[prh8]

I think the biggest reason for lack of sympathy from anyone is that the platform was completely stagnant for years. I've been on there as a runner for a long time, and by the time there was any compelling reason to pay, those features had already been done either by browser add-ons or by Runalyze.

Additionally, having built (although never fully launched) an app on their APIs, they never really cared about the developer platform. There's plenty of stories around of their poor treatment of more popular apps.

And lastly, having heard stories from inside, it's just another fun times startup that burned money for fun and very little to show for it.

[SwagGrocery]

All valid criticism, but despite the stagnation no one else came along and took the KOM chasing game from Strava. And the COVID-19 pandemic has only solidified their lock on it: races are canceled so people are chasing KOM's instead.

Until people start publicly measuring their accomplishments via another platform, Strava is in good shape from the user loyalty perspective. Now, they need to figure out how to monetize. The risk is sacrificing that user loyalty capital in the pursuit of profit, but either way investors will get closure.