# How I Built Resilience: Michael Horvath and Mark Gainey of Strava

- Show: [How I Built This](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this)
- Published: 2021-02-11
- Length: 31m
- Page: https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this/2021-02-11-how-i-built-resilience-michael-horvath-and-mark-gainey-of-strava

## Summary

Strava co-founders Michael Horvath and Mark Gainey discuss how the social fitness platform scaled to 76 million users during the pandemic by focusing on community and privacy. They explain their freemium business model, which avoids advertising to maintain trust, and detail the technical challenges of handling a surge from 1 million to 3 million new users per month. The founders also address the company's commitment to anti-racism, privacy features like Flyby, and the strategic decision to build collaborative challenges to foster accountability among athletes.

## Chapters

- [0:00](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this/2021-02-11-how-i-built-resilience-michael-horvath-and-mark-gainey-of-strava#t=0) Introduction: Strava's Origin and Founders
- [5:41](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this/2021-02-11-how-i-built-resilience-michael-horvath-and-mark-gainey-of-strava#t=341) The Idea for Strava and Technology Enablers
- [8:31](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this/2021-02-11-how-i-built-resilience-michael-horvath-and-mark-gainey-of-strava#t=511) Freemium Business Model and Investor Alignment
- [12:57](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this/2021-02-11-how-i-built-resilience-michael-horvath-and-mark-gainey-of-strava#t=777) Privacy, Flyby, and Data Protection
- [18:38](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this/2021-02-11-how-i-built-resilience-michael-horvath-and-mark-gainey-of-strava#t=1118) Pandemic Growth and Technical Scaling
- [24:52](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this/2021-02-11-how-i-built-resilience-michael-horvath-and-mark-gainey-of-strava#t=1492) Community Features and Collaborative Challenges
- [27:01](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this/2021-02-11-how-i-built-resilience-michael-horvath-and-mark-gainey-of-strava#t=1621) Open API and Ecosystem Partnerships
- [29:00](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this/2021-02-11-how-i-built-resilience-michael-horvath-and-mark-gainey-of-strava#t=1740) Anti-Racism Commitment and Inclusion

## Topics

- [Direct-to-consumer & e-commerce](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/direct-to-consumer)
- [Connected products & IoT](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/connected-products-and-iot)
- [Security & privacy](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/security-and-privacy)
- [Leadership, teams & culture](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/leadership-and-culture)
- [Pricing, margins & unit economics](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/pricing-and-unit-economics)
- [Scaling production](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/scaling-production)

## Most relevant to

companies scaling up

## Mentioned

- Strava (product)
- Fitbit (product)
- Peloton (product)
- Garmin (product)
- Flyby (product)
- U.S. Bank (other)

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## Citing this page

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