RunKeeper

Hi Everyone,

As has always been our policy, we want to continue with full transparency and disclosure in terms of the thought processes behind our decisions and where all of this is going.

So, I’m sure many of you have heard by now that we are are re-introducing a paid version of RunKeeper (there will be both a premium version and a free one) and we are doing so on a different license, which means you will need to re-download the app either way.

The rollout of this change had been worrying me, as our reasons behind it are a little confusing to explain.  But I’m going to give it a shot here, because I think it is important that our users know where we are coming from.

We launched RunKeeper as a paid app in August for $9.99 USD (prices vary from country to country).  The price point was easily justifiable, as a Garmin costs $200-300 and the Nike Sport Kit costs $30, and we provide similar (or ultimately more, I would argue) utility on a device already in your pocket with no additional technology or hardware required.  We sold a bunch of apps (appx. 5,200) in the first 2 months.  Not bad!

Making it Free with Ads

Then, the App Store started getting more crowded, and several competitors moved in, including a couple of free ones.  And some smart, well-placed people told us, “we aren’t even in the game unless we make it free” and that “free is the only way to achieve massive scale”.  So, we listened.  Our iPhone app is only one small piece of a broader strategy, and much of that strategy is predicated around massive scale.  Tough pill to swallow for a bootstrapped company, but we gulped and we made it free.  And the strategy did work on many levels.  In 2 months, we went from 5K downloads to more than 120K, and got lots of press and valuable product feedback along the way.  That’s great!  But, we shut off our only revenue stream in the process.  So now, we needed to figure out how to build a sustainable business.

The Ad-Free Version

Meanwhile, two types of customers were emerging.  One said “this is great, and it is free, woo hoo!”.  And the other said “I am worried you made it free, I want this to be the best product with the best features, and I would be glad to pay for it to make sure you continue to improve it.”  So, we began to realize that we really needed to have two models to satisfy both of these user types.  A free model is one, which we can support by advertising.  After all, for a free product, the least we can ask is that you see a few ads and enable us to derive some revenue.  And a paid model is the second, which would be ad-free and would enable us to fund the additonal enhancements of the premium product.  Even at $9.99 USD, this is a one-time, non-recurring fee that is a bargain compared to most traditonal software of a similar caliber.

Requiring New Downloads

Also, here is a little more background info for context.  When we launched the app initially, we did so using the license of the outsourced firm that built our initial application.  We didn’t have our license yet, and just figured that we would transfer the app to our license once ours got approved.  Well, good thing we did it this way, because it took another two months for us to get our license.  But, once ours did get approved, we went to Apple to transfer the app to our license and found out this would not be possible.  The only way to transfer the app to our license is to pull it from the App Store and re-release it as a whole new application, which would effectively be as if the first app never existed. Now, all of the activities logged on the first app would be safe on the web, but everyone would have to go and download a new app.

Users Who Paid Initially

So, we knew we needed to have both a free and paid version, and we knew we needed to fix this license issue.  It only made sense to do it in one shot.  Overall, the issue is pretty straightforward, except for one glaring question—what about the users that paid for the app initially?  There is no way to enable them (and only them) to download the new premium app for free.  At first, we figured, “we’ll just explain this and assure them we will find a way to repay them.”  We quickly found out that this did not sit well at all, and in hindsight, I completely understand why!  In the brief 7-month history of RunKeeper, I have experienced no worse feeling so far than realizing what I was about to do—burn the people that got us to where we are today!  That is no way to build a business, and it is no way to live your life.

So, how could we fix it?  Well, the only way I could think of is to make the premium app free for the first 24 hours once it goes live.  We could send out emails to all of the initial paid users letting them know the app is live to make sure they can download it without paying again.  This isn’t the ideal solution by any means, but we needed to make sure that the initial paying customers were taken care of.  Yes, the app will be free to the masses for a day, and yes, we’ll lose out on a bunch of new download revenue because of it, but this isn’t nearly as costly as if we had alienated our early adopters, many of which are a primary part our core userbase.  Plus, it is just the right thing to do.

Now that this licensing issue is (almost) behind us, and we will have a sustainable business model in place, it should be much smoother sailing from here on out.  I hope that explanation helps demystify our actions a bit, and reassures you that we are as committed as ever to seeing this through over the long haul.  Thanks for your support and understanding!

Jason

Hello RunKeeper Community,

It’s been a while!  Lots of news to report.  I’ll get right into it and tackle things one by one below:

The big news is that we just published (awaiting Apple’s approval) two new, enhanced versions of RunKeeper (see below for descriptions)! Both new releases (RunKeeper Free and RunKeeper Pro) include the highly anticipated feature of mapping on the device (both real-time and for historical activities).  However, in order to access these new features, you will have to download either RunKeeper Free or RunKeeper Pro from the App Store (both will be released any day now).  As soon as they are released, we will not be making updates to the existing RunKeeper application and it will be pulled from the store going forward. You should be able to continue using it if you have downloaded it already but no future updates will be available.

Why are we making you re-download the app?

We need to transfer the license, and we were told that at some point we were going to have to pull down the app and republish it.  We held out for a while hoping there would be a better way, but it is becoming apparent that Apple is not giving us any other options.  Therefore, the sooner we do this, the faster we put it behind us.  It is only going to get harder as our userbase continues to grow.

Where can you find these new applications?

Once approved, the new applications will be found in the health and fitness section of the App Store titled RunKeeper Free and RunKeeper Pro.

RunKeeper Free will be available as a free download to users.  It is identical to the existing RunKeeper application, plus the addition of the mapping functionality (and a few ads).

RunKeeper Pro will be available for $9.99 USD (prices can vary in countries outside of the US).  It is being launched in response to many users who have told us that you understand our need to monetize the free app with advertisements, but are more than willing to pay for a premium app that is ‘ad free’.

Initially, the feature-set for the two apps is the same other than the lack of advertising, but the premium one may have some additional “high end” features down the road.

New features

With our upcoming releases, we are excited to announce some new features.  At long last, you will now have access to mapping on the device!   This manifests itself in two ways.  During your activity, you can now toggle over to a mapping screen within RunKeeper and see where you are at any point in time.  If you stay on the mapping screen, the icon will actually move in (almost) real-time to show your current location as you navigate through your route.  This means you can check on where you are on a map during your activity without leaving RunKeeper and without pausing your activity.

In addition, when you pull up each activity in the history section, you can now pull up the corresponding map with your exact path traveled right on the device!   No longer do you have to wait until you log into the website to see the results of your labor-you can see it right when you finished right on the device.  We hope you like it!

What about the users that paid for the app initially?

Due to the structure of the App Store, there is no easy way to enable you to get the premium version without paying for it.  That being said, it is essential to us that we find a way to offer our initial paying customers the app without paying a second time.  We are planning to launch RunKeeper Pro as a free application for the first 24 hours as a way to make sure all of our initial paying customers can download it without paying twice. We know this is not the ideal solution, but we hope it is an acceptable compromise.  We unfortunately have to work within the constraints we are given.  If you paid for the app initially, we will be sending you an email when the app goes live so you will know to go download it! If you didn’t pay for the app initially, you will also be able to download it for free during this time period, although we encourage you to make a donation through PayPal on our site if you are so inclined.

Can you transfer your data from the old app to the new app?

The good news is you should have all your data stored on the web dashboard, so your data will be safe.  The only bad news is that you will not be able to port your data from the old app to the new app on the device.  We have always viewed the iPhone as a temporary data collector and the web dashboard as the central repository for all of your historical data, so this remains consistent.  We are looking at adding more robust synch capabilities between the device and the web in a future release, so you may be able to push your historical data to the device at that time.

How is everything else going with RunKeeper?

Things could not be going better.  It is still early, and it is definitely a process in terms of getting all of the core bones in place and building out everything that we (and you, we hope) have been dreaming about.  But we are getting closer to making those dreams a reality every day.  There are lots of moving pieces right now, and many extremely positive developments that are looming on the horizon.  We should have some interesting announcements for you over the coming weeks and look forward to showing you everything that we have in the works!

As always, don’t hesitate to reach out to me with any comments/questions/feedback at info@runkeeper.com.

Thanks!
Jason

I know, I know, my second post in a row about social.  But I have to tell you, I am really excited!

I just went for a run this morning, which I do almost every day.  The only thing is, today was the first day I went on a training run when I knew that I would be sharing my results with the world when I got back.

Here are the results of my run below:

http://www.runkeeper.com/pub/act/iwxpQDYVSQEpgUDtBUHR

So, what is so exciting about that (you ask)?  Well, there are two things that are exciting about that.  The first is what happened during the run.  Traditionally, when I have gone out to run, even while using RunKeeper, it has been all about me.  It is my private dashboard that stores my results, and no one else sees them but me.  If I cut the run short, or if I slow down my pace, no one knows and no one cares!  But this time was very different.  The whole time I was running, all I could think about was all of you seeing my results and wanting to put in a good showing.  Whether “all of you” is one person or millions of people that are actually seeing these results isn’t so important.  What is important is that, because I knew I would be making this data public, it lit a fire under my butt to push myself harder!  This is exactly the feeling we are trying to harness—using the power of social to motivate the individual to train harder.

The second thing exciting about this is the viral aspect.  By sharing your runs with others, it not only motivates you to train harder, but it also turns all of your friends onto RunKeeper in the process.  And by turning them on and having them become users, they share their activities with their friends and the cycle continues!  This fits into our broader mission of getting the world to be more active.  It also helps position RunKeeper as the vehicle to help make that happen!

So, try it out, start sharing those activities!  My favorite way so far is to click ‘make activity public’ and then copy the URL into Twitter.  The same would work for Facebook, your email, your blog, etc.

Today, this is a manual process (although a pretty easy one).  The next step is for us to remove any friction from this process and automate it.  So you can expect soon the option of turning these activity feeds to your favorite sites on automatically.   Exciting stuff!  Let me know what you think.

Jason

info@runkeeper.com

So, our new release went live tonight on the web dashboard, and we FINALLY added our first social feature.  Now, it isn’t much, it is very basic, but. . . . we think it is a big milestone just the same!  For the first time, RunKeeper users have a way to make your activities public—-either through a direct URL (link) to give to friends to share a particular activity, or you can embed the map of your activity along with a link to view the activity details into emails, blogs, websites, forums, etc.

Why is this important?  A couple of reasons.  One, because so many of you have been clamoring for this feature :)  Two, the real value of what we are building here isn’t just about a place to house your fitness data, but at the core, we are striving to make outdoor fitness activities more SOCIAL and FUN.  The ability to share your activities is our first step towards the next phase of RunKeeper’s growth involving increased context around your data and interactivity with friends, peer groups, and the broader RunKeeper community.  And if we can arm you with tools to help grow that community, even better!  We have many exciting updates in store.  Bottom line. . . it isn’t all about you any more!  This is only the beginning. . .

Jason

Today is Thanksgiving here in the US, and this is a day when us Americans reflect on the good things that we have and the reasons we have to be thankful.  While there are many reasons for me to be thankful this year, for purposes of this blog, I will stick mostly to the professional ones

For me, this has been a special year.  I’ve been thinking about (and some would say consumed by) being an entrepreneur for as long as I can remember.  I have looked at all of my working years as a training ground that would ultimate prepare me to jump in and found companies for a living.  Probably the biggest thing that kept me from taking the leap earlier than I did was that I hadn’t found the idea that I was really passionate about that had the right timing and that I believed in enough so that it could hold my interest over the long haul.

Well, the idea for RunKeeper really snuck up on me.  I had tons of ideas and had this burning ambition to take one of them and pour myself into making it a reality.  But none of my ideas were jumping out as ‘the one’.  Meanwhile, I was running 6 days a week, I was marathon training, and I was frustrated with the tools that were available to me to manage that training.  So I started dreaming about the kind of fitness community that I would build if I could have any one that I wanted.  I would get back from runs (or rides, I am a biker too) and complain to my girlfriend Ali about the things that were missing from my current experience and how how the experience should be in order to ‘do it right’.

I am not sure exactly when the epiphany was, but as some point the light bulb went off that the solution to my dilemma was right before my eyes—I could start a company to go solve the problems I was facing every day as a runner!  Other than friends and loved ones, I can’t think of many things in life I am more passionate about than both building companies from nothing and fitness/healthy living.  What better in life than than spending your days creating something meaningful at the intersection of two of your biggest passions.  So several months ago I made the decision to forgoe the paycheck and pursue my dream!

So, that was my long-winded way of saying that one big thing I have to be thankful of this year is that I have finally gotten into the game.  I have a company to call my own, we are creating something that I believe in strongly, and my days are spent solving interesting problems, and surrounded by smart, passionate people.  And the best part is that we are just getting warmed up.  The further we get into this venture, the more potential we are unlocking, and the more excited we are getting at all of the amazing possibiities for what this could ultimately be.

And the best part is, from the forum and emails I get consistently from our users, all of you out there see the same potential that we are seeing!  Almost no one emails to say “this stinks, give up now while you still can”.  Quite the opposite, the vast majority of the emails that I get say some variation of, “This is an amazing start, I love it!  Now add these 100 things. . . ”

And that kind of email is what I love to see, because it shows me that people are seeing the same potential for RunKeeper that we are.  And to flip it around, we agree with you that we have a long way to go and we assure you that we are only just beginning.  So, today is about giving thanks and reflecting on everything we have accomplished since I quit my job in May.  But tomorrow, no more looking back, back to looking ahead at the huge mountain we have yet to climb and getting cranking on making it happen.  Thanks everyone for being along for the ride so far!  And for those of you in the US, Happy Thanksgiving.

Jason

I am sure everyone has noticed by now, but we are continuing to make improvements to the RK experience. We hope you like the new charting capabilities, the labeling of runs, the activity tagging, the notes you can add for each activity, and some of the other recent additions that we have added to the site.

And the good news is there is much more to come from here. Over the next several weeks you are going to see new features coming out on both the device and the web. Stay tuned, we can’t wait to show you what we are working on!

In the meantime, you may have also noticed that we added some Google ads and a PayPal ‘donate’ button on the website. As you know, we recently made the app free. In order to fund continued development, we are experimenting with some different ideas for how we can generate the capital we need to make RunKeeper the best that it can be. In the short-term, you may see some things come and go in order to drive the optimal user experience, as we want to make sure we do so in a way that minimizes the impact to all of you.

So bear with us for a bit, and make sure to keep the feedback coming in. Thanks everyone! More info to follow soon. Oh, and for those of you from all corners of the world that have donated through PayPal to support what we are doing, we can’t say thank you enough.

Jason

The Mashable Open Web Awards is looking for nominations for your favorite mobile app. If we happen to fall in that category for any of you, you can nominate us below! Thanks gang! Jason

Wow, I don’t write a single post for weeks and then write 3 in the last week alone.  What has gotten into me?  I guess lately I have been feeling inspired.  And when my friend Dan Katcher at Quattro Wireless forwarded me the BusinessWeek article on Nike+ this week, I had to reach back out to all of you and share my pontification with the world (or at least the few members of the world that are reading this blog).

http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/08_46/b4108074443945.htm?chan=rss_topEmailedStories_ssi_5

No one disputes that Nike has done a tremendous job with their Nike+ system, opening up new channels of brand building and dialogue with their customers.  And while the chip in the shoe is a part of that, the real value of Nike+ to the throngs of people that use it are the social capabilities—the challenges, the leaderboard, the goal setting, etc.

Now, there are two ways to measure what Nike has accomplished with Nike+.  From a brand-building standpoint, I would call this a home run.  They went from being a place where runners go to put in their credit card and buy a pair of shoes to a place where those same runners are returning every day, managing their daily training, and interacting with each other.

The other way to measure what Nike has done with Nike+ is against what is possible.  Nike has opened many of our eyes to what is possible by combining mobile fitness tracking with social networking.  But if you ask the same users that use Nike+ every day, even they will tell you that Nike+ has only just scratched the surface when compared to where things can go from here.

For one, Nike+ doesn’t use GPS so you are not getting any location data.  Compared to a Garmin watch or other tools using GPS (have you heard about an iPhone app called RunKeeper?), counting steps and estimating stride are an inferior way to track your fitness activities.

Secondly, you still need to buy the chip, a pair of Nike shoes, and either a bracelet or iPod.  Users don’t want to be purchasing another piece of equipment, and they don’t want to be tied into a specific brand of shoes—not if they can avoid it.

Finally, the social features that Nike put in are cool, no doubt, but they also have only scratched the surface as far as what is becoming possible.  Once you use the GPS to get location data on a device already in a user’s pocket (like their cell phone) and send that data to the web in real-time, they sky is the limit as far as new and innovative ways you can interact with them and they can interact with each other.  Privacy issues of course need to be taken into account, but if done right, it is a brave new world out there!  And this is only the beginning.

So, how does that relate to what we are doing?  Well, I can’t give away all of our strategies at this early stage, but imagine RunKeeper available to every fitness enthusiast, regardless of the device they have in their pocket, and imagine all of them integrating back to our website and interacting with each other in ways they have never been able to do before.  Now, this is using the device already in your pocket, it is free, it is using the GPS technology so your location data is accounted for, and it is web-based, sending all of your data to RunKeeper in real-time.  Imagine the possibilities here!

Make sense?  I hope so!  It makes sense to us, but we want your input every step of the way, because most importantly, it needs to make sense to all of you!

Oh, and one final plug.  If you are a premium fitness brand, and you are impressed with what Nike has been able to accomplish from a branding standpoint with Nike+, get in touch with us!  While we are still in the early stages, we could not be more excited about the path we are heading down, and if the right blue-chip brand wanted to align themselves with us early and help shape what we are building, that is a discussion we would love to entertain.

OK, stepping down from my soapbox now.  But more details to follow soon!

Jason