Technically, my degree says General Studies. I had enough credits in art historyfine arts is what they call it at Harvard. What was that like for you, still in your 20s, to watch a company grow that quickly? Yeah, I love this entirely. Mark Gainey, Co-founder & Chairman, Strava - YouTube 0:00 / 20:29 Mark Gainey, Co-founder & Chairman, Strava 1,497 views Jan 23, 2018 Mark Gainey, Co-founder & Chairman, Strava and Ari. Going back to the three Ps, when I met you one of the things I noticed was the word patience. I really dont have a primary care physician, so thankfully, my dad still takes my calls. "Back in the late. Theres an important sequencing. The real trick is finding that balance. For the second time in the company's history, Michael Horvath is stepping down as CEO of Strava. Theyd bus us off to Mt. Founded in 2009 by Michael Horvath and Mark Gainey, Strava has become the go-to platform for millions of users around the world. Work backwards from $10 billion, and solve that problem. And Id be happy to do reads for Strava in the future. Why is he doing this to me?. Lets keep it fun. How can we develop Strava so members have more of a voice? Theres something uniquely special about being privy to the daily grind of my favorite multi-sport athletes. Then he had a really interesting career where he left his private practice, but went to work at the Veterans Administration, where he became much more of a mentor instructor. Yep. We were a little early. I was really lucky that group was willing to come together when it did. He started telling me his story, and to this dayhe doesnt even know thishe is one of my key mentors in life. This was pre-internet, so Id get all these newspapers, and Id pull all the want ads out of the Sunday papers from around the country. 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. Its funny, full disclosure, I was not applying to Harvard when I was in high school. Its Strava on the Brain, and many an evening when Id be sitting there with the boys at dinner, or trying to have a conversation, and Im asking them about their day, they tell me how their day has gone, and I cant hear them. Horvath currently heads up the company as CEO, while Gainey serves as executive chairman. Zakladatelia sa stretli ete na Harvarde, kde sa Mark Gainey chcel zastni pretekov v cezponom behu, ale z dvodu zranenia to nebolo mon. The firm did very well. I sincerely hope you enjoy the episode. My mom was a stay-at-home mom. The company raised $110 million . Number of Current Board & Advisor Roles 1. Rose Ski Resort, and wed ski all winter long. We also hold ourselves responsible for delivering innovative and . Send me the good emails, Copyright Diamond Publishing 2023. 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. 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. But it was just too early: software engineers said it couldn't be built, and investors didn't want to take the risk. Strava is also a company of 180 teammates who are really passionate about the power of sport and bringing innovative features and services to this global community. 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? My wife Lisa came from an entrepreneurial family in her own right, so she felt like she knew what she was getting into. Have you read Boys in the Boat? Those messages capture my heart and are fun to see. That changed the game for us, enabling us to grow the network more effectively. 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? Part of this is to make sure folks can access information. 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. Plus 7-day and 21-day programs for both beginner and advanced users. Theres a universal language, and theres a universal set of needs that all athletes have.. Mark Gainey is the co-founder and chairman of Strava, the rapidly growing social network used by more than 40 million people in 195 countries. Gainey and Horvath value the user experience on Strava more than anything, and this is a testament as to why most Strava features were previously free. Mark Gainey is the Co-Founder and Executive Chairman at Strava. Visit: Outerknown.comtoday and enter promo code RICHROLL at checkout to receive 25% OFF your full price order. Were focused on developing a profitable growing business and getting people excited about it. Currently Stravas interim CFO, Michael Horvathpreviously served as Chief Executive Officer from 2010-2013 and President from 2014-2017. Oh, I got a couple wins and a couple where we should have won, but didnt. Michael was class of 88. Cyc: What has all the Strava data taught you about cyclists? It wasnt as though we had this masterplan about how this was going to cover the entire world. 04611236. The company soon enough expanded the focus of its GPS data tracking and social networking platform to also encompass running. Cyc: Do Strava users deliberately try to beat you? Friendship ensued, but after graduation they pursued disparate paths. 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. 15. Cyc: Is the Strava office in California full of very active employees? Terry McKall February 14, 2023. As Adam mentioned, I'm the co-founder and executive chairman at Strava and I'm here today to do a couple of things. Q&A: Strava founder Mark Gainey The CEO and co-founder of Strava on the history of segments, Strava marriage proposals and the pain of losing his records to a teenager by Mark Bailey. 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. Mark Gainey: Born in Denver, Colorado, but raised in Reno, Nevada. Listen to the podcast on:Apple Podcasts |Google Podcasts|Spotify. What got you into competitive sports in high school? This was a Saturday afternoon, and the gentleman said afterward, Boy, they each shook my hand like they meant it and looked me in the eye. That was good, because I can say it came directly from my father. The problem is with time you forget all the bad, and you only remember the good. For a complete list of all RRP sponsors and their respective vanity urls and discount codes,visit my Resources page and click Sponsors. Strava is a social fitness platform with more than 76 million users in nearly every country worldwide. You get injured. Let's see if we can roll through here. Hes had two major wins since Kana. 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. My own experience wasnt like that, just because of my lifestyle. Strava was founded in San Francisco in 2009it released Strava Metro in 2014.. I remember spending afternoons on my little BMX bike, or with a soccer ball, with a football, and playing with other kids. Co-founder & President: 2014: May 2017: Board and Advisor Roles. We both rowed crew at Harvard in the late '80s and thrived on the camaraderie and motivation of training with teammates. That has held true for our seven years of existence. 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. I n the mid-90s, two former college friends, Michael Horvath and Mark Gainey, met to discuss an idea. Frankly, just looking at the complexity of leaderboards and how they operate and the costs associated with it, its significant. The grit and determination and persistence. You dont have to get in, but youre going to be a decent person, and youre going to reply to this. Usually, I've got investors, like, show me the addressable market and show me the vision. What are the pros and cons? My dad was a general surgeon. There was camaraderie, trash talking, competition, and so it was just a really magical experience. Hint: The password should be at least twelve characters long. Strava Finds its Niche. Cyc: The name Strava is Swedish for to strive. This led him to the crew team, where a junior rower named. You dont have to get in, but youre going to be a decent person, and youre going to reply to this. I am being sincere: I cant begin to tell you how valuable that experience was, from the friendships that have become lifelong business partnerships. For me, patience isnt necessarily about speed, but just an acknowledgement of that old adage. You and Ive talked about how lonely entrepreneurship can become, so I was looking for a partner, a co-founder. Welcome Anita Patwardhan Butler! MG: Oh yeah. 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. Did you have extended family in the area? Have an account? Metropolis International Group Limited, 10th Floor, Southern House, Wellesley Grove, Croydon, CR0 1XG. I had one of the best calls and visits we ever had. Its all about the people you bring together. Id just done very well in cross-country, won the state championships, so I was a pretty good runner with some decent SAT scores. Michael Wolf ran engineering for us and is a world-class entrepreneur. We want to put ourselves in those two places so that we control our destiny. Hey, we saw your results. I always remind them that the day you take your company public is the day in which its now okay for your grandmother to invest in the future of the business. In a . Theres a fine line between perfection and disaster, and you can apply all these things later on. MG: If you go back to our roots, Michael and I were really interested in creating a trusted consumer brand. I could keep going. 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. Do you keep in touch with any of your running teammates? Download Our Free App! Log In. And for $5 a month, we want to believe its a great value. Our ethos is pretty simple and one of our core values is authenticity. Wed come and visit extended family here in the Bay Area, but no, we were a close-knit family. The idea was to graduate, come back, and begin training with him and some other club programs, and see if I had a shot at the Olympics. I like to joke that I got paid to go to business school because Id basically get case studies all day long talking to these guys. We lived that, and it was pretty good. Michaels trajectory was a little different. I laughed. I understand, thats hard to describe. So I tend to focus on one thing, but I know I can only do it for x-period of 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. Strava sa stala prvou aplikciou, ktor bola vytvoren portovcami pre portovcov. Check out an overview of the conversation below or listen to the entire episode for more. Did you have to wait for the technology to catch up? Nor am I paid to use Strava. But were not forcing anybody to pay. Hes got very funny stories about moving into that mentor role, and about working with the vets. He was maniacal about the quality, maniacal about his distribution. Stravas co-founder Mark Gainey, set to run cross-country as a freshman at Harvard in 1986, was sidelined by an injury. Cyc: What is your favourite piece of Strava art [where a users route draws a picture on a map]? As an early adopter (I was the 14,443 person to sign up for the service), its my pleasure to share Mark and Michaels story with you today. The arrival of phones with GPS and activity tracking technology such as Garmin put. So when the opportunity to host them arose, I jumped on it. 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. Anybody sitting in this Starbucks could be a potential customer. I mean, the beauty is anybody who would have a need. We are focused on what we call our invested athletethat person whos decided that sports and fitness are going to be an important part of their life. Authenticity is one of the five core values inside the business. Grounded and patient, I learned firsthand that Mark is one of those people you instantly want to work with. Building that into the experience was about being authentic with them. Thats where the kudos and comments came in. It was really simple. 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? You have got to live the lifestyle. 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. MG: The whole history behind segments is fascinating. Mark has been building successful companies for 20+ years. Those are not brands that were built overnight. Video, editing byBlake CurtisandMargo Lubin. Michael Horvath and Mark Gainey STRAVA. Well, hes 82 years old. Strava's co-founder Mark Gainey, set to run cross-country as a freshman at Harvard in 1986, was sidelined by an injury. He introduced himself and I realised its you! Over the coming months, Strava was focused on increasing its reach vis--vis integrations with other devices such as Google's Fitbit. Hey, you did a hard climb you should know about it. He was busy raising a family. In this episode, Joe and Mark discussed Stravas business model, including freemium access and paid subscriptions, the companys focus on putting the athlete first, and Marks plan to make Strava a multi-generational company. If you can solve the. He saw all these guys coming in on their motorcycles with cracked goggles, and he was like, Theres got to be a better way. Long story short, he ended up with this amazing business that, at the time we talked to him, had better margins than a software company. There just isnt anything like it. Founded in 2009, millions of athletes have joined Strava for the competition and camaraderie found in tracking and sharing their fitness activities. 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