We've seen countless updates from STRAVA as subscription costs continue to rise, but what about building endurance's SOCIAL platform to include CREATORS?
I feel another avenue that Strava could dip into is training plans. Similar to how programs like TrainingPeaks allow people to create, market, and ultimately sell their training programs. This would make a way for creators and coaches to make some money and Strava could take a certain percentage from every sale as profit. It would cost very little for them for quite a lot of gain.
Plus with Strava adding more workout/activity analysis features into the app, I feel like this is the next logical step.
Great article! Last month I wrote an article which reviewed the State of Trail Running report and one of the striking points was that Strava was used by over 70% of trail runners. And yet, as you said so yourself, 90% of their revenue comes from subscriptions. It also seems that Strava does not seem very interested in diversifying their revenue because they have been acquiring companies which will allow them to add more to their premium offering. No storytelling, no patreon-style subscriptions, no pivot into training, nothing. If they just want to be the runner's social media that's fine (not all companies are meant to scale) but for most people their premium offering is not compelling, and they need to improve significantly to get a significant increase in subscribers. What is interesting, is that there are a lot of websites which utilise data from Strava to do all sorts of cool things (shoutout to Squadrats!) and I see no reason why strava wouldn't want to implement them themselves.
I feel another avenue that Strava could dip into is training plans. Similar to how programs like TrainingPeaks allow people to create, market, and ultimately sell their training programs. This would make a way for creators and coaches to make some money and Strava could take a certain percentage from every sale as profit. It would cost very little for them for quite a lot of gain.
Plus with Strava adding more workout/activity analysis features into the app, I feel like this is the next logical step.
i like this take, Patrick! Seems like a great way for them to utilize the dataset, social aspect, and UX they have at Strava!
Great article! Last month I wrote an article which reviewed the State of Trail Running report and one of the striking points was that Strava was used by over 70% of trail runners. And yet, as you said so yourself, 90% of their revenue comes from subscriptions. It also seems that Strava does not seem very interested in diversifying their revenue because they have been acquiring companies which will allow them to add more to their premium offering. No storytelling, no patreon-style subscriptions, no pivot into training, nothing. If they just want to be the runner's social media that's fine (not all companies are meant to scale) but for most people their premium offering is not compelling, and they need to improve significantly to get a significant increase in subscribers. What is interesting, is that there are a lot of websites which utilise data from Strava to do all sorts of cool things (shoutout to Squadrats!) and I see no reason why strava wouldn't want to implement them themselves.
If you want to read my review of the Trail Running Report, including the piece on Strava, you can do so at https://bornonthetrail.substack.com/i/158282389/strava-dominates-but-fails-to-capitalise
Thank you for putting me on to Squadrats and thank you for sharing your substack as well, Niki!
oh, Strava has so much potential, but somehow they refuse to be innovative.
I have hope -- would be amazing to see their full potential!