What running gyms taught me about building XODA
John-Paul Rahme, Co-Founder of XODA · 3 min read
XODA didn't start in a boardroom. It started with the software frustrations John-Paul Rahme lived through as a gym operator.
“The technology I'd used in my own fitness businesses kept coming back to the same limitations — software that wasn't modern or fit for the modern consumer. Consumers are spoiled with great tech in their day-to-day; you can get anything with an app and a couple of buttons, so their expectations of every business are higher. We saw a huge opportunity to build a platform that works the way people expect modern technology to work — and to bring the community and member-to-member connection that the market wasn't facilitating into the fitness space.”
He's also candid about the leap: “Going from a gym owner to a SaaS CEO is quite the shift. In fitness I was a big-picture guy — but in technology the detail matters so much.” That operator-to-builder perspective is why XODA focuses on the things gyms actually feel: retention, member experience, and community.
How XODA helps
The whole platform, built from the operator's chair.
Keep reading
Why discounts won't fix your gym's churn
Where to actually spend your retention budget — and why free months don't work.
OperationsTop studios don't guess. They track.
How the best operators manage staff with clear, measurable objectives.
LeadershipThe mindset shift that grows a great gym team
Why high standards can quietly stall your team — and what to do instead.