Working Harder and Playing Harderer

Michael Joseph
Aug 31, 2018 · 2 min read

Just like we aim to stoke the fire of community around sport in our product, we do the same in our relationships at work.

by Alex Macintosh, PM - Growth Team

The role of a product manager is to work closely with designers, engineers, and analysts to help move the product experience forward, and at Strava that means focusing on making the athlete experience the best it can be.

Being a PM in a company where everyone is a steward of the product is a unique and gratifying experience.

It’s not hard to get people fired up about all the great work we have the opportunity to undertake; the hardest challenge is prioritizing what we should focus on because the list is long and every project, new feature, or bug fix is something we care a ton about! This attitude of collaboration and passion for the product is infectious and spills into how we show up every day. We expect more of our product, of ourselves, and of our commitment to leading passionate and purposeful lives.

A lot of companies talk about “balance” but it is taken to a new level at Strava.

My Strava profile description jokingly refers to working harder and playing harderer, an intentionally misspelled joke that aims to describe our commitment to taking work seriously but always leaving time for a laugh (often at ourselves!).

I regularly get asked the question “What’s it like working at Strava? Is it full of a bunch of intense and hardcore cyclists and runners?” I am always happy to more accurately describe the environment that we’ve worked hard to create amongst our teammates.

Do we want as many people as possible to join for the WoW (the weekly Wednesday team running workout) and push themselves and their teammates to put in a solid effort? Absolutely!

Do we care how fast you run? Absolutely not!

The thing that gets people most fired up at Strava is seeing someone trying something new, seeing a teammate committing to improvement, having fun together, and supporting each other.

Sound familiar? Just like we aim to stoke the fire of community around sport in our product, we do the same in our relationships at work.

We expect more of ourselves because we are our users. We are our athletes. We want the best for ourselves and we want the best for the community we aim to serve; our mission is very clear and it is something that we’re reminded of every day we show up to work.

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