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Bio: Mark Gainey is a serial entrepreneur, co-founder, and Chairman of Strava - the social network for athletes. Lets make something of high value in which they would want to pay us, Gainey said about starting Strava. Its still very targeted to the invested athlete across these various sports. "It's not frugal, but it's intentional.". Their transparency holds me accountable. It was their first startup hatched together and turned out to be a massive success. Thats who I am mindful of. Every company has their core values, and Gainey holds one of them as the main reason for the success of Strava. Required fields are marked *. Also a Harvard graduate, Mark is a former venture capital executive and seasoned entrepreneur who has been building successful companies for nearly 20 years, including Kana, which he co-founded alongside Michael as CEO, president, and chairman. A silver lining of hard times like these is that they inspire introspection and focus - What matters the most to us? However, this is not a sponsored podcast. Strava's co-founders Michael Horvath and Mark Gainey have returned to run the company they started. Horvath has four kids in their 20s, and he said they often control his money because of things like school tuition, travel, and family vacations. Were focused on developing a profitable growing business and getting people excited about it. From a User Acquisition standpoint, what it really means is that they can optimize for the CPSUM7D event. As a runner, you probably just answered, Yes. Miriam Salloum, aka. "Making plans is helpful, but the plans themselves are often useless" when life throws you curveballs, he said. Data tells they can better monetize iOS users which is a true phenomenon of the entire industry. This allows him to remain agile and resilient, no matter what comes up. Its about whether Stravas momentum will persist beyond the pandemic or not. There are hundreds of thousands of clubs on Strava that allow you to connect with friends and comrades and teammates., Someone said to me just the other day that they downloaded the other apps, but they JOINED Strava., The really great stories are the tens of millions of folks worldwide who have found Strava and they might be doing their first 5k, but theyre as committed and dedicated as that Olympic athlete., Want more awesome interviews and advice? With challenges, you can complete goals, get on the top of leaderboards, and ultimately compete with your friends or even with complete strangers. He now has his sights set on an Ultra Marathon. In turn I help hold my community accountable. Lets keep it fun. Creative Sets are the easiest and cheapest ways to A/B test Screenshots on your App Store Page. This week we hear from Mark Gainey, co-founder and Chairman of Strava, the social network for athletes. We had this old idea about a virtual locker room after we rowed together at Harvard, but by 2009 two things had changed. Qatar Quest: Two years ago I decided to share my training preparation for the till Swimrun World Championships. According to an Apple Case Study, they used Creative Sets to optimize Screenshots which ended up driving them a 38% overall increase in App Store Conversion Rate. What does that really mean from an analytics standpoint? 28:12 Is your office in San Francisco, CA now? Meeting Nature Writ Large, RRP #394: Knox Robinson On Why Running Is An Act Of Rebellion, RRP #327: Lance Armstrong Is Moving Forward. Weve learned over time that were at our best when were focused on the athlete experience and really thought about how we can improve and create this subscription upgrade thats so valuable it becomes indispensable. Podcast: Play in new window | Download | Embed, If you sweat, youre an athlete. 04611236. NuNee is designed specifically to relieve that dreaded Runners Knee pain. So they decided to fund the company using their personal credit cards. Banners like these have been automatically generated for each applicable post even if you were on a paid plan. I will reverse-engineer their growth strategy including the product, their marketing efforts, their monetization model, and everything in between. So weve tried to find a balance, but we really want to come back to our community. But were not forcing anybody to pay. To put it simply, the more you use the app and post new activities, the more valuable you are to them. Free is going to remain and we added 50 plus improvements. Its not an end game. Period. This exchange canvasses everything from technology, business and entrepreneurship to fitness, sports and social media. My goal is to show you what makes a winning Mobile Growth Strategy in this rapidly changing era. MG: A funny story there was a time when I had lots of CRs [course records] throughout my neighbourhood. All rights reserved. That really surfaces. Their story is as interesting as it is instructive. Strava was able to capitalize on these macro changes with new in-app features and campaign activities. As a spokesperson for the company said to Business Insider the meteoric rise of the company in recent months can largely be attributed to the impact of the coronavirus.. They took the idea of a virtual locker room to several companies. operators and investors by subscribing. And I understand sort of where . That has held true for our seven years of existence. When Gritters isn't working with words, she's teaching yoga and mindfulness; hiking, camping, and snowshoeing in the Pacific Northwest mountains; and running with her husband and puppy. "We prioritize the right kind of spends," Horvath said. When it comes to users, they prioritize engagement over no. The Co-Founder of Strava on the history of segments, Strava marriage proposals and the pain of losing his records to a teenager. Video, editing byBlake CurtisandMargo Lubin. Currently Stravas interim CFO, Michael Horvathpreviously served as Chief Executive Officer from 2010-2013 and President from 2014-2017. They not only want a way to track activities, but they are keen to explore new routes, check how and where their friends are being active, and ultimately see how they are doing compared to others. Specialized smashes the UCI rulebook with new S-Works Shiv, Geraint Thomass Tour de France trophy stolen. Its not rocket science to figure the more a user is engaged the more likely she will refer it to a friend or invite them to use it together. And how do we live up to that? Exactly. The entire team and board are thankful to him for his dedication to Strava.". Do Strava users see themselves as athletes? So Horvath and Gainey created something else: Kana, a software company that was later acquired by the customer engagement and cyber intelligence analytics company Verint. Decide how you want to participate., I remember how fast I was when I was 25 years old, but whats relevant to me is: How does my information today match with what others are doing in my age group, or weight class, or in my neighborhood?, We lean heavily on this notion of what it is to connect with other athletes. As Strava continues to grow and build on its community of athletes around the world, Gainey isnt on autopilot just yet. Beyond our investors, everybody in the company, all 180 employees, are shareholders. For our largest shareholders, its less about, How quickly can we flip this? and is all about, Are we creating value? And those were important conversations even before they became investors in the company. We also find cyclists are always exploring they like finding different routes and places. Before Strava, they founded Kana Communications. However, they managed to put a positive spin on the message, saying: Strava was redirecting its strategy to focus entirely on features for paid subscribers. Matt Chittims Rambling Runner podcast focuses on dedicated amateur runners who are working hard at the sport while, Should you be taking sodium and other electrolytes while racing? And it turns out, he was right. MG: When people talk to us about building community, we always remind them that when we started Strava, we had one customer and had to start with, How do you give value to that one person who uploaded their workouts to Strava? It was creating that single player mode that is motivational and provides enough inspiration that they want to upload a second, third, and fourth time. Distance 11.0 mi Elevation 495 ft Time 1:45:37 December 29, 2022 Post-ski yoga Time 22:00 For example, they don't cater lunch and dinner every day but instead focus on big events where employees can spend quality time together. Or are they? Never miss an episode, plus special announcements, discounts, giveaways. You really can get social about every aspect of your active life. If you are a competitor of Strava, you probably knew a lot about them already. Im concern someone has a startup that I dont know about thats going to rob us of opportunity. Walking on thin ice, they started testing paid sponsorships in mid-2018. Now lets take a look at what types of users theyre looking for, and how their user acquisition looks like overall. In July, Quarles told Yahoo Finance the company was on a path to profitability, but was not looking to squander growth for the short term. MG: First and foremost, its a global community of 50 million plus athletes who use our mobile apps or website to connect with one another. Stravas always tried to strike this balance of understanding what it is to be in single player mode, yet at the same time realizing that so much of the benefit and where accountability and motivation comes from is when you connect with your friends or other like minded individuals. After working in the firm for five years, he grew a desire to be on the other side of the table. They include spending to prove a concept, investing in ideas that align with your core values, and not being afraid to spend money, period. Trust me, after working with the most exciting H&F Apps in Europe, I can truly say no App is that different. Strava is now in excess of over 200 different devices that you can connect to Strava. 34:05 Are you currently training for an Ultra and, if so, which one? Disclosure:In the interest of total transparency, I have run ad campaigns for Strava on this podcast in the past. If you see a pattern you might be missing out on you should be thinking about how to implement them in your business. All rights reserved. "Strava is streamlining its team to focus on its core capabilities, said Stravas communications director, Andrew Vontz. So just how did Strava become the only fitness app that matters? With this little maneuver, they generated 39% of their annual revenue in just 47 days. More than 80% of their user base is outside of the U.S. As you can see on their activity heatmap Europe is their largest market. Even with IPOs. It has been years of iteration on the product side, on the monetization model, on the marketing strategy and the list goes on. Strava's co-founder Mark Gainey, set to run cross-country as a freshman at Harvard in 1986, was sidelined by an injury. Support The Sponsors:One of the best ways to support the podcast is to support our sponsors. Now, lets see how. Before we dig deeper into Stravas growth strategy, we must take a step back and analyze what is going on at a macro level these days. The aligning includes a handful of layoffs at the company. One was technology with the wearable marketplace and GPS devices. 39:08 What else would you like to share with us? Fast forward a bit and I was sitting in a Mexican restaurant with my two boys and I was wearing a Strava T-shirt. It was very much, Hey, if Strava is the last thing we ever do, that would be great. So it was about creating a foundation where were executing on the vision and hopefully exceeding expectations, but at the same time, making sure weve got a great opportunity to build a lasting company that can have an impact for not just a few years, but decades to come. It wasnt as though we had this masterplan about how this was going to cover the entire world. , If you are serious about taking your app to the next level, you should download our 12-step Scaling Matrix its incredibly useful if you want to scale your campaigns. The internet pretty much blew up. Mark Gainey currently serves as the co-founder and chairman of Strava. Horvath first had the idea for this sort of "virtual team" platform in 1995, the year he and his cofounder, Mark Gainey, graduated from college. Listen on 8:57 Will Strava track every activity automatically or do some have to be entered manually? Founder Spotlight: Naveen Jain of Moon Express. I live in Silicon Valley and continue to hear entrepreneurs talk about how their goal is an IPO, like somehow thats the end game. Operating in the H&F industry, we should all keep a close eye on our competitors and market needs looking for new trends. Not only did the membership grow, but the company grew, going from six to 125 employees. Usually, I've got investors, like, show me the addressable market and show me the vision. Europe, Menlo Park, China), Where the person is located (e.g. Cyclists love climbs. Fast forward to 2009, the same concept was needed and we realized we still wanted something that would motivate and inspire us to get out and work out. MG: We get really excited about the future there. The really great stories are the tens of millions of folks worldwide who have found Strava and they might be, http://dts.podtrac.com/redirect.mp3/traffic.libsyn.com/runnersconnect/Social20Media20For20Runners20with20Strava20co-founder20Mark20Gainey.mp3, Jump Start Your Running with Plyometrics: Duane Scotti, The Relatable, Rambling Runner: Matt Chittim, Salt, Sweat, and Hydration: Dr. Patrick Burns, Miriam Salloum, MPT, COMT, OCS Build Better Tendons. Stravas User Experience and the constant iteration towards a sleeker, more satisfying product encounters for a huge amount of its growth. We want to put ourselves in those two places so that we control our destiny. Duis aute irure, rcitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Mark Gainey is the Co-Founder of Strava, the #1 app for runners and cyclists. Cyc: Did the competitive element happen automatically? Calm:The #1 App for Meditation and Sleep with 100+ guided meditations covering anxiety, focus, stress, sleep, relationships and more. These in-app promotions proved to be sleek and elegant enough, yet generating more revenue. There is an active lifestyle in a good way. There are certain days when the smell in the office is not from the servers and computers. We talk about Mark's "Equation of Success" and how to combat the "Noise of Opportunity" (when to say no . Moving forward, they tried to find the sweet spot between making more money and keeping the product the way it was. "There was no Facebook yet. Its a real investment inside the business, and its a feature unique to Strava. visit my Resources page and click Sponsors. Log in to Strava and search for your favorite celebrity or local athletes to follow and enjoy all that Strava has to offer. Of course, he wasnt targeting me, he was just younger so he was naturally destroying me, but we developed a friendship and we still banter back and forth every few weeks. Maybe like Strava. After two years of launching, the app only boasted 5,000 members. This time, they were determined it could work. Their "inch wide, mile deep" focus on their core customer started with cyclists and has grown to a customer base of over 50 million users with a 4.8 star App Store rating.In this Founders Forum interview, Strava co-founder and CEO Mark Gainey dives into the operating mindset that allows a company to thrive a decade on and counting. Company No. Wharton Entrepreneurs Workshop #45 "The Strava Story: Lessons in Customer Obsession and Engagement and Other Keys to Growth" with Strava Cofounder and CEO Mark Gainey. Anyone can apply these principles to their life, career, or business. Description. I saw one person was targeting my CRs. Winning a small niche can lead to massive opportunities. Michael Horvath Co-Founder & CEO Michele Bousquet Chief People Officer Steve Lloyd Chief Product and Technology Officer Lily Yang CFO Zipporah Allen Chief Marketing Officer Mark Gainey Chairman, Co-Founder Davis Kitchel Co-Founder Mark Gainey is the Co-Founder of Strava, the #1 app for runners and cyclists. "There isn't a bank account with the company's name on it, and for a finite period of time, you're trying to learn if this is an idea that has legs Plus, no bank is going to give you better credit than you can give yourself.". And for $5 a month, we want to believe its a great value. Michael and Mark initially met on the crew team at Harvard. Riding up a local canyon climb back in what must have been late 2009, my Airstream-dwelling, frequent cycling compadre Stu Bone couldnt stop talking about this brand new social network specifically aimed at the 2-wheel community. For example, with the Le Col Giro Challenge, if you upload 4 hrs of activity till the end of the month, you have a chance to win 2.5k in Le Col gear. According to intelligence data (and quick research on our end), their typical users are 2544 yo. Horvath, who has also been the CFO of a biotech company and an economics professor at Stanford and the Tuck School at Dartmouth, had previously served as CEO from 2010 to 2013. Always eager to test new tech, I signed up immediately, quickly fell in love and have been evangelizing the platform every since. Your email address will not be published. You will soon realize, everything you see here today is based on pure data and facts. National Autonomous University of Mexico Alumni Founded Companies, Sports Companies With More Than 50 Employees, The Wharton School Alumni Founded Companies, Art Center College of Design Alumni Founded Companies, American InterContinental University Alumni Founded Companies, CEU San Pablo University Alumni Founded Companies, Metropolitan State University of Denver Alumni Founded Companies, Butler University Alumni Founded Companies, J. Mack Robinson College of Business | Georgia State University Alumni Founded Companies, University of Nigeria Alumni Founded Companies, Number of portfolio companies associated to the Person, Total number of current Advisors and Board roles the person has, The organization associated to the person's primary job, Where the person is located (e.g. Dont let knee pain keep you from completing your long runs, or worse, sideline you altogether. 2023 PitchBook. The company's application offers the ability to record fitness activity, analyze, share and compare data against themselves, friends, and pros, enabling users to discover, share and plan workouts and training together for better growth and results. They didnt think it would actually grow. But when he and fellow founder Mark Gainey got Strava started, they weren't totally confident things would work out, so they decided to fund the company using their personal credit cards. Today, there are millions of online subscribers. Like reading my stuff? Strava was launched in 2009 to connect athletes all over the world in place of camaraderie and a little online competition. Learn how they built a product for THEMSELVES (super niche at first). As a user, you can join any challenges you like and have a chance to earn grand prizes from promoting brands. Win whats next. There's more on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexandra-borbely-b39a2496/, https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexandra-borbely-b39a2496/. Its where our growth came from from day one, and its far and away the largest source of growth, even in todays environment. Strava's values authenticity, balance, craftsmanship, commitment, and camaraderie are central to the way the company functions and the way it allocates its funds. Guru Singh On Positivity -- Why Receptivity Is The Better Path, David Sinclair On Extending Human Lifespan & The Science Behind Aging, http://media.blubrry.com/rrp/p/feeds.soundcloud.com/stream/604586484-richroll-rrp435.mp3. Cyc: What about helping people find new routes? Mark Gainey: Yeah, Michael [Horvath, the other Strava co-founder] and I had families, we were on opposite coasts of America he was on the east coast and I was in California. You see how many people are riding together all the time. Who or what would you like to have featured on the Run To The Top podcast? Mark Gainey: Michael Horvath and I started Strava in 2009. (Read that again.). Why is he doing this to me?. Get the full list, To view Stravas complete acquisitions history, request access, To view Stravas complete subsidiaries history, request access, Morningstar Institutional Equity Research, Determining clusters of similar activities. Strava is also a company of 180 teammates who are really passionate about the power of sport and bringing innovative features and services to this global community. Obviously, that approach didn't scale, but the early feedback was valuable enough to justify the extra work, he said. You even have the opportunity to post your activity to your Feed, share it with your friends, talk about it. Mark co-founded Kana Communications Inc. (Kana Inc.), in January 1996 and served as its Chief Executive Officer & President from January 1996 to June 1999. Little did they know that their follow up act a passion project born out of a mutual love for fitness would eclipse their first companys success, reshaping the fitness landscape for millions of athletes across the world. Metropolis International Group Limited, 10th Floor, Southern House, Wellesley Grove, Croydon, CR0 1XG. It was their first startup hatched together . "At the time, those devices were expensive," Horvath said. It was really simple. Their freemium model initially helped drive its stunning growth by making many of its features free to all. in economics from Harvard (where he was mens lightweight crew team captain), Michael is a former Stanford economics professor and entrepreneurship professor at the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth. Founded in 2009, millions of athletes worldwide have joined Strava for the ability to track and share their fitness activities as a community whether they are running, cycling, hiking, racing, skiing, swimming or just working out. 38:35 Is it fun for your kids to be on Strava, too? But, when Gainey arrived in Silicon Valley in 1991, he started in a venture firm. 15:05 How could you search for a 50 year-old father of twins? This sounds really fun alone. In addition, Mark sits on the board ofAlter-G, BoardVantage, Daum, Clari, and Coaching Corps. San Francisco Bay Area, Silicon Valley), This describes the type of investor the person is (e.g. "Battery life wasn't good enough on mobile phones to track multihour bike rides so you needed to invest in GPS unit to use service, and we realized that was a high barrier to participate. If you can tweak them to an even better version tailored to YOUR product, YOUR audience, youll rock. What distinguishes Strava from other fitness trackers and social media platforms is the positive emotional connection it engenders. (Best works at 30k+ ad spend.). And this is where Strava really stands out. MeetStrava the fitness social network designed by athletes for athletes. "When I was a kid, my dad made a really big impression on me," Horvath said. Today, we talk about the actual strategies they used, and the tactics they implemented. They are generally enthusiastic about being fit & healthy. "There's an early phase for a lot of companies where the founders are starting something and they haven't taken outside capital," Horvath said. 13:34 Can you follow other athletes without sharing your own activities? There is not a lot of data circling around about their paid performances. They just closed their Series F round raising an additional $111m, the investment that earned them the Unicorn status. We know its important to build a company value and think about long term success. MG: Metro has been a great investment. It's going from high to low expectations," he said. The executive shakeup at the popular fitness tracking and training app comes at a time where Strava is putting its chips fully behind its subscription business, and the company is aligning its resources behind its Summit premium offering, according to sources at the company. Mark went into venture capital in Palo Alto. Then we thought perhaps if another member rides that same climb, maybe we can show how they compare against each other. Michael Horvath cofounded Strava, a fitness app, with the idea of motivating and connecting people around exercise. We may raise capital in the future, but we want to do it from a position of strength, because we see an opportunity, not because we need the capital. 30:29 Whats in the works for Strava in the future? What are electrolytes anyway, and what are the key factors that affect electrolyte levels when, Have you ever had an issue with your achilles, hamstring, patella, or IT band? I am simply a fan of the platform. To get the story behind the story, today I sit down with Mark Gainey and Michael Horvath the dynamic duo co-founderswho gave birth to Strava and continue to guide its ongoing growth and evolution. You have got to live the lifestyle. For cofounder Michael Horvath, Strava started with an idea that seemed crazy: connecting people online in an interactive way around exercise and fitness. Now you can access, stream, download and share theentireRRP catalog in the palm of your hand on any iOS mobile device (iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch) with ourmobile app. Our vision was to build a trusted brand, he said. If we hadn't done that, it would have taken so much longer to get going.". It is nice to see they can acquire a lot of Android fellas as well. When we graduated, it disappeared. Awesome. "But this is a commitment I made when I had them," he said. In the last couple of weeks, those operating in mobile cant help but hear about Stravas massive investment. If that wouldnt be enough, they did a little something else too. We are focused on what we call our invested athletethat person whos decided that sports and fitness are going to be an important part of their life. Mark Gainey Portola Valley, California, United States 2K followers 500+ connections Join to connect Activity So excited to share Strava's annual Year in Sport report. Subscribe to receive industry headlines, trend reports, and investment activity delivered every Tuesday. Strava became a Unicorn in front of our eyes in a matter of weeks. This early investment led to a community of 5,000 athletes that would eventually power investments and business growth. Mark Gainey is the Co-Founder and Executive Chairman at Strava. 24:44 Who are some of the notable people who are involved with, or you can follow, on Strava? *Disclosure:Books and products denoted with an asterisk are hyperlinked to an affiliate program.