Ritika Singh's Profile

Great post, Ryan!

I bought and used a FitBit a couple years ago, but quickly got tired of tracking my steps once I had a good sense of how to estimate this data on my own. This is what leads me to question FitBit’s sustainability going forward. They’ve got a great software play to keep users hooked and of course their hardware has strong reviews and is considered the best in the market, but given competitors are popping up left and right in this niche market, I wonder if FitBit will be able hold its own. It worries me that they make their money from hardware for the most part — with Apple’s iWatch slowly growing adoption, I wonder if that will soon be considered a threat to FitBit? There are so many apps available in the Apple Store and I wonder if FitBit’s own software platform can withstand the test of time. Will be interesting to see how they continue to innovate in an increasingly competitive market going forward!

Great post, Sarah! Thanks for sharing details about JetBlue Mint — I wasn’t even aware such a program was underway!

I’m fascinated by the company’s decision to launch Mint. I’m sure they had many other strategic levers they could pull to bring in additional revenue (e.g., more food options for purchase, other extra perks), but it seems they felt their customer base would want to take advantage of a premium offering. I actually like this concept — just as economy customers of Delta, United, etc. enjoy flying JetBlue for lower prices and a better service experience, I’d imagine the premium customers of these airlines will also be happy to learn about Mint. JetBlue has taken share from legacy airlines for its fantastic service model and I’m sure premium customers of other airlines will want to try JetBlue out for the same reason. I wonder if they’ve focused on launching Mint on certain routes to minimize the subsequent chaos that can occur from having a varied fleet in service? Either way, it feels to be a step in the right direction and I’m curious to see how it plays out for the company.

Thanks for sharing, Andrew! It’s definitely an interesting concept that is sure to create buzz as it expands into new cities.

During your research, were you able to pick up how much of a premium MiniLuxe charges compared to the average mom/pop style nail salon? I love that this company is focused on providing a better experience for its nail stylists (including higher wages), but the nail industry has had a long history of treating this lever with lowest priority in order to maintain margins for ‘cheap’ mani/pedi specials. I’d be curious to see how MiniLuxe segments the market and which segments they truly believe they can capture with this business model.

With all the press about employee conditions, I wonder if they can somehow get their operating model in front of prospective customers. I know I’d be interested in going to them, even if it means paying a few extra bucks, if I heard about all the great things they’re doing for their employees. Will be fun to keep track of how this company performs over the next few years, hopefully I can try them at some point while in Boston!