Thinking about the people was a huge takeaway as we built Strava. I n the mid-90s, two former college friends, Michael Horvath and Mark Gainey, met to discuss an idea. 15. We had a go-to-market strategy that said we were going to focus somewhat maniacally on the cycling community, but dont confuse go-to-market with vision. I took that to heart, and part of why we ended up at Strava in the middle of a sports business was just my passion for being active. My mom was a stay-at-home mom. Q&A: Strava Co-Founder Mark Gainey The history of segments, Strava marriage proposals and the pain of losing his records to a teenager. There are a number of guys I tried to recruit who did not pull the trigger. Mark Gainey, Strava. MG: Michael and I have learned over time, the minute you start talking about exits is the minute you start de-valuing your business. Michael and Mark initially met on the crew team at Harvard. In fact, a key takeaway from the dot-com era, internet 1.0, is from this funny phrase: Oh, yeah, what a rocket ship. I used to remind everybody, Yeah, and what happens to rocket ships once they run out of fuel? MG: Metro has been a great investment. Strava is old enough to have started as a web company supporting GPS devices such as Garmin, then in about 2011 Apple and Android devices came to have a strong enough battery life and a strong enough GPS chipset to be viable tools to use. Strava is the leading social platform for athletes and the largest sports community in the world, with over 98 million athletes in 195 countries. Theyd bus us off to Mt. That ability to put people together and allow them to compare came in and all of a sudden we saw the trash-talking, the camaraderie, the gamesmanship and those little things added up to the fervour behind the experience. Id just done very well in cross-country, won the state championships, so I was a pretty good runner with some decent SAT scores. When I was with Kana, I was newly married. May 11, 2022 hubspot product import electrical engineer house hubspot product import electrical engineer house . I saw one person was targeting my CRs. Note:One of the best ways to support the podcast is to support the sponsors. I was 90. It was a big stack, but I did manage to get a job offer here in the Bay Area at a little firm called TA Associates, which is now highly respected in private equity. Podcast: Play in new window | Download | Embed, If you sweat, youre an athlete. Have an account? 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We just needed to focus early, to develop market leadership and a presence, so we could be in a place to support more and more people. The sunglasses industry was very distributed, parts from everywhere, and people would put them together. For me, patience isnt necessarily about speed, but just an acknowledgement of that old adage. 30 minutes Mark Gainey is the co-founder and chairman of Strava, the rapidly growing social network used by more than 40 . And Id be happy to do reads for Strava in the future. Strava generated $167 million revenue in 2021, a 70% increase on the previous year In January 2022, Strava had 95 million active users, with two million added every month Almost two billion activities were completed on Strava in 2021 In December 2020, Strava was valued at $1.5 billion Strava overview Strava revenue Co-founder & President: 2014: May 2017: Board and Advisor Roles. There just isnt anything like it. There could even be a temporal basis, so maybe what London needs on Monday to Friday is different to what it needs at weekends. We are in the home stretch here I promise. They were probably wise, but they didnt do it. The company soon enough expanded the focus of its GPS data tracking and social networking platform to also encompass running. Mark went into venture capital in Palo Alto. Why is he doing this to me?. 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? Mark Gainey is the co-founder and Executive Chairman of Strava, a global community of athletes with more than 50M members. 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. Sign up for STRAVA The #1 app for runners and cyclists! The social network connects athletes in . Theres an important sequencing. And when it launched, it was only a desktop app. Hey, you did a hard climb you should know about it. Ive had my own strategies. Please enter your username or email address to reset your password. I laughed. I was a single parent with two boys who were seven or eight years old at the time we were starting. Nothing more, nothing less. I understand Boys in the Boats the same. Theres a universal language, and theres a universal set of needs that all athletes have. 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. Co-founders Michael Horvath and Mark Gainey spoke with Guy about the recent surge in users joining their virtual fitness community. The arrival of phones with GPS and activity tracking technology such as Garmin put. THE TRUSTED TEAM FOR SRI LANKA REAL ESTATE - We are committed to creating enjoyable Real Estate transactions by innovative programs, tools and management. We both rowed crew at Harvard in the late '80s and thrived on the camaraderie and motivation of training with teammates. You see how many people are riding together all the time. You only had maybe a half-dozen races for your season, yet you trained from the minute you got to school in the fall, through the winter, and into the spring. Cyclists know every hill and every grade theyre on. When its off, its miserable. I am being sincere: I cant begin to tell you how valuable that experience was, from the friendships that have become lifelong business partnerships. Disclosure: Swain was an active Strava board advisor at the time of this interview. Seattle University Alumni Founded Companies, Conservatoire national des arts et mtiers (CNAM) Alumni Founded Companies, University of Central Lancashire Alumni Founded Companies, De Montfort University Alumni Founded Companies, United States Late Stage Companies With Less Than $1B in Revenue, Liverpool John Moores University Alumni Founded Companies, University of Wisconsin-Madison Alumni Founded Companies, California State University, East Bay 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. He was in private practice into his early 60s. One of the things I decided at Strava was, we see a business we think is only scratching the surface, and we want to keep doing it for the next 20 years. But it was just too early: software engineers said it couldn't be built, and investors didn't want to take the risk. Awesome. The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for anonymous statistical purposes. We spend a lot of time at the house talking about, What are your interests? Theres an important sequencing. 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. 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. Founded in 2009 by Michael Horvath and Mark Gainey, Strava has. It was really simple. We are using cookies to give you the best experience on our website. To make it stronger, use upper and lower case letters, numbers, and symbols like ! " You only had maybe a half-dozen races for your season, yet you trained from the minute you got to school in the fall, through the winter, and into the spring. This wasnt just Michael, my co-founder. We face a constant tension at Strava around this. 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. Horvath currently heads up the company as CEO, while Gainey serves as executive chairman. visit my Resources page and click Sponsors. I tend to obsess in some ways in one area. Apple Podcasts|YouTube|Spotify|Stitcher|Google Podcasts. One was in my wedding years ago, and so weve stayed close. In order to verify the travellers identity online, they proposed a video identification system that automatically verifies electronic and physical security features of identity documents. Three speakers left. We could find those individuals who had the passion and understand their needs, and in doing so, really start to tailor an experience that was unique to them. My own experience wasnt like that, just because of my lifestyle. Ill take it all the way back to my days working at TA Associates. This was 1986. *Disclosure:Books and products denoted with an asterisk are hyperlinked to an affiliate program. Itd be easy for us to just focus on profitability, but without the continued growth, you dont see the innovation and were not able to serve the athletes the way that we want. When she asked me, Well, whos your customer? I said, See those four guys sitting over there in Lycra with their bikes parked outside the window? There are certain days when the smell in the office is not from the servers and computers. Michael and I, neither of us are particularly good cyclists. It was Dads job. I dont care whether its a software business, or youre manufacturing paperclips, or soccer balls, or running a restaurant. Yep. Side note: The three Ps used to include perfection. And openly sharing our collective fitness experience the highs and the lows makes all of us better. Dear Strava community, If nothing else, 2020 has been a year of regaining perspective. Currently Stravas interim CFO, Michael Horvathpreviously served as Chief Executive Officer from 2010-2013 and President from 2014-2017. MeetStrava the fitness social network designed by athletes for athletes. Prior to relocating to her native Southern California, Zip was Chief Marketing Officer for Pizza Hut U.S., based in Dallas. As I was graduating, I had not applied for any jobs. Alright, good afternoon. That word gets used a lot, and I know it can be abused. 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. I sent my resume across the country, and to this day, I have this shoebox full of rejection letters. Michael Horvath and Mark Gainey STRAVA. We admired the likes of companies like Patagonia and Oakley and Virgin, and just these great iconic consumer brands. I loved being on the soccer field, and I loved playing on a team, the good friends, and the travel. Authenticity is one of the five core values inside the business. Theres a universal language, and theres a universal set of needs that all athletes have. Then, in 2008, their passion for sports came full circle with the launch of Strava. Mark Gaineycurrently serves as the co-founder and chairman of Strava. Its when our members are excited about their experience on Strava and theyre sharing it with their friends. Theres one most people know, which is a very transient, high-densityits a gaming town, but as soon as you get out of downtown, its incredible. In this episode, Joe and Mark discussed Strava's business model, including freemium access and paid subscriptions, the company's focus on putting the athlete first, and Mark's plan to make Strava a multi-generational company. This ID verification software combined with biometric identification allows to ensure that the traveller is entitled to book a flight. Join industry-leading There is an active lifestyle in a good way. 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. The other was the concept of sharing information with the advent of Twitter and Facebook. Anita joins Strava as our first Chief Design Officer, where she will oversee all of Strava's design and innovation aspects . Tto platforma bola zaloen v roku 2009 Markom Gainey a Michaelom Horvathom v San Franciscu. 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. I did that for almost five years. Gainey explained that their dedicated user base loves not only the Strava platform but the company of Strava itself, and what it represents. Mark Gainey 15:52. . They were kind enough to let me figure that out. Zakladatelia sa stretli ete na Harvarde, kde sa Mark Gainey chcel zastni pretekov v cezponom behu, ale z dvodu zranenia to nebolo mon. It used to be KOB disease. She called this the Starbucks phenomenon. So when the opportunity to host them arose, I jumped on it. 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. Theres a fine line between perfection and disaster, and you can apply all these things later on.. 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. Murphys Law, I was home for two weeks after graduation, and I blew out my back on a rowing machine in Reno, in the middle of the desert. We had good friends growing up there, kind of the nuclear family, and a little bit like one of the sitcoms from the 70s and 80s. Youre not going to meet a more ethical person. We have always said if we are not using Strava, how can we convince the rest of the world that its a good thing to do? Always eager to test new tech, I signed up immediately, quickly fell in love and have been evangelizing the platform every since. Most of my competition was on my own team, so when youre living that six days a week, and youre literally racing in practice, it makes it pretty easy to go out and win races. MG: The whole history behind segments is fascinating. Their story is as interesting as it is instructive. Never miss an episode, plus special announcements, discounts, giveaways. Ironically, this came from the entrepreneursthe theory being that youre going to be doing this 24/7, 365 days a year, so it might as well be something you are genuinely passionate about. Were hopeful that over time, youre going to be excited about what were doing on that side of the paywall. For example, we moved whats called segment leader boards. That's a far cry from the ubiquitous mobile app it is today, and their story of becoming a device-agnostic service that unites every runner's and . You and Ive talked about how lonely entrepreneurship can become, so I was looking for a partner, a co-founder. If you were hiring in Dubuque, Iowa, or Phoenix, Arizona, I was calling you and trying to get the owner or the CEO on the phone to tell me about their business. They share how they've focused on creating new content and featur Our vision was always to support the global community of athletes, regardless of what sport theyre in. The grit and determination and persistence. Lets see if we can identify climbs and well show them how they are doing, just by themselves. This is not the first time though that Michael Horvath has left the company. Nothing to write home aboutby no means a perfect score, but good. You went from rowing to starting a company that was a pretty big deal in the dot-com era. Work backwards from $10 billion, and solve that problem. I said, No way am I going to go, this kid from Reno, not even an interest. It was my father who was like, You do not have to go. We know its important to build a company value and think about long term success. I had dreams of, Could I make one of those lightweight teams? 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. It was a beautiful machine. Hes a great guy. Strava Finds its Niche. 04611236. I love to ride my bikes. 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. Tommy Gainey best year was 2010-11 . Whether it was making sure we could join the local ski program early on, or supporting my love for soccer as a kid, and traveling all over the West Coast, they were always behind me. The technical storage or access is necessary for the legitimate purpose of storing preferences that are not requested by the subscriber or user. The one I always recommend is called The Amateurs by David Halberstam. Michael Horvath is the Co-Founder & Board Member at Strava. Mark Gainey is cofounder and Chairman of Strava, a Sequoia-backed company since 2014. Overcast Youre the one! Its called the Biggest Little City in the World. I used to joke there are two cities there. Mark Gainey is the co-founder and Executive Chairman of Strava, a global community of athletes with more than 50M members. Kids dont get to do that as much anymore. As Adam mentioned, I'm the co-founder and executive chairman at Strava and I'm here today to do a couple of things. 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. It keeps me humble. Cyc: Do Strava users deliberately try to beat you? He also had an office at Stanford, which, at the time, was one of the few places with decent internet connection. As I decided to go on my entrepreneurial journey, I was looking for somebody to do it with. I am not being compensated in any way for hosting Mark and Michael on the show. By signing up, you agree to our Terms and Privacy Policy. Tyler Norwood 15:48. I love to ride in the dirt, but by going out and talking to the cycling community, we found we could be very focused. If we could find a cyclist willing to listen to the story and willing to experiment, then we would bring them on. Theres a universal language, and theres a universal set of needs that all athletes have.. Was newly married can become, so I was looking for somebody to do reads for Strava the... On the show love and have been evangelizing the platform every since hopeful that over time, was one the! Are riding together all the way back to my days mark gainey strava net worth at TA Associates be happy to do that much! Are particularly good cyclists, but just an acknowledgement of that old adage launch of itself. 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Servers and computers to her native Southern California, Zip was Chief Marketing Officer for Pizza Hut,.