Dom Maskell’s (London 16-16, 18-21) London-based running training app Runna, launched in 2022, is tapping into the fastest-growing global sport.
Its hundreds of thousands of users haven’t been the only ones to notice the startup: Runna was recently acquired by Strava, a U.S.-based exercise-tracking app with 150 million users.
We caught up with Dom and talked to him about what makes Runna different, who his Firm role models were, and where wearables are heading in the future.
Tell us what Runna does.
We're the #1-rated running coaching app in the world that helps anyone train for their running goal—whether that's a first 5k, a faster marathon or an ultramarathon!
What makes Runna different from other fitness apps?
I think ultimately we're in the business of giving advice, which very few apps actually do, and putting this into context of what the user is currently doing, has done, and wants to achieve in the future. We've been able to strike the balance between simplicity and complexity and reflect that in the product, in addition to consumer marketing and growth, for which we have a lot of tactics!
How do you think about the ecosystem of apps like Runna and wearables? Where do you think all of this is heading?
I think it's ultimately down to more and more personalization—with more data than ever before, it enables everything to be more personalized. It'll enable users to exist as if they have a team of 10 Olympic coaches around them assessing how they slept, recovered and telling them exactly what they need to do that day, or analyzing their run. To be honest, that might even be an understatement as I hope that we can be even better than the current Olympic coaches and bring that experience to everyday athletes!
How important is the social networking aspect of these types of platforms?
We've been incredibly fortunate to benefit from multiple viral loops—our “Runnas” go out for a run and (1) feel good, especially when they hit their goals, which makes them want to do it again, and (2) share it with their friends which also feels good, and helps to give them accountability and motivation and also gets their friends signed up, too.
What’s the best advice you ever got from a mentor at the Firm?
For me, it's the people skills that Alex Swales [London 17-25] taught me—he taught me everything that I know about leading with compassion and putting people ahead of the products and the profits. He was the most down-to-earth, humble person and he genuinely cared about you, your weekend, and your development, and it made me want to do my best work at the Firm. I hope I've managed to bring some of this into Runna! That and Marv Gilibrand's [London 12-24] product expertise, of course!
What's your superpower?
Because we were a two-person startup for so long, there's no one's job in the company that I didn't do at one point in time: customer support, managing our Instagram account, setting up our CRM flows, building the first version of our website, managing our Facebook ads, you name it. Nothing was outsourced, which means I'm able to understand what everyone in the company does, and why they are needed. I speak their language and push them more. I wish my superpower were flying, though...that would be so much more fun.