Mark Gainey, co-founder of Strava, joins Fabian Tausch to share the incredible journey of building one of the world’s most beloved fitness platforms. Mark reflects on the pivotal moments, challenges, and lessons learned from its early beginnings in 1995 as a "virtual locker room" concept to becoming a global community with over 100 million registered users. Strava generates more than $265M in revenue (2023 numbers) and is growing profitably.
Mark dives into how Strava found its niche, scaled globally, and maintained its focus on engagement over vanity metrics. He also shares insights on building a mission-driven company, navigating investor expectations, and maintaining perspective as an entrepreneur.
ALL ABOUT UNICORN BAKERY:
https://zez.am/unicornbakery
Where to find Mark:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mark-gainey-b6536/
Website: https://www.strava.com/
Join our Founder Tactics Newsletter:
2x die Woche bekommst du die Taktiken der besten Gründer der Welt direkt ins Postfach:
https://www.tactics.unicornbakery.de/
Chapters:
(00:00:00) The 1995 Origin Story of Strava
(00:09:31) Most crucial denominator for the success of Strava
(00:16:09) The journey of growth & global ambitions
(00:20:51) Defining the critical engagement-metrics
(00:29:08) A risky dependency on Garmin
(00:44:04) Internationalization: must-have or coincidence?
(00:50:06) The layers of product market fit
(00:53:45) How to: Build a global community app
(00:57:57) Teambuilding & culture at Strava
(01:05:38) How to manage growth expectations
(01:13:42) Mark's opinion on what makes a great investor
(01:17:00) How to: Grow junior staff into new roles and responsibilities
(01:21:47) Mark's advice for struggling founders
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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By Fabian Tausch
5
33 ratings
Mark Gainey, co-founder of Strava, joins Fabian Tausch to share the incredible journey of building one of the world’s most beloved fitness platforms. Mark reflects on the pivotal moments, challenges, and lessons learned from its early beginnings in 1995 as a "virtual locker room" concept to becoming a global community with over 100 million registered users. Strava generates more than $265M in revenue (2023 numbers) and is growing profitably.
Mark dives into how Strava found its niche, scaled globally, and maintained its focus on engagement over vanity metrics. He also shares insights on building a mission-driven company, navigating investor expectations, and maintaining perspective as an entrepreneur.
ALL ABOUT UNICORN BAKERY:
https://zez.am/unicornbakery
Where to find Mark:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mark-gainey-b6536/
Website: https://www.strava.com/
Join our Founder Tactics Newsletter:
2x die Woche bekommst du die Taktiken der besten Gründer der Welt direkt ins Postfach:
https://www.tactics.unicornbakery.de/
Chapters:
(00:00:00) The 1995 Origin Story of Strava
(00:09:31) Most crucial denominator for the success of Strava
(00:16:09) The journey of growth & global ambitions
(00:20:51) Defining the critical engagement-metrics
(00:29:08) A risky dependency on Garmin
(00:44:04) Internationalization: must-have or coincidence?
(00:50:06) The layers of product market fit
(00:53:45) How to: Build a global community app
(00:57:57) Teambuilding & culture at Strava
(01:05:38) How to manage growth expectations
(01:13:42) Mark's opinion on what makes a great investor
(01:17:00) How to: Grow junior staff into new roles and responsibilities
(01:21:47) Mark's advice for struggling founders
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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