Year in Review: 2019

So what is it like to work at Strava? In addition to creating a product that helps athletes reach their personal bests and becoming the record of the worlds’ activities, we also know how to have a little fun. As Strava continues to grow, we look back on 2019 and hope to create more memories and moments like this for our employees and our athletes. Here are some highlights of the year.

Girl Geek X Dinner

On February 12th, Strava partnered with Girl Geek X to celebrate women in tech by hosting a major event at our office space. This event featured six incredible Strava women from a variety of teams within the organization. Annie Graham, an iOS Engineer, shared her experience about contributing to the creative and experimentation-focused culture of Strava’s Growth team. Cathy Tanimura, Head of Analytics & Data Science, gave a glimpse of the technical engineering challenges, business analysis questions, and innovative data science products that we work on every day at Strava. Amanda Sim shared how brand design can change the way people think about and interact with a digital product. Harini Iyer had the entire audience laughing with her personal anecdotes during her technical talk about performance at scale. Lia Siebert, on her one year Strava-versary as a Group Product Manager, presented stories about generating new product concepts when the stakeholders are many, the metrics are in conflict, and the stakes for the business are high. Lastly, Elyse Gordon, Engineering Manager, brought everything together by sharing the tools the audience needed to build a foundation of learning and growth that will help them on their career journey. Each speaker brought a personal perspective with a good balance of high level vs technical depth and represented the diverse Strava culture.

The feedback from this event proved its impact. We hosted the highest rated event since Girl Geek X started surveying attendees mid-2018. Several attendees, including Girl Geek X staff, proclaimed it was the best Girl Geek X event they had ever been to.

In addition, Cathy Tanimura and Strava made the list of Best of 2019 as one of the most watched videos of 2019 for her talk “Data + Scale + Community = Impact.”

This event highlighted Strava not only as a great product, but a great place to work with incredibly talented women.The impact of this event on our current employees, the Bay Area tech community and potential candidates was overwhelmingly positive.

Watch the full Video Here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HVFOhK9EXEs&feature=youtu.be

Dog Fridays

Strava for dogs? Well, almost. The last Friday of every month our furry friends get a chance to join us in the office for the day. Not only do you get your companion at your side, many coworkers will offer to be dog walkers for the day! Check out a few photos of our puppy pals. Want to bring your dog every Friday? Check out our openings in our Denver office-they have dog Friday every week!

Strava Gives Back: Volunteer Day

May 2019

In addition to volunteer paid time off, Strava schedules one day a year where the entire company takes a day off of work and gives back to our community and the areas we love. This year our SF team did a trail clean up day at Mori Point in Pacifica. Rain or shine, we got out and spent a day pulling weeds, restructuring fences and other projects in partnership with The Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy. The Golden Gate National Parks Volunteer Program is a cooperative park-wide effort of the Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy, the National Park Service, and the Presidio Trust. We load into a bus, eat lunch together, enjoy the day outside and then top the day off with a company Happy Hour.

In Denver, we partnered with Denver Parks & Recreation and spent a day at Johnson Habitat Park.

Strava also offers 16 hours of paid time off to volunteer during any week of the year. As a company, we realize how important it is to give back to this committed community and cities that give back to us everyday.

Guacamole Challenge

Do we know how to make some good guacamole!? Every summer, we provide ingredients for people to enter a guacamole challenge. We set up in our large kitchens and watch the chefs go to work (anyone can sign up!). We have bowls (and bowls) of extra guacamole (yes, we know it’s extra) and bags (and bags) of chips, but the most important ingredient of them all? Our interns! We have our Summer intern class be the judges, and they don’t take it easy on you.

JP Morgan Chase Corporate Challenge

On September 4th, Strava employees ran the 30th installment of the JP Morgan Corporate Challenge San Francisco. The JP Morgan Chase Corporate Challenge started 41 years ago in 1977, and was the first event held in Central Park. They worked with NYRR Club (The New York Road Runners) to get a permit for Central Park, and could only get a permit for the lower loop, which is 1.75 miles. So, they ran the loop twice. Now, the JP Morgan Corporate Challenge takes place steps away from our office.

Over 7,000 companies form teams to race together along the Embarcadero in San Francisco. Strava had 74 employees participate in the race this year. The camaraderie and support shown during this event makes us proud! Plus, we always have a rad pizza party at our office afterwards for “recovery.”

Denver’s Colfax Marathon Relay

On May 19th, Strava’s new Denver Office fielded two teams of employees to participate in Denver’s largest Charity Race — The Colfax Marathon Relay. Teams consisted of 5 runners who ran a combined 26.2 miles split over different race legs. Over 500 teams participate each year and the event has helped raise over $2.5 million for Colorado Charities and Schools. In our inaugural effort Team Strava placed 3rd overall and earned a $1,500 donation for the Mile High United Way.

Grace Hopper Celebration

This was Strava’s second year at The Grace Hopper Celebration and we sent 12 of our women to attend sessions and talk to other attendees about technology and engineering at Strava. Grace Hopper is an incredible opportunity for us to meet all women from different backgrounds and experiences. We use this event as an opportunity for our Strava women to expand their knowledge and connections, gain a new perspective on the current trends and topics in the tech industry for women, and hire for open roles. As one of the largest gatherings of women in tech, this event is the place to be to support the growth and success of all women around us.

Denver Office Space

Two years ago, Strava decided to expand and open an office in Denver, Colorado. Denver’s growth of tech talent and outdoor enthusiasts seemed like a perfect fit. In 2019, Strava opened its permanent space in the historic Elephant Corral Building in downtown Denver. We are excited to see the growth and opportunity in Denver!

While these were only a few things that happened in our world in 2019, we are even more excited to show you what 2020 will bring for Strava, our athletes and our teammates.

To check out our current openings, go to Strava.com/careers.

Want to read more about our technology? Check out our Engineering Blog.