Strava co-founder Michael Horvath describes the community backlash from core cyclists when the company first expanded beyond cycling by launching a separate running app.
0:00 / 0:03exact quote · 3.7s
720p mp4 · rendered on demand · StarZero watermark
“They were jealous that we were spending any time devoted to a sport that they didn't love.”
quote is from the automated transcript, cleaned for reading:
filler sounds and stutters are removed, nothing is rephrased. names can be misheard
(the analysis reads context, assessments check outside sources). how →
More from Michael Horvath
Disclosure
Strava moved free features to a paywall to ensure long-term sustainability
“Would we rebalance the equation between the free and the paid by moving some things from the free side to the paid side? Yes. We would do that in the name of building Strava to be sustainable, building it so that we can be here for the next hundred years.”
Michael HorvathMay 2, 2022▶ 1:09:34Strava: Mark Gainey and Michael Horvath
Insight
Founders do not need upfront answers to start building products
“You don't have to figure out all the answers to how you're going to build something. You have to start with something that gets you to the next challenge to solve.”
Michael HorvathMay 2, 2022▶ 24:08Strava: Mark Gainey and Michael Horvath
Insight
Founders should separate cleanly once they lack an active operational role
“It's almost like you're, you do have a, you have a better quality, and the company has a better quality of existence if you really separate as much as possible at some level when you don't have a role to play anymore.”
Michael HorvathMay 2, 2022▶ 34:27Strava: Mark Gainey and Michael Horvath
Disclosure
Strava's earliest business plans explicitly rejected advertising models
“I do remember the earliest business plans had the concept of sponsorship, but We said no advertising.”
Michael HorvathMay 2, 2022▶ 55:55Strava: Mark Gainey and Michael Horvath
Disclosure
Strava never sells user data or treats users as the product
“And if we're going to use data for any purpose, it's got to be anonymized and aggregated and not, we never sell anyone's private information. We never give away anyone as the product.”
Michael HorvathMay 2, 2022▶ 57:43Strava: Mark Gainey and Michael Horvath
AssertionNot checkable as stated
Strava achieved corporate profitability by 2022
“We've reached profitability at this point.”
Michael HorvathMay 2, 2022▶ 1:11:54Strava: Mark Gainey and Michael Horvath
Made with StarZero
Turn any episode into a week of clips.
This entire site, over 800 episodes transcribed, diarized, checked and made playable,
runs on the StarZero media pipeline. Drop in your own episode and the podcast clipper finds the
moments worth sharing, cuts them, captions them, and reframes them for every feed.
We use essential cookies to make the site work. With your permission we
also use analytics cookies (Google Analytics and Mixpanel) to understand
usage and improve StarZero. See our Cookie Policy.