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How The Lance Armstrong Foundation Became Livestrong

Chuck Salter takes a fascinating look at how Livestrong CEO Doug Ulman and Austin-based Milkshake Media created the Livestrong brand out of a nondescript corner of the Lance Armstrong Foundation Web site -- the online resources center where people shared stories of their survival battles.

"We thought they wanted medical resources," says Milkshake founder Kat Jones. "They wanted to talk about how cancer had changed their lives emotionally, physically, and practically."

They looked for a name that would reflect a line -- "All I wanted to do was tell people to fight like hell" -- from Armstrong's autobiography. When they tested Livestrong in focus groups, they found it was controversial. "You cannot tell someone diagnosed with cancer to live strong," said one survivor. "That's obnoxious."

Jones knew she had a winner right then. "One thing I've learned," she says, "is that when things are polarizing, it's right."

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