Insights from the co-founder of Strava

I just had a podcast with the co-founder of Strava, Mark Gainey, and here's some of the points he mentioned.

1. Don’t confuse a go-to-market strategy with a vision

'The phrase I often use is “inch wide, mile deep” — we picked a very niche and specific target audience. Our target audience initially was cyclists. We knew that cyclists by definition are in love with their data and we knew that we could do something with this information.'

2. Focus less on growth and more on engagement

"This may seem counterintuitive, but one thing I learned early on at Strava is to focus less on growth and more on engagement. We spent much more time thinking about when a member found us - if they would stay with us."

3. Somtimes less is better It's important to not lose your north star regarding what you're trying to offer your customer.

"At Strava, we've been very cognizant that Strava is at its best when it's fun. We never set out to be a preeminent intense data analytics platform."

4. The importance of first principles thinking

"We always returned to that first principle - engagement, engagement, and engagement. Strava is more fun when your friends are on it, so if people are engaged - they're going to tell their friends."

5. Always listen to your customers

"We made two big commitments: 1) we would be as agnostic and as ubiquitous as possible - whenever a user requested to connect a device, we never wanted to say no. 2) we were not going to be in the hardware business or launch our own wearable. We would work with providers, not compete with them."

6. Don’t be afraid to do things that don’t scale Although there's always pressure from investors, it's important to do things that are not scalable and show up. In the early days of Strava, Michael and I would attend cycling and running events to cheer people on during the race. Afterward, we would help them upload to Strava and introduce them to us - we would not simply try to sell them something.

Full Podcast and video