Tech Stories / Cezar Cocu

We see so much of Peloton’s action on the bike and in the studio but what is at the core of our operations is our amazing tech team making it all happen. We got to talk more with one of our software engineers, Cezar Cocu, to learn more about his role and experience in the Peloton tech space.

1. What is your role at Peloton? What does your job entail?

I mostly maintain the iOS app on both the retail side and on the consumer side. That’s how we refer to it internally. We have a consumer app used for viewing live streaming and on-demand rides, and then we have an internal app for POS (point-of-service) transactions like buying the bike and apparel items, which our retail stores use.

2. How did you get into this field?

I’ve always enjoyed computer science in school. I enjoyed making stuff with computers. When it comes to iOS, I think I just fell into it. I wanted to do something cool, and probably the easiest way to get started is either to create something on the web or create something on a mobile native interface, like Android or iOS. I happen to have an iPhone, so I was like, “I’m going to start doing the iPhone.” That was really it. I had an iPhone, and I wanted to do something on mobile natively.

3. What attracted you to working at Peloton?

After college I joined an agency. I did that for a little bit, working on different projects, like three months here, three months there. I thought I would enjoy that, and I really didn’t. I wanted to work at least on one project for a longer duration of time. Some people really enjoy jumping from project to project to project. I didn’t particularly enjoy it. When it comes to software, if you jump from project to project to project, sometimes you don’t have to deal with the consequences of your decisions. When you work on something more long term, you deal with that constantly. You’re always making trade offs. “Let me fix this. Let me do this. Let me put in the time to get that.”

4. How is Peloton different than any other tech company?

We own the entire stack. From creating the content all the way to the bike itself. It’s incredibly motivating as an engineer to be seen as value creator instead of a cost center. Because we’re still small, the way everything works is just based on trust. Our Project Managers trust that you’re going to get it done however you’re going to get it done, so you don’t have to deal with politics, which I appreciate because it’s more natural. It’s a natural way to do things. It’s not about what I appear to be doing, it’s what I pump out on the other end. My work is about the results. Teamwork is huge as well. There has to be that trust there where you have to make sure that it can be possible or it can’t be possible. It’s a little bit more high-stakes. There’s less of a fail-safe system, which is cool. I like that. Working at a startup is more about learning and growing as a developer than it is for pumping out stuff. You have to go at a faster pace and you get to learn more because you’re handling so many things.

5. What was your first project?

The iPad app. We made it cooler. We added more rides and improved the customer experience, resulting in a near 5-star app.

6. Why are you excited about the iPhone app launch?

The amount of devices and people who own and use an iPhone is much greater than the iPad. The iPhone is a more personal device. We’re able to reach a broader audience. The users are engaged and we get tons of feedback. It’s a better experience!

7. How important is the TECH aspect of Peloton to the company as a whole?

Very important. That’s one of the reasons why I picked this company. A lot of other fitness companies the tech aspect doesn’t really enable them produce the bulk of their product. Obviously, for us we manage the tech side, hardware, and produce the content all in-house.

8. What are you most looking forward to building/making next year at Peloton?

We can’t talk about a lot of the things we have planned. However, we are looking forward to adding more exciting features to iOS and bringing Peloton content to an even greater audience.

9. What sort of personal software or hardware project do you work on outside of Peloton?

I made a Metro-North train schedule app plus some other open source components.

10. Finally, what 3 words would you use to describe the work you do at Peloton?

Fun, challenging and collaborative.