • Terms And Conditions
  • Site Map
  • About Us
  • Press Center
  • Work At Fortune
  • Terms And Conditions
  • Site Map
  • Facebook icon
  • Twitter icon
  • LinkedIn icon
  • Instagram icon
  • Pinterest icon

Latest in Leadership

Anu Madgavkar, a partner at the McKinsey Global Institute
AIWorkplace Innovation Summit
McKinsey partner says up to 50% of work hours could be transformed within the next 5 years
By Emma BurleighMay 21, 2026
41 minutes ago
Jeff Bezos
SuccessWealth
Jeff Bezos wants the bottom half of earners to pay zero income tax—he says nurses making just $75K should save $12K a year
By Preston ForeMay 21, 2026
1 hour ago
Photo of MacKenzie Scott
SuccessMacKenzie Scott
MacKenzie Scott gave away more than $7 billion last year—but her secretive style got her snubbed from a top donors list
By Sydney LakeMay 21, 2026
2 hours ago
allbirds
AILayoffs
Allbirds’ 600% stock surge says a lot about how ‘AI washing’ became the new ‘greenwashing’
By Suvrat Dhanorkar and The ConversationMay 21, 2026
3 hours ago
The SpaceX IPO is a referendum on Elon Musk and his plan to colonize Mars
NewslettersCEO Daily
The SpaceX IPO is a referendum on Elon Musk and his plan to colonize Mars
By Diane BradyMay 21, 2026
7 hours ago
Ex-Facebook exec Sheryl Sandberg tells Gen Z the 10-year career plan is dead thanks to AI:  ‘Don’t script your career when the future is uncertain’
Successcareer
Ex-Facebook exec Sheryl Sandberg tells Gen Z the 10-year career plan is dead thanks to AI:  ‘Don’t script your career when the future is uncertain’
By Orianna Rosa RoyleMay 21, 2026
9 hours ago

Most Popular

Bolt CEO says he let go of his entire HR team for creating problems that didn’t exist: ‘Those problems disappeared when I let them go’ 
Workplace Culture
Bolt CEO says he let go of his entire HR team for creating problems that didn’t exist: ‘Those problems disappeared when I let them go’ 
By Preston ForeMay 19, 2026
2 days ago
Despite a $500 million net worth, Shaq just finished his fourth degree. He warns graduates: 'Your character will take you further than your resume'
Success
Despite a $500 million net worth, Shaq just finished his fourth degree. He warns graduates: 'Your character will take you further than your resume'
By Preston ForeMay 20, 2026
1 day ago
Meet a 21-year-old community college student who's going to China as the first American woman welder in the trades Olympics
Future of Work
Meet a 21-year-old community college student who's going to China as the first American woman welder in the trades Olympics
By Mike Householder and The Associated PressMay 17, 2026
4 days ago
Dr. Bernice King on why companies that walked back DEI were never truly committed: 'If you retreat that quick…that reveals who you really are'
Workplace Culture
Dr. Bernice King on why companies that walked back DEI were never truly committed: 'If you retreat that quick…that reveals who you really are'
By Preston ForeMay 19, 2026
2 days ago
Pay transparency is exposing a bigger problem: Most companies can't explain why they pay what they pay
Workplace Culture
Pay transparency is exposing a bigger problem: Most companies can't explain why they pay what they pay
By Sydney LakeMay 20, 2026
21 hours ago
Current price of oil as of May 20, 2026
Personal Finance
Current price of oil as of May 20, 2026
By Joseph HostetlerMay 20, 2026
1 day ago

© 2026 Fortune Media IP Limited. All Rights Reserved. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy | CA Notice at Collection and Privacy Notice | Do Not Sell/Share My Personal Information
FORTUNE is a trademark of Fortune Media IP Limited, registered in the U.S. and other countries. FORTUNE may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website. Offers may be subject to change without notice.