Jan 2, 2017 · 37m · how-i-built-this
Zumba: Beto Perez & Alberto Perlman
Alberto Perlman · 16m spoken Guy Raz · 7m spoken Beto Perez · 6m spoken Nicholas Gilson · 53s spoken
0:00 / 0:00
gold bands on the timeline = statements, start to end. Hover to read, click to jump. CC turns on captions
In this episode of How I Built This, host Guy Raz interviews Zumba co-founders Beto Perez and Alberto Perlman about transforming an improvised Colombian dance-aerobics class into a multi-million-dollar global fitness and music phenomenon.
How this conversation actually went
Every chapter scored 0–10 on four independent dynamics. Hover any point for the reasoning behind the score. Guy holds 24.5% of the talking time here. How this is scored →
Guy as informed peer 2.2 Guest teaching 1.4 Guest disagreement 0.1 Guy pushing back 0.3
speaking balance: gold is Guy, purple is the guest (3 minute bins)
Sharpest disagreement ▶ 6:16 Alberto corrects the name confusion
Alberto Perlman playfully interrupts to clarify that he should be addressed as Alberto while Alberto Perez is Beto.
Hardest push from Guy ▶ 10:52 Raz presses for the core differentiatorGuy Raz stops the broad narrative to drill down on what technically made Rumbacize distinct from existing group aerobics classes.
Biggest teaching moment ▶ 29:39 Perlman details the music distribution modelPerlman educates Raz on how Zumba functioned essentially as a global radio station network capable of breaking major music singles.
Guy holds their own ▶ 28:48 Raz brings up the Pitbull music collaborationRaz demonstrates outside research by initiating the topic of Pitbull approaching the company before the founders mention it.
the scores for every segment, with the reasoning behind each
| Chapter | Topic | Guy as informed peer | Guest teaching | Guest disagreement | Guy pushing back | Why |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Beto's Accidental Innovation in Cali | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | Guy Raz lets Beto Perez narrate his origin story of forgetting his cassette tape in Cali and moving to Miami with minimal interruption. | |
| Alberto Perlman's Dot-Com Bust and Motherly Advice | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | Raz introduces Alberto Perlman, who gently clarifies the naming distinction between himself and Beto before sharing his dot-com background. | |
| Forming the Partnership and Defining the Zumba Method | 3 | 2 | 0 | 2 | Raz presses the founders on what concretely differentiated Rumbacize from existing fitness classes like Tae Bo and Jazzercise. | |
| Pitching Fitness Quest and Coining the Name Zumba | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | Perlman recounts the Fitness Quest pitch in Ohio and the brainstorming session that created the Zumba trademark. | |
| Mid-Episode Break and Upcoming Challenges | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | Raz narrates the mid-show recap and the guests humorously describe teaching Beto English phonetics to close the infomercial deal. | |
| Bootstrapping Through Scarcity and Side Hustles | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | Raz asks detailed financial questions about cash flow while the founders recount surviving on side jobs and the Kellogg's Tony the Tiger commercial. | |
| Founding the Zumba Instructor Network | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | Perlman explains the pivot to the Zumba Instructor Network subscription model after receiving late-night calls on a burner phone. | |
| Winning Over Gym Chains and Reclaiming the Brand | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | Raz observes the counter-intuitive dynamic of the 2008 financial crisis boosting Zumba's instructor sign-ups and attendance. | |
| Transforming into a Music Industry Powerhouse | 4 | 2 | 0 | 0 | Raz brings outside knowledge about Pitbull partnering with Zumba, prompting Perlman to explain how Zumba became a global radio-like promotional platform. | |
| Global Reach, Social Impact, and Reflection | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | Raz prompts the founders to reflect on global reach and Beto discusses what it means to achieve recognition as an immigrant. | |
| Episode Credits and Instructor Success | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | Raz presents closing credits and conducts a brief interview segment with Nicholas Gilson of Gilson Snowboards. |
Statements from this episode (17)
Beto Perez accidentally created Zumba after forgetting his aerobics music
“And the only music that I have with me in this moment, it was a cassette with Latin music, more cumbia, merengue, salsa, different kind of music.”
Beto Perez: First North Miami gym audition drew 25 people for one hour
“And they coming in, three people, four, five, six, and one moment I had like a 25 people, and people clap every song, and the audition it was for 15 minutes, and I danced for one hour.”
Perlman: Beto Perez Originally Called His Miami Dance Class 'Rumbacize'
“At that point, Beto, here in Miami, he called this class Roomba size, because Roomba in Spanish means to party,”
Perlman: Zumba's original plan was selling workout VHS tapes on TV
“And so then we said, okay, let's, we need to create some videos of your class. And basically create a collection, a DVD set. It was VHS at the time, actually, a VHS set. And sell it on TV, so we can explain where it comes from, and why, and what the results ar…”
Perlman: Zumba uses non-verbal visual cueing so music leads the class
“And so he doesn't scream at people in the class, or there's no talking. It's only visual cueing, so with hand signals, we tell people what to do. And the magic is letting the music lead the choreography, lead the class”
Perlman: Zumba Lost $500,000 in Committed Angel Funding Following September 11
“We had raised about half a million dollars, but we hadn't gotten the wire transfers yet. And then September 11 happened and everybody backed out and said, everyone pulled out.”
Perlman: Zumba infomercial script was written in Spanish phonetics
“Alberto Aguillon and I had to write the whole infomercial script in Spanish phonetics.”
Perez: Kellogg's paid Zumba a $50,000 contract for cereal box DVDs
“Yeah, good contract. Like a 50 thousand dollar for the contract.”
Perlman: Zumba spent its final $14,000 to launch instructor network
“So we spent the whole 14,000 dollars. We had zero in the bank.”
Perlman: 450 instructors joined the Zumba Instructor Network at launch
“And 450 instructors joined.”
Perlman: 24 Hour Fitness Adopted Zumba in 2007, Sparking Major Gym Rollout
“And the first really big chain to bring it in was 24 Hour Fitness in 2007, and it exploded. And they had to hire multiple instructors per location. Then all the big gym chains followed Equinox and Crunch.”
Perlman: Zumba class attendance doubled during the 2008 financial crisis
“Over the next few months, we started seeing that our instructor trainings were getting packed, and that there were more and more people who wanted to become instructors, and we also saw that the instructors were reporting to us That their classes were packed, …”
Perez: Zumba Distributes 13 Curated Songs Monthly to Global Instructors
“When we send every month the music we select 13 songs, and we send every month to the instructors, and that means these 13 songs going to around the world in one month.”
Perlman: Zumba Choreography for Shakira Song Was Shared 50 Million Times
“We launched a choreography for Shakira and Carlos Vives. They have a new song called La Bicicleta, and in aggregate, the choreography was shared fifty million times on Facebook.”
Perlman: Zumba reaches 15 million participants across 200,000 gyms
“So we have fifteen million people taking classes, and we're in 200,000 gyms.”