#018: Mark Gainey – Strava: Scaling to 100M users, mindset, exercise and growth
Mar 14, 2023
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Mark Gainey, Chairman and co-founder of Strava, discusses the origin of Strava, their growth strategy, founder mindset, and building an enduring company. They also explore the concept of 'type one' and 'type two' fun in entrepreneurship, the importance of having a co-founder, and the challenges faced in building a company. The speaker expresses gratitude for the positive impact of Strava in their life.
Strava's success was driven by their inch-wide-mile-deep strategy of initially targeting cyclists as a go-to-market strategy.
Strava offers a platform that goes beyond physical fitness, helping users achieve personal goals, connect with others, and identify health concerns through activity monitoring.
The partnership between co-founders Mark Gainey and Michael Horvath was integral to Strava's success, with mutual support, collaboration, and complementary skills.
Deep dives
Starting with a niche market: Strava's strategy
Strava initially focused on serving cyclists as a go-to-market strategy. By going an inch wide and a mile deep with this specific group, they gained leverage and credibility, allowing them to expand to cater to a global community of athletes.
Origin story and early days of Strava
Founded in 2009 by Mark Gainey and Michael Horvath, Strava is a social network for athletes with over 100 million active users. The idea originated from the founders' passion for sports and the need for a platform that could bring friends together to stay active and share their fitness achievements.
The importance of exercise and Strava's impact
Exercise and fitness play a crucial role in personal well-being and success. Strava offers a platform where individuals can track their activities, connect with like-minded athletes, and find motivation to stay active. The platform's impact extends beyond physical fitness, helping users achieve personal goals, connect with others, and even identify health concerns through activity monitoring.
The Go-To Market Strategy: Focusing on Cyclists
Strava initially targeted cyclists as their go-to-market strategy, recognizing that this niche was underserved in terms of online products. Cyclists were data-driven and addicted to tracking their performance, including metrics like power meters, heart rate, and wattage. Strava introduced the feature of segment tracking, specifically highlighting popular climbs that cyclists wanted to monitor. This feature became a hit among users and led to the development of leaderboards and segment comparisons, which fueled organic growth and encouraged members to invite their friends to join Strava.
The Importance of a Co-founder and Team Dynamics
The partnership between the co-founders, Mark Gainey and Michael Horvath, proved integral to the success of Strava. Having a co-founder provided mutual support, collaboration, and accountability. They complemented each other's skills and shared a deep understanding of the business. Trust and transparency were key, allowing for smooth transitions in leadership roles, with Mark and Michael taking turns as CEO over the years. Mark emphasizes the importance of building a team and finding teammates who bring different skills and perspectives, fostering a culture of passion, belief in the mission, and collective success.
Mark is currently Chairman and co-founder of Strava. He co-founded the company in 2009 with Michael Horvath. The firm is headquartered in San Francisco and supports customers in over 180 countries.
In this episode, we discuss Strava’s origin story and how it got its name, we talk about the early days of the company and learn about their interesting growth strategy and how they got their first customers. Also, we speak about the founder mindset and what it takes to build an enduring company, the inch-wide-mile-deep strategy, effective daily routines, and much more!
