The Ledger
Every statement that passed quotation and attribution checks. Mix any filter with any other: certainty 1/5, debate potential 5/5, or both at once.
why aren't all 34 resolved? a statement only gets an assessment when the public record can support or contradict it. opinions and what-ifs never can, and 0 checkable ones are still open, waiting for their date. predictions held up or didn't; assertions are supported or contradicted. on every card: ▮▮▮▮▮ certainty · ▮▮▮▮▮ debate potential. speakers are clickable
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.”
Users join Strava for single-player tracking before engaging with the community
“As people have joined Strava historically, they often don't join because they're trying to join the community. They join because they're looking for a way to track their own personal activities. And I often refer to it as single player mode versus multiplayer …”
Building for the best athletes in the world inspires broader adoption
“And we used to have a phrase, you know, let's make sure we build it for the best in the world and meet their needs. Because if we do, they're the ones who inspire so many others to then join the platform.”
Free users provide core product value by sharing their daily activities
“Our free members are not just a marketing channel. Our free members are contributing their activities to Strava every day, which enhances the experience. For everybody else.”
Strava experimented with in-feed ads and data insights between 2017 and 2019
“However, during that period from 17 to 19, we were experimenting across a lot of monetization models. We were looking at, frankly, we were looking at ads in the feed for the first time in Strava's history. We were looking at data insights.”
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.”
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.”
Founders should not confuse company vision with go-to-market strategy
“I always remind people, don't get confused between vision and go to market.”
Strava made its Flyby feature opt-in to protect user location data
“And that's why, for example, making flybys something that you have to opt into was really important to us so that someone who joined, who may not even understand what that feature means, wouldn't inadvertently be sharing information that they didn't want to.”
Strava's monthly user signups surged from 1 million to 3 million
“We went from adding about a million new athletes to the platform every month to, at some points, three million a month, and it's settled down to about two million a month now.”
Gainey: Strava rejects ad models where users become the product
“We watched Social Dilemma recently, Guy, and, you know, this notion of if you're not buying the product, you are the product. And I really, we believe deeply in that thesis at Strava. We're convinced that there is a capacity within this FIT community to contin…”
Financial independence does not mean one should stop working entirely
“I also learned that just because you're set financially doesn't mean you shouldn't keep working. When I don't work, I tend to have problems arise in my life. So I like to stay busy professionally as well as personally.”
Early cyclists resented Strava for allocating product resources to running
“They were jealous that we were spending any time devoted to a sport that they didn't love.”
Strava doubled its headcount to nearly 350 employees during the pandemic
“We're close to 350. We entered the pandemic with about a 180. So we've almost doubled since then.”
Strava founders negotiated with Costco to source Garmins for early users
“There was a whole period of time where Michael and I were negotiating with the likes of Costco and others, just literally trying to buy Garmins so that we could Either sell them or give them away to friends so that we could get people onto the platform.”
Strava did not have a viable mobile app until 2012
“It wasn't until the, 2012, until we really had a viable mobile app into the market. We launched something in 2011 that, that didn't work, but it took us a while to shift off of that.”
Strava adds two million new members to its platform every month
“Now we add two million every month”
Davey Kitchell prototyped the Strava segment leaderboard by summer 2008
“What he comes up with by the summer of 2008, spring of 2008, is what we now know as the Strava Segment Leaderboard.”
Individual overexertion disrupts collective team rhythm and speed
“But just the fact that he was actually working harder than everybody else completely threw off our entire system and the sort of the rhythm that we had. And as soon as we got him to just actually relax and calm down, that boat took off like a rocket. And to me…”
Strava surpassed 76 million users globally by early 2021
“Strava is a social fitness platform for athletes at every level, and it's got more than seventy-six million users in nearly every country worldwide.”
Strava announced collaborative group challenges launching by mid-2021
“We're building a capability for you to challenge a few of your friends, and it could be collaborate with a few of your friends to accomplish a goal together. But that we can bring this so that you can decide what you want, what you find would be motivating for…”
Strava shipped 70 new features to its platform throughout 2020
“We added 70 new features throughout 2020”
Strava launched its paid subscription option within its first year
“We launched the subscription within that first year. So it was always there.”
Garmin GPS devices were the only compatible hardware at Strava's launch
“You had to have a Garmin GPS device. That was the only device that would work with Strava in those early days.”
Gainey handed the Strava CEO role to Horvath in 2010
“And so by early 2010, it was, hey, Michael, I really need you to run this.”
Strava was modeled on Patagonia and Virgin rather than tech peers
“We made a list of if we had been founders of XYZ company, what would it have been? And it was telling because It wasn't a bunch of Silicon Valley companies. I don't think there was, I mean, maybe, maybe we put Apple on there. I can't remember, but otherwise it…”
Strava's 2008 prototype was beta-tested by roughly twelve cyclists
“Summer of 2008. We had a group of individuals. I think maybe no more than a half a dozen cyclists on the east coast out in Hanover and another half dozen cyclists that we recruited on the west coast. And Davey had built a very basic website and we used to call…”
Strava abandoned its purely distributed model to open a Palo Alto office
“Well, we were committed to the distributed model but as soon as we began the process of hiring folks, we also believed in the power of face-to-face and, you know, being in person. So, so we opened a small office in Palo Alto.”
Strava reached one million daily active users in 2015
“So I believe we hit a million daily actives in 2015.”
Building an interactive virtual locker room was technically impossible in 1995
“Turns out it wasn't. That's what we found out when we went out to talk to some people who actually knew how to build things on the internet or build things out of software.”
Strava's first business plan was written in 1995 as Kana Sports
“The honest answer is the first business plan was written in late 1995. It just wasn't called Strava. It was called Kana Sports.”