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Strava raises $110M, growth rate of 2M new users per month in 2020

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1–10 of 39 posts

Re: Strava raises $110M, growth rate of 2M new users per month in 2020

#2
Earlier this year, Strava removed many of their free features. Previously, free users weren't really limited by the platform. Predictably, not many people subscribed.

Forcing users to pay for popular features received a lot of public backlash at the time ( https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23228426 ) but in retrospect it appears to be the right choice.

People never like losing access to free features, but losing part of your non-paying customer base isn't such a bad thing after a company has reached scale anyway.

Re: Strava raises $110M, growth rate of 2M new users per month in 2020

#3
I reluctantly still use it as my main training log- since about early 2012. The network effects are real, if it's not on Strava it didn't happen.

That said, the segment leaderboards are complete garbage. I really wish they'd make an effort to clean them up. There are sooo many feature requests that have been outstanding for many years.

I guess they have the metrics to back up the "stickiness" and don't feel the need to improve the platform beyond making it more "social". sigh.

Edit: I do also have a TrainingPeaks account for deeper data dives. I just wish Strava would address some of the concerns of it's most passionate users.

Edit2: OMG, did they get rid of the feature request forum?? https://support.strava.com/hc/en-us/community/posts/36007356...

Re: Strava raises $110M, growth rate of 2M new users per month in 2020

#5
As a mountain biker Strava feels just silly. It's a leaderboard for imaginary races that can be trivially cheated, be it via GPS idiosyncracies or by using an electric bike.

I reckon the features oriented towards navigation/discovery are ok, but it's a crowded space with a relatively low barrier to entry.

I wouldn't be surprised if one only can make marginal gains with those 110M, but with a high pressure for ROIng which will inevitably backfire.

A case like Medium comes to mind.

Re: Strava raises $110M, growth rate of 2M new users per month in 2020

#6
Just recently switched to Strava (60€/a) after Endomondo (30€/a) announced it will stop working on 31DEC. So far, so good, but have done only two runs with it. I think they are the only large multi-sport tracker left who is not owned by a sports gear manufacturer. Using Tapiriik[1] to sync the accounts has made the switch less painful.

[1] https://tapiriik.com/

Re: Strava raises $110M, growth rate of 2M new users per month in 2020

#7
post #5

As a mountain biker Strava feels just silly. It's a leaderboard for imaginary races that can be trivially cheated, be it via GPS idiosyncracies or by using an electric bike. I reckon the features oriented towards navigation/discovery are ok, but it's a crowded space with a relatively low barrier to entry. I wouldn't be surprised if one only can make marginal gains with those 110M, but with a high pressure for ROIng w…

The leaderboard aspects of Strava are the worst part. I like it as a personal training log, and as a way to keep up with friends who are also being fit. The social aspects are really nice, as it's fun to be asked about your run through X over the weekend, or to know who to ask about running routes in a certain park.

It's also a nice nudge to go work out. "I don't have anything on Strava yet this week, I should go for a bike ride over lunch today" is really helpful mentally.

Re: Strava raises $110M, growth rate of 2M new users per month in 2020

#8
post #5

As a mountain biker Strava feels just silly. It's a leaderboard for imaginary races that can be trivially cheated, be it via GPS idiosyncracies or by using an electric bike. I reckon the features oriented towards navigation/discovery are ok, but it's a crowded space with a relatively low barrier to entry. I wouldn't be surprised if one only can make marginal gains with those 110M, but with a high pressure for ROIng w…

It blows my mind that after a decade of user data, they still can't automatically detect when someone accidentally uploads a bike ride as a run activity. Like yea, kudo phil for knocking out those... 3 minute miles for two hours. \rant

Re: Strava raises $110M, growth rate of 2M new users per month in 2020

#9
post #5

As a mountain biker Strava feels just silly. It's a leaderboard for imaginary races that can be trivially cheated, be it via GPS idiosyncracies or by using an electric bike. I reckon the features oriented towards navigation/discovery are ok, but it's a crowded space with a relatively low barrier to entry. I wouldn't be surprised if one only can make marginal gains with those 110M, but with a high pressure for ROIng w…

I find the discovery features frustrating. They focus on Segments of runs rather than complete routes. Compare to AllTrails for best in class IMHO.

Re: Strava raises $110M, growth rate of 2M new users per month in 2020

#10
post #7
post #5

As a mountain biker Strava feels just silly. It's a leaderboard for imaginary races that can be trivially cheated, be it via GPS idiosyncracies or by using an electric bike. I reckon the features oriented towards navigation/discovery are ok, but it's a crowded space with a relatively low barrier to entry. I wouldn't be surprised if one only can make marginal gains with those 110M, but with a high pressure for ROIng w…

The leaderboard aspects of Strava are the worst part. I like it as a personal training log, and as a way to keep up with friends who are also being fit. The social aspects are really nice, as it's fun to be asked about your run through X over the weekend, or to know who to ask about running routes in a certain park. It's also a nice nudge to go work out. "I don't have anything on Strava yet this week, I should go for…

It would be nice to be able to look at month by month rather than week by week, and not just sequentially but year over year to see improvements.
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