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]

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