We don't ask for permission to do things here.

That's an important aspect to our culture.

If you want to do something, I don't want to hear about it.

Just go do it.

Hello, everyone.

I am Jade Hoy, executive producer for the Athletic Podcast Network.

And you are listening to a special presentation brought to you by Dell Technologies Small Business

Podfriend Series. Of course, as you may have heard, many small businesses are looking for new ways

to enhance their business strategies during these uncertain times. For the second year in a row,

Dell Technologies has assembled an amazing list of podcasters to create a virtual

conference to share advice, inspiration, and stories on navigating companies now and into the future.

Here at The Athletic, we decided to share the story of how our company was created, going all the way back to late 2015 with the founders of the company, Alex

Mather, co-founder and CEO of the Athletic. And I'm Adam Hansman, co-founder and president of the

athletic. In these three episodes, we will take you through how the athletic began, a simple

idea that was to deliver quality journalism to die-hard sports fans.

How that idea came into existence, the trials, and tribulations along the way,

working together towards one goal.

Team building, journalistic, and artistic freedom.

Reading the landscape in an ever-changing market space full of big players to form a niche for which to grow into the future.

How did you all meet?

Yeah, so Adam and I met probably 2015 or maybe at the end of 2014 at a company that we both previously worked at called Strava.

Strava is a social network and subscription business for endurance sports nerds.

...