Registered in England. I was a single parent with two boys who were seven or eight years old at the time we were starting. We have tens of millions of people on Strava today. Disclosure:In the interest of total transparency, I have run ad campaigns for Strava on this podcast in the past. 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. Well, hes 82 years old. He went off and got his PhD from Northwestern, and ended up here in the Bay Area as a professor of macroeconomics at Stanford. 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. The technical storage or access is strictly necessary for the legitimate purpose of enabling the use of a specific service explicitly requested by the subscriber or user, or for the sole purpose of carrying out the transmission of a communication over an electronic communications network. Strava is a social fitness platform with more than 76 million users in nearly every country worldwide. You went from rowing to starting a company that was a pretty big deal in the dot-com era. It was worth a shot. Then, in the process I got recruited by the crew coaches. Breaking down the business of fitness and wellness. I used to remind everybody, Yeah, and what happens to rocket ships once they run out of fuel? 1w. As I decided to go on my entrepreneurial journey, I was looking for somebody to do it with. Prior to relocating to her native Southern California, Zip was Chief Marketing Officer for Pizza Hut U.S., based in Dallas. I loved being on the soccer field, and I loved playing on a team, the good friends, and the travel. We want to support them in their journey wherever they are, whether theyre attempting their first 5K or going for an Olympic gold medal. Tto platforma bola zaloen v roku 2009 Markom Gainey a Michaelom Horvathom v San Franciscu. It was super fun. Those are not brands that were built overnight. My parents gave me a great choice. Thats my customer. And her eyes lit up because she said that kind of focusnow I could go have a conversation with them. Michael and Mark initially met on the crew team at Harvard. Holding a Ph.D. in economics from Northwestern University and an A.B. Train smarter. Did you have a core group of early users giving you feedback? Mark Gainey Portola Valley, CA Follow on Strava Followers 2051 Following 323 Yesterday Hello 2023! I often refer to them now as the three Ps: patience, persistence, and perspective. We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites. Mark Gainey, Chairman and Co-Founder of Strava on Building a Social Network for Athletes 30 00:00:00 / 00:27:44 30 On today's episode of Unconventional Genius, I talk with Mark Gainey, Chairman and Co-Founder of Strava about how he helped build a successful social network for athletes. Lets see if we can identify climbs and well show them how they are doing, just by themselves. Have you read Boys in the Boat? I had dreams of. I dont think either of us expected that Kana was going to do what it did, and it became all-consuming, but it was just the two of us, and there werent kids involved. He was busy raising a family. Horvath founded Strava with Mark Gainey in 2009. Strava co-founder and CEO Michael Horvath is, again, stepping down from his position. I own that. This largely began in late 2019 when Strava saw a significant executive shake-up after James Quarles departed as CEO and Michael Horvath and Mark Gainey, both original founders of the company, made a return in executive roles. MG: Ive seen some amazing art but for me it is more about messaging. Through soccer came running. What got you into competitive sports in high school? Yep. Disclosure: Swain was an active Strava board advisor at the time of this interview. The partners I worked for, even though they were venture investors and not entrepreneurs, gave me another piece of really important advice, which was to solve real problems. I think we add a million people every 30 to 40 days, but I remember the first 10 that we put on Strava, and the first 15, and the first 20. No, it was stolen here on the Peninsula. Its funny, full disclosure, I was not applying to Harvard when I was in high school. Horvath currently heads up the company as CEO, while Gainey serves as executive chairman. I love to ride in the dirt, but by going out and talking to the cycling community, we found we could be very focused. One was in my wedding years ago, and so weve stayed close. There was this esprit de corps. Mark Gainey is the co-founder and Executive Chairman of Strava, a global community of athletes with more than 50M members. The mission there was to go back to asking: how can we make the world a more active place with environments that are more inviting for people to ride, run or walk to work? As Adam mentioned, I'm the co-founder and executive chairman at Strava and I'm here today to do a couple of things. Download Our Free App! He currently serves as the co-founder and executive chairman of Strava, a global community of athletes. The social aspects of Strava . It turned out that the idea was sound, but the technology wasnt there. I laughed. In order to verify the travellers identity online, they proposed a. Its funny, full disclosure, I was not applying to Harvard when I was in high school. Michael Wolf ran engineering for us and is a world-class entrepreneur. I am being sincere: I cant begin to tell you how valuable that experience was, from the friendships that have become lifelong business partnerships. 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. It was really simple. 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. Id forgotten just how hard startups are and how all-consuming they can be. We admired the likes of companies like Patagonia and Oakley and Virgin, and just these great iconic consumer brands. business of fitness and wellness. What we learned from him over a two- or three-month period were a lot of the lessons I just told you about from crew. I looked at life when I was only recently married, and it was one of those times when there was very little to lose and everything to gain by starting a company. Less so, but its not that my parents werent active. There was camaraderie, trash talking, competition, and so it was just a really magical experience. Frankly, just looking at the complexity of leaderboards and how they operate and the costs associated with it, its significant. I dont care whether its a software business, or youre manufacturing paperclips, or soccer balls, or running a restaurant. 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. Youre not going to meet a person whos more humble, who works harder, and he also just understands things about business that, frankly, I dont. Youre just getting started. My own experience wasnt like that, just because of my lifestyle. How can we develop Strava so members have more of a voice? What distinguishes Strava from other fitness trackers and social media platforms is the positive emotional connection it engenders. 15. 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. We want to fail fast, so perspective was all about keeping things in perspective as we try to move forward. Their transparency holds me accountable. Peloton Discover this cutting-edge indoor cycling bike that brings the studio experience to your home. For the second time in the company's history, Michael Horvath is stepping down as CEO of Strava. I admire some of the other entrepreneurs Ive studied who have figured out a way to be much more balanced on a regular basis. Subscribe to receive industry headlines, trend reports, and investment activity delivered every Tuesday. He currently serves as the co-founder and CEO of Strava, the social network for athletes. Mark Gainey is the co-founder and executive chairman of Strava, a platform where more than 50 million athletes around the world track their workouts and compare their stats. Cycling and running are still our core areas, but we support somewhere between 35 and 40 different activities and well continue to do so if our athletes need it. The Build Cycle Podcast #022 - Strava co-founder Mark Gainey. For a complete list of all RRP sponsors and their respective vanity urls and discount codes,visit my Resources page and click Sponsors. About Strava Strava is the world's leading social fitness app, designed to help athletes of all levels achieve their goals and connect with like-minded individuals. "And given the growing need for bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure, we felt Strava Metro was too valuable and important not to make available to any organization attempting to make a difference in designing the cities of the future." Mark Gainey, Strava co-founder Ride in style Anybody sitting in this Starbucks could be a potential customer. I mean, the beauty is anybody who would have a need. Founded in 2009 by Michael Horvath and Mark Gainey, Strava has hired over 100 new employees in the last 12 months including several additions to the company ' s board and leadership team. So when the opportunity to host them arose, I jumped on it. Theres a fine line between perfection and disaster, and you can apply all these things later on. And Id be happy to do reads for Strava in the future. Whereas, if you try to have a conversation with every person inside a Starbucks, youre going to get 75 different responses to something. Mark Gainey and Michael Horvath were two friends from college with a good idea and bad timing: in 1995, they set out to create a digital community where athletes could chart their progress and actively compete with one another. Reno, for anybody who likes the outdoors, starting in first grade, we had PE at the local ski resort. Cyc: The name Strava is Swedish for to strive. Mark Gainey and I met a few years ago, when a good friend heard me rambling about my latest fitness idea and said there was someone I needed to meet. The social network connects athletes in . So Im doing it again. Mark holds an AB from Harvard University. When I came home, it was gone. This led him to the crew team, where a junior rower named Michael Horvath took him under his wing. When its off, its miserable. Hopefully some of that stuffs rubbing off. Calm:The #1 App for Meditation and Sleep with 100+ guided meditations covering anxiety, focus, stress, sleep, relationships and more. 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? To provide the best experiences, we use technologies like cookies to store and/or access device information. Cyc: What is your favourite piece of Strava art [where a users route draws a picture on a map]? And I understand sort of where . I was incredibly fortunate for the people willing to come and join me on the ride. Listen to the podcast on:Apple Podcasts |Google Podcasts|Spotify. Its called the Biggest Little City in the World. I used to joke there are two cities there. What was that like for you, still in your 20s, to watch a company grow that quickly? Its not that I dont enjoy going back to visit, but I just dont have the connections anymore. They were pretty clever back then, and would recruit from the other athletic programs. But it was just too early: software engineers said it couldn't be built, and investors didn't want to take the risk. Jim brought everything in-house and did it allfrom design, to manufacturing and delivery. Why is he doing this to me?. Lightweights had just been added to the Olympics, and the first opportunity was going to be in 92, I think, in Barcelona. Even when I knew what it cost to manufacture a pair of sunglasses, at the time I had no problem paying these exorbitant rates for a pair of sunglasses because they were that good. Well talk about Michael Horvath, Im sure. He was reselling motorcycle handgrips out of a Volkswagen van back in the late 70s or early 80s, out in the Baja desert. Everybody thinks of rowing as somewhat of an individual sport, but you have to figure out how to mix in effectively with eight other peopleseven other rowers and a coxswain. In a letter posted to Strava's press site on February 6, Horvath, who co . Nor am I paid to use Strava. This was 1986. Its a real investment inside the business, and its a feature unique to Strava. Co-founders Michael Horvath and Mark Gainey spoke with Guy about the recent surge in users . 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