Great Company with Jamie Laing

RUNNA FOUNDER, BEN PARKER ON BUILDING ONE OF THE WORLD'S BIGGEST FITNESS APPS IN JUST 4 YEARS

Oct 7, 2025
Ben Parker, the visionary founder of the Runna app, shares his journey from being a running coach to leading one of the world’s biggest fitness apps. He discusses the personal sacrifices made for success and the challenges of scaling a startup. Ben reveals insights on building a winning team culture and the importance of having a reliable co-founder. He highlights the life-changing impact of Runna’s success on its users and investors, and offers valuable advice for aspiring entrepreneurs on validating their ideas before scaling.
Ask episode
AI Snips
Chapters
Transcript
Episode notes
ANECDOTE

From Coach To Global App

  • Ben automated his one-to-one coaching into an app that writes training plans for any runner using tech.
  • He scaled from 40 private clients to over half a million daily users in about four years.
ANECDOTE

Sale Created Real Winners

  • Ben confirms Runner sold to Strava for a large sum while noting he didn’t own all of it.
  • He emphasises many early investors and employees benefited, giving real-life impact examples.
ANECDOTE

Crowdfund Investors Benefitted

  • Ben describes early crowdfund investors from £10 to £50,000 including a client who now changes her life.
  • He highlights early employees who received equity and gained life-changing returns.
Get the Snipd Podcast app to discover more snips from this episode
Get the app