Ernst de Neef, CEO and co-founder of Funxtion, joins Marco and Jonas to talk about building digital products for large fitness operators.

After more than a decade in the industry, Ernst has seen what happens when customers want flexibility, product teams want simplicity, and the roadmap is expected to somehow make both sides happy.

They get into APIs, SDKs, enterprise sales cycles, customization, and an AI workout feature Funxtion spent a long time building before asking a harder question: even if the technology works, can you trust what it gives the user?

There is also the familiar question underneath all of it: when a big customer asks for something, is it a useful signal or just a very expensive distraction?

Ernst gets into:

→ Why poor prioritization can cost more than poor execution
→ The customer request that moved Funxtion from hardware toward APIs and SDKs
→ Why the fitness industry resisted digital products while the existing club model was still working
→ What makes enterprise fitness sales cycles take so long
→ How Funxtion connects engagement to member lifetime value
→ Why large customers often ask for customization they may later regret
→ How to say no to a feature request without shutting down the customer relationship
→ Why Funxtion stopped building a fully generative AI workout builder
→ Where AI can help personalize fitness programs without creating unpredictable outcomes

Follow Ernst de Neef:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ernst-de-neef-312a251/
Funxtion: https://www.funxtion.com
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/funxtion-international/

Follow Marco Benitez and Jonas Dücker
LinkedIn Marco: https://www.linkedin.com/in/marcobzg/
LinkedIn Jonas: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonas-ducker-37460bb3/

Get in touch with This Feature Will Save Us Podcast
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/showcase/this-feature-will-save-us
Website: https://thisfeaturewillsaveus.com/

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0:00 - Welcome and quick questions with Ernst
4:38 - Why bad prioritization costs more than bad execution
6:06 - Ernst’s background and what Funxtion builds
8:15 - What hyper-personalization means in fitness today
11:02 - What fitness products can learn from social media engagement
13:15 - Using data and connected platforms to make recommendations more relevant
14:31 - Why the fitness industry fell behind on digital experiences
17:04 - The customer request that moved Funxtion toward APIs and SDKs
19:00 - The reality of selling embedded software to large fitness operators
20:53 - Starting with lifetime value and working backward to engagement
24:20 - How much enterprise customization is too much
28:12 - Keeping the company vision steady while customers and investors ask for changes
32:41 - How to say no to a customer and still help them
33:00 - Why Funxtion stopped building its AI workout generator
35:30 - The next attempt at making personalized fitness programs work
37:06 - Why progress in fitness technology depends on companies working together