Overnight Success

Most businesses we’ve spoken to in this podcast have had a relatively straightforward journey, but Wahoo Fitness does not fit that mould. Chip Hawkins is the company’s founder and believe it or not, the Wahoo business started off in boat docks. That’s right, floating boat docks. But it was a good business with interesting problems that Chip loved to solve.Chip is an engineer, an entrepreneur, a tinkerer, and most importantly, someone who loves to throw himself neck deep into fixing problems to make something better. And it usually starts with him and his own needs.Chip’s story is one that proves that if you see a problem and you care enough to solve it for yourself and maybe a few friends, there’s likely a market out there for a business to take shape. And as Chip points out, the most important thing is that you have to try.

Escape Collective is entirely member-funded. If you like this podcast please consider supporting us by becoming a member: https://escapecollective.com/member/---Strava has become ubiquitous in the lives of over 50 million athletes and is arguably the most relevant social network to anyone who loves to sweat.The co-founders of Strava, Michael Horvath and Mark Gainey, have been lifelong friends and have quite literally changed how we interact with our cycling in both real life and with each other online.The reason I was so interested in hearing Michael and Mark’s story was not only because they’ve created an amazing brand and product that most of us use, but because they went about it in a very different way than most of the companies you’ll hear about in this podcast.Creating Strava wasn’t their first trip to the rodeo. They were experienced, successful, and knowledgeable entrepreneurs that made some very deliberate decisions early on about the foundations of the company. Those decisions have taken Strava to where it is today and should help take it into the next 20 years.Strava started from nothing but a single idea with only passion fuelling the fire, and as you’ll discover, creating Strava hasn’t been the straightforward journey that you might think about when you log on every day.