Alberto Perlman | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1977 (age 46–47) |
| Nationality | American |
| Education | B.A. Babson College |
| Occupation | businessman |
| Known for | co-founder of Zumba Fitness |
Alberto Perlman (born 1977) is a Colombian American businessman and co-founder of Zumba Fitness.[1][2][3]
Biography
Alberto Perlman was born to a Jewish family in Colombia in 1977, the great-grandson of an immigrant from Israel.[1][4] He has two brothers, Jeffrey and Joel.[4] His father owned a factory that made leather goods for export and operated a distribution center in the United States.[1] In 1994, Perlman moved to the United States.[1] In 1998, he graduated from Babson College with a B.A. in finance and information systems.[1] After school, he worked as a management consultant where he analyzed the effectiveness of its TV advertising for a bank.[1] In 1999, he and a partner organized a business conference in Miami sponsored by I.B.M., Telefónica, and others to bring together Latin American entrepreneurs with venture capitalists.[1] In 1999,[2] along with three partners, he then created a venture capital firm for Latin American internet entrepreneurs called Spydre Labs[1] which funded Spanish-language clones of U.S. dotcom businesses which they then sold to the cloned U.S. company.[3] They raised and invested several million dollars before the tech bubble burst[1] in 2001.[2]
Now unemployed, his mother suggested that he get together with fitness instructor and recent immigrant to Miami, Alberto "Beto" Pérez - with whom she had taken classes in Colombia - and start a business to market his fitness routine set to Latin and international music that was very popular in Colombia.[1][2][5] In 2001,[2] they partnered with Perlman's childhood friend, Alberto Aghion, and founded Zumba Fitness.[1] Initially, they were unsuccessful in marketing to the various fitness chains.[3] In 2005, they changed their strategy and pooling their last $14,000, they targeted fitness instructors using direct marketing via videos and TV infomercials; their effort was quite successful with 450 people signing up for an initial $300 fee and a further $30 a month to become licensed Zumba instructors.[3] The fitness routine became popular nationally and the Zumba Instructor Network grew; they then branched into direct video sales.[1] As of 2010, Zumba Fitness is in 50,000 locations in 75 countries.[1] In 2012, Insight Venture Partners and The Raine Group made an investment.[6][7] In 2013, Inc magazine estimated the value of the company at $500 million.[3] By 2015, according to Perlman, there were 14 million Zumba students in 186 countries.[8] Bolstered by steady fee income, they expanded the brand into music collections, clothing, footwear, and video games (altogether about 50% of revenues are from ancillary products).[3]
References
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 New York Times: "Born for Business" by Patricia R. Olsen May 22, 2010
- 1 2 3 4 5 Wall Street Journal: "Zumba CEO: Every Time You Let Someone Go, 'It's a Scar'" By Leslie Kwoh March 20, 2013
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 Financial Times: "The dance idea that found its feet" by Jonathan Moules February 5, 2013
- 1 2 The Jewish Chronicle: "Bullied as a boy, now I own a bank - Joel Perlman grew up in crime-ridden Colombia, bullied by non-Jewish schoolmates and Jewish kids alike. But now he's a business success." by Charlotte Oliver March 20, 2017
- ↑ Healthy Magazine: "Meet Raquel Perlman, the Mother Behind Zumba Fitness" retrieved May 10, 2017
- ↑ "Zumba Fitness Announces Strategic Partnership with Top Media and Technology Firms" (PDF). Press release. March 7, 2012. Retrieved January 30, 2017.
- ↑ "Twitter Backer Insight Venture Partners Sees Great Potential in Former Street Performer Behind Zumba Exercise Craze". Reuters. June 25, 2012. Retrieved January 30, 2017.
- ↑ Crumpton, Mark. "zumba fitness CEO Perlman on Business Model,Growth". Bloomberg. Retrieved 25 October 2016.