Mark also co-founded Kana Communications, an enterprise CRM firm, in 1996 and served in various capacities, including CEO, president, and chairman. I am not here to make up theories about how they might have become successful. operators and investors by subscribing. My concerns are two-fold. Or are they? "But this is a commitment I made when I had them," he said. 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. Horvath and Gaineys return to the San Francisco, Denver, and Hanover, N.H.-based company they founded in 2009 has precedent with other tech companies founders returning after time away. And that is a question to be raised for the entire H&F industry can we expect the growth to continue? The internet pretty much blew up. Let me go plan my weekend, and how can Strava be a part of it? However, I hope in this article you might have learned a thing or two about what areas theyre strong at and where they might be weak. Theres something uniquely special about being privy to the daily grind of my favorite multi-sport athletes. They ended up making sponsored challenges like the Le Col Winter Gear Challenge I mentioned earlier. You probably know that strength training can help a runner minimize injuries but what about plyometrics or jump training? You will soon realize, everything you see here today is based on pure data and facts. Michael Horvath cofounded Strava, a fitness app, with the idea of motivating and connecting people around exercise. This week we hear from Mark Gainey, co-founder and Chairman of Strava, the social network for athletes. 2023 PitchBook. The best way you can show your support of the show is to share this podcast with your family and friends and share it on your Facebook, Twitter, or any other social media channel you use. 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. For a complete list of all RRP sponsors and their respective vanity urls and discount codes,visit my Resources page and click Sponsors. The Summit premium service offers an la carte array of three bundles of features that can be purchased for $2 per month each or $5 per month for 12 months. The new feature came with robust marketing efforts too including film-quality promo videos (the ones you usually see in mobile game promos). On Monday, Horvath replaced James Quarles as CEO, after Quarles spent two-and-a-half years. 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. Even in recent months the conversation has been around, How do we put Strava in a position where its in a position of strength? And thats really two things, profitability and growth. Horvath also said he sees a danger in building a lifestyle that extends beyond your means, especially once you advance to a higher level in your career. Learn how they built a product for THEMSELVES (super niche at first). 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. 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? That changed the game for us, enabling us to grow the network more effectively. The two men co-founded Strava in 2009, and Gainey stepped down as CEO in 2010, coincidentally due to a family issue of his own, he said. People not only wanted to find a safe environment to exercise in again, but they also wanted to make this new experience as fun as possible even if the circumstances are not ideal. It is nice to see they can acquire a lot of Android fellas as well. Video Clip 2 minutes. Creative Sets are the easiest and cheapest ways to A/B test Screenshots on your App Store Page. There was camaraderie, trash talking, competition, and so it was just a really magical experience. Mark holds an AB from Harvard University. Gainey has always enjoyed sports growing up in Reno, Nevada. From day one, we had this thesis of building a product that athletes love and see if we can build a business model where they love it enough that theyll pay for it. Eg. Smithsonian partners with Strava to mark Apollo 11 anniversary. Come to Strava and you will find yoga once or twice a week and Workout Wednesday when everybody takes off at noon and goes for a run. Go toonepeloton.com, use the codeRICHROLLand get$100 off accessorieswith your Peloton bike purchase. He currently serves as the co-founder and executive chairman of Strava, a global community of athletes. Trust me, after working with the most exciting H&F Apps in Europe, I can truly say no App is that different. No matter whether your marketing strategies are in place or not, you should be thinking about how to implement these working strategies to YOUR app, to YOUR growth model. This early investment led to a community of 5,000 athletes that would eventually power investments and business growth. Lets keep it fun. Michael and Mark initially met on the crew team at Harvard. They truly made fitness social again even in times of social distancing. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); Your email address will not be published. App intelligence data tells the H&F industry reached a whopping 30% YoY growth generating more than 2.21b installs till the end of October. Calm:The #1 App for Meditation and Sleep with 100+ guided meditations covering anxiety, focus, stress, sleep, relationships and more. Obviously, things worked out for the best, and the company quickly took off, but Horvath told Business Insider that Strava's business principles were still influenced by the founders' personal spending theories and strategies, especially those they introduced at the outset. I love Strava. We both rowed crew at Harvard in the late '80s and thrived on the camaraderie and motivation of training with teammates. But the growth that made it all possible certainly didnt happen overnight. After working in the firm for five years, he grew a desire to be on the other side of the table. That really surfaces. He introduced himself and I realised its you! 15:05 How could you search for a 50 year-old father of twins? 26:27 What is Stravas relationship with Lululemon and what about the event youve partnered with them? 5:48 What prompted you to start an online social network for athletes? I always remind them that the day you take your company public is the day in which its now okay for your grandmother to invest in the future of the business. MG: Ive seen some amazing art but for me it is more about messaging. After a collegiate career as a rower, Mark returned to running in the 1990s and has participated in local 10ks, marathons and an IronMan and has completed the Chicago, New York and Boston Marathons. MG: When we made the decision to raise outside capital and bring investors in, we were conscious of who we brought in. I am simply a fan of the platform. Not only did the membership grow, but the company grew, going from six to 125 employees. Learn how they built a product for THEMSELVES (super niche at first). Tyler Norwood 15:48. Were committed to building a self-sustaining, efficient company that continues to innovate on behalf of our global community of athletes. It has been years of iteration on the product side, on the monetization model, on the marketing strategy and the list goes on. So they decided to fund the company using their personal credit cards. Cyc: Might Strava add coaching tips and product advice in the future? 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. It turned out that the idea was sound, but the technology wasnt there. MeetStrava the fitness social network designed by athletes for athletes. Jenni Gritters is a Seattle-based freelance journalist who covers health, psychology, business, and travel. We didnt drastically change free, but moved a handful of features [across a paywall] that were important. Listen on This is where Strava had a huge opportunity they soon realized. . Evolving beyond its cycling roots as a platform for all who sweat, today Strava is widely embraced as the premierworkout sharing fitness network a rapidly expanding ecosystem of Olympic, professional, elite, amateur and beginner athletes that boasts over 1 millionnew registered new users every month and growing. In one seven-day period this year, Strava users logged 1.6 million activities on the fitness social media site. When it comes to devices, the biggest portion of their revenue comes from iOS. After a certain point, they realized the model that helped them achieve great success was ultimately limiting them. [Cyclist] . 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. "There was no Facebook yet. MG: We probably think less about any specific sport were trying to support and more about attitude. For more information on Strava, visit www.strava.com. 18:01 How does Strava differ from apps like Runkeeper and MyFitnessPal? And for $5 a month, we want to believe its a great value. "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.". Mark Gainey is the Co-Founder and Executive Chairman at Strava. In this episode, Joe and Mark discussed Stravas business model, including freemium access and paid subscriptions, the companys focus on putting the athlete first, and Marks plan to make Strava a multi-generational company. Then we thought perhaps if another member rides that same climb, maybe we can show how they compare against each other. Explore institutional-grade private market research from our team of analysts. Exactly. for 1000s of delicious, customized plant-based recipes & so much more, check out our Plantpower Meal Planner, Subscribe & Review:iTunes|Stitcher|Soundcloud| GooglePlay. Every company has their core values, and Gainey holds one of them as the main reason for the success of Strava. Like many of the things born in Silicon Valley, you might say Strava, the favorite app of millions of athletes, is a happy accident. This exchange canvasses everything from technology, business and entrepreneurship to fitness, sports and social media. Stravas goal is simple: it wants to be the one and only core of your active life. We have seen everything from political statements to people rooting for their favourite World Series team. If that wouldnt be enough, they did a little something else too. The how is still in question, I guess we have to see it unfold in the upcoming months and years. For example, during the company's inception stage, Horvath and his cofounder heard that Costco had 300 inexpensive Garmin cycling computers, all older models of GPS tablets that mounted onto bikes, sitting in a warehouse. (Read that again.). One great example is the SOLOdarity Challenge. Follow him on Twitter @ewolffmann. We talk about Mark's "Equation of Success" and how to combat the "Noise of Opportunity" (when to say no . Registered in England. Because Strava found strong correlations between initially active users and eventual paying customers, the company wanted to know how much it cost to get the users that interacted with their app. I will reverse-engineer their growth strategy including the product, their marketing efforts, their monetization model, and everything in between. "Not because he was frugal or extravagant but because he said money belongs to the person who spends it.". Their story is as interesting as it is instructive. And it turns out, he was right. "Making plans is helpful, but the plans themselves are often useless" when life throws you curveballs, he said. Strava's co-founder Mark Gainey, set to run cross-country as a freshman at Harvard in 1986, was sidelined by an injury. We talk about Marks Equation of Success and how to combat the Noise of Opportunity (when to say no). With challenges, you can complete goals, get on the top of leaderboards, and ultimately compete with your friends or even with complete strangers. Horvath emphasized that you should spend money in alignment with your values, a concept he has etched into Strava's core from the first moment of the company's launch in 2009. SVOD - Silicon Valley Open Doors Technology Investment Conference 2018, Exclusive: Strava co-founders return to company as CEO and executive chairman, 'It's not frugal, but it's intentional': The cofounder of the fitness app Strava describes the money principles that shape his business and personal finances, Mark Gainey, Strava Co-Founder on Entrepreneurship, Life and Sport, Stravas CEO showed solidarity for immigrants by running a route that spelled Freedom4All, With Its Developers Competition, Strava Finds That Runners Love APIs, Cycling-Centric Fitness App Strava Raises $18.5 Million in Venture Capital Funding, Looking for Motivation? Now lets take a look at what types of users theyre looking for, and how their user acquisition looks like overall. From a User Acquisition standpoint, what it really means is that they can optimize for the CPSUM7D event. business of fitness and wellness. Mark and Michael are two people I have always wanted to meet. So Im doing it again. For example, if they are thinking of a new bike purchase, my bet is that there is expertise out there, not just from bike shops but from other members who are using that bike. There's more on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexandra-borbely-b39a2496/, https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexandra-borbely-b39a2496/. Authenticity. I would put in an hour on my mountain bike but cycling is actually really social. If you are a competitor of Strava, you probably knew a lot about them already. *Disclosure:Books and products denoted with an asterisk are hyperlinked to an affiliate program. Mark Gainey, 48, says that the original genesis of the idea for San Francisco-based Strava came when he and co-founder Michael Horvath graduated from Harvard University. Disclosure:In the interest of total transparency, I have run ad campaigns for Strava on this podcast in the past. All rights reserved. Strava's co-founders Michael Horvath and Mark Gainey have returned to run the company they started. The fitness company has told Yahoo Finance that its goal is not to trap people in its interface but rather keep interactions focused on quality and its users on fitness rather than their phones. Today, we talk about the actual strategies they used, and the tactics they implemented. Strava's values authenticity, balance, craftsmanship, commitment, and camaraderie are central to the way the company functions and the way it allocates its funds. There's also a focus on quality and productivity to make sure the company's craftsmanship improves at all times. I began formal preparation two weeks ago and have been posting all my workouts on Strava, accompanied by regular Instagram Stories and the occasional vlog on YouTube. 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. 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. Lets see how theyre trying to achieve that! Instead, he recommended that founders and entrepreneurs create a frugal personal life that gives them what they need and save the rest. Strava became a Unicorn in front of our eyes in a matter of weeks. Its a no brainer. Metropolis International Group Limited, 10th Floor, Southern House, Wellesley Grove, Croydon, CR0 1XG. We look at it as: how can we serve you morning, noon and night? Mark Gainey: Michael Horvath and I started Strava in 2009. We were these two guys in our early forties who were still passionate about sport and camaraderie but life, obligations, kids and work got in the way. I live in Silicon Valley and continue to hear entrepreneurs talk about how their goal is an IPO, like somehow thats the end game. However, we can still take a sneak peek into some of their activities. In turn I help hold my community accountable. As an early adopter (I was the 14,443 person to sign up for the service), its my pleasure to share Mark and Michaels story with you today. Mark Gainey Portola Valley, CA Follow on Strava Followers 2051 Following 323 Yesterday Hello 2023! Last updated on May 28, 2020 - My Free Marketing newsletter . Mark Gainey is the Co-Founder of Strava, the #1 app for runners and cyclists. It was $30,000, so it wasn't cheap for us, but then we gave the devices to people and said please try Strava. Strava recently closed Series E with a total funding of $41.85 million in six rounds. New activities brought on a whopping number of new users. Gainey is elevated to executive chairman. We dont take ourselves too seriously and we dont want our athletes to take us too seriously either. Q&A: Strava Co-Founder Mark Gainey. MG: Metro has been a great investment. Personal Investments Number of Investments 1 Mark Gainey invested in Teamsportz on Aug 13, 2021. So just how did Strava become the only fitness app that matters? It is one of the core values of Strava, he explained. Life Cover+ Multiple Benefits in one plan, told Yahoo Finance the company was on a path to profitability. Kana Communications was a massive triumph. Company No. "Spending money to prove a concept is worth it when it means getting your product in the hands of your customer early on, to start getting real feedback," Horvath said. Athletes may meet in the gym, on the field or maybe the court, but Strava allows them to meet online. And why the integrity of community is paramount. Net Worth: $2 Million Date of Birth: Jan 18, 1948 (75 years old) Place of Birth: Jackson Gender: Male Height: 6 ft 2 in (1.89 m) Profession: Actor, Comedian, Voice Actor, Stand-up comedian. 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. This led him to the crew team, where a junior rower named Michael Horvath took him under . 11:43 How can average athletes get the most out of Strava? If someone told me people would be making marriage proposals on Strava when we started Id have said, What are you smoking? And people are saying yes! As a runner, you probably just answered, Yes. Miriam Salloum, aka. The H&F sector turned out to have the most prosperous times during the pandemic (and keeps growing). Youre just getting started. To provide the best experiences, we use technologies like cookies to store and/or access device information. Join industry-leading Support The Sponsors:One of the best ways to support the podcast is to support our sponsors. MG: Michael and I have learned over time, the minute you start talking about exits is the minute you start de-valuing your business. MillionaireMatch got the scoop on how Co-founder and CEO, Mark Gainey, landed funding in what seemed to be a narrow target focus for any company. 34:05 Are you currently training for an Ultra and, if so, which one? Now, imagine how many jumped on the bandwagon during not-so-normal times (aka pandemic, global crisis). So rather than focusing on exits or IPOs and things like that, its kind of back to fundamentals. of downloads. Plus, they had an overwhelming part in the company becoming profitable and eventually reaching Unicorn status. Youre the one! Also, if you found the information in this article useful, sharing it or giving us a below really helps us keep producing more content like this. Copyright 2001-2023 MillionaireMatch.com. This is what essentially goes away with the coming IDFA changes on iOS. The retailer wanted to get rid of them quickly. 33:34 How do you stay in communication with your global workforce? But were not forcing anybody to pay. Strava's Co-Founder & CEO is Michael Horvath. 04611236. Our thought process today is not to focus so much on where we can find new customers, but on creating a great, engaging experience for those 50 million athletes and have confidence that if theyre having a great experience, theyre going to keep telling their friends and our growth is going to come. The question about Stravas future is two-fold. NuNee is designed specifically to relieve that dreaded Runners Knee pain. Walking on thin ice, they started testing paid sponsorships in mid-2018. MG: A funny story there was a time when I had lots of CRs [course records] throughout my neighbourhood. 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. Frankly, just looking at the complexity of leaderboards and how they operate and the costs associated with it, its significant. Were focused on developing a profitable growing business and getting people excited about it. This time, they were determined it could work. Breaking down the business of fitness and wellness. Consenting to these technologies will allow us to process data such as browsing behavior or unique IDs on this site. Thanks toJason Camiolofor audio engineering, production, interstitial musicand show notes. Download Our Free App! The company has raised about $70 million to date, according to an internal source, and employs over 200 people worldwide. PitchBooks comparison feature gives you a side-by-side look at key metrics for similar companies. But it was just too early: software engineers said it couldn't be built, and investors didn't want to take the risk. 30:29 Whats in the works for Strava in the future? Strava has been known for its clean, sleek design. Duis aute iru, To view Stravas complete valuation and funding history, request access, To view Stravas complete cap table history, request access, Youre viewing 5 of 13 competitors. Without a subpoena, voluntary compliance on the part of your Internet Service Provider, or additional records from a third party, information stored or retrieved for this purpose alone cannot usually be used to identify you. Prior to Strava, Michael co-founded enterprise software firm Kana Communications and was the CFO and VP of Operations at GlycoFi, a biotech company. Its not to say that they dont hold us to a very high standard and expect us to execute and build a company of value, but were not caught in this trap of How quickly are you going to sell the company? Or Why havent we seen liquidity tomorrow?. Here are a few of those important principles. Mark mentions some notable Strava users, but some he didnt mention include NASCAR drivers (7-time champion) Jimmie Johnson, (2003 Champion) Matt Kenseth, and Dale Earnhardt, Jr.; former MLB player, Barry Bonds; fashion model, Candice Huffine; and former New England Patriots linebacker, Tedy Bruschi. Local Legends crowns the person who has the most efforts over a 90-day period on a specific route, they become a local legend of that route and they receive a digital laurel crown. The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for statistical purposes. 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. 13:34 Can you follow other athletes without sharing your own activities? Outerknown:For the people and the planet, Outerknown was founded bypro surfer Kelly Slater to provide high quality, environmentally sustainable clothes that fit great and are made to endure. Strava Aims to Connect Athletes at All Levels | Xconomy, Cycling and Coding Collide at Performance Tracker Strava. For example, we moved whats called segment leader boards. And openly sharing our collective fitness experience the highs and the lows makes all of us better. Europe, Menlo Park, China), Where the person is located (e.g. on Facebook they can create campaigns that are specifically looking for people with similar characteristic trades to the ones completed the CPSUM7D event before. They ended up becoming profitable in 2020 and closing on a $110m investment round that values the company at $1.5 B. They share how they've focused on creating new content and. Lets see if we can identify climbs and well show them how they are doing, just by themselves. 39:08 What else would you like to share with us? Podcast: Play in new window | Download | Embed, If you sweat, youre an athlete. 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. Duis aute irure, rcitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. . Obviously, that approach didn't scale, but the early feedback was valuable enough to justify the extra work, he said. 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.
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