Kyle
Over the past two years there’s been an explosion in startups looking to connect people with other professional services that they may need. Just this year alone we’ve seen Florida startup Coach Crowd along with Boston startup Coach Up offer a connection market place for parents of student athletes to connect with private coaches.
Prior to this new wave of services on the internet, it’s been tough for athletes and their parents to connect to coaches. Often times they would have to go by word of mouth recommendation from their normal team coach, high school coach or fellow athlete. There was also the bulletin board at the local Y and even the supermarket. Now there are a variety of online social networks and marketplaces to connect athletes with coaches.
Coming out of the gate Atlanta startup Trainlete knew that the space was just starting up but heating up quick. Although the team started working on the idea 15 months ago they elected not to open up shop until they were truly ready.
Even as a non athlete I was able to find the features that stand out on Trainlete. First off, Trainlete doesn’t take cut of the transaction between athlete and coach. They’re working off other revenue models such as advertising and sponsorship.
Trainlete also offers the opportunity to talk to correspond with the coach directly on or off their network. While Trainlete is far from a non-profit or charity organization, co-founders Jeremy Clouse, Eric Blumenthal and Blake Sandberg put the safety of their athlete clients as a top priority. It’s also important to them to connect coaches and athletes because of the great life building that can be involved in coaching.
That’s why they open up direct connection avenues and allow payment to be exchanged directly between the two parties. With those two options as key competitive advantages they should have no trouble building their community quickly and with that growth and scaling comes other revenue opportunities.
We got a chance to talk with Blumenthal in the interview below:
What is Trainlete?
TRAINlete helps athletes of all ages reach their next level by safely connecting them with great, private, sports trainers and coaches. Before TRAINlete, finding a private sports specific trainer or coach was driven by word of mouth referrals, Googling for trainers or complete randomness. This was not good enough for us and we know is not good enough for athletes (or their parents)!
Who are the founders and what are their backgrounds?
TRAINlete was founded by Jeremy Clouse, Eric Blumenthal and Blake Sundberg. We are three best friends who have known each other for 20+ years and at the core of our relationship has always been sports. All former high-school and college basketball players, our backgrounds range from Finance, Marketing and Business Development.
Where are you based?
We are based outside of beautiful Atlanta, GA.
What’s the startup culture/scene like where you are based?
The startup scene in Atlanta is crazy. There are endless opportunities to network throughout our great city. Every week there are meetings, events and conferences geared towards Atlanta’s startup community. Several exciting, startups are based in Atlanta including, MailChimp, Scoutmob, Pardot, and Kabbage. There are also several top Universities in the area and with one of the top schools for tech talent, Georgia Tech, Atlanta is primed to become a startup hub. The south is known for “southern hospitality” and Atlanta is the capital! There is a real sense of “family” amongst startups here where people root for each other to succeed. We are excited to be a part of this!
Do you have access to all the resources you need where you are based?
Absolutely. Number one, Atlanta affords startups endless resources and opportunities to succeed. We are strong believers in the power of networking and we are blessed have surrounded ourselves with a network of people and advisors that are smarter than us! Also, what better place than the sports-obsessed southeast for a company built around improving youth athletics to be based! We believe there is no better city to be based in than Atlanta!
How did you come up with the idea for Trainlete?
TRAINlete was born simply because one of our co-founders encountered a real problem and decided that it needed to be solved! Jeremy is passionate about teaching and training youth athletes in basketball. He was doing some private sports training on the side but could not effectively market or connect to potential clients. He created a personal website to advertise himself and quickly realized that driving people to www.jeremyclouse.com was not going to be easy. He also created some ads on Craigslist and several other message boards but it just wasn’t working out. Jeremy also reached out to other sports trainers in the area for advice but realized that these friends in the industry had the same struggles to take their training business to the next level.
He quickly realized that there was not a way for these two segments to effectively connect. Sports specific trainers had no efficient way to create a real web presence to promote themselves and their services. On the other side of the coin, partnering with a private sports coach is a huge decision for an athlete and their parents. How could athletes or their parents really connect to the right private sports coach to fit their needs?
That is how the idea of TRAINlete was formed!
What problem does Trainlete solve?
As stated, currently there is a real gap in the ability for athletes (or their parents) to effectively and safely connect to a private sports coach. TRAINlete fixes the problem that athletes and their parents have in effectively and safely connecting to great private sports trainers and coaches. TRAINlete also fixes the problem that great private sports trainers and coaches have in connecting with clients by providing them efficient ways to build a strong web presence and generate leads as we drive their target market to our site!
Athlete to private coach startups are popping up everywhere like Coachup and CoachCrowd what’s your secret sauce?
TRAINlete was an idea that was born 15 months ago and we are excited to have launched 7 weeks ago. We are familiar with the company up north and they are doing great things. We know there are a few other competitors who are launching soon. It is refreshing that other startups are exploring this space as competition breeds greatness, so it is exciting stuff!
Our offering is unique and is captured in our four step “Peace of Mind” Process:
1. Safety First. We take measures to ensure our community of trainers is safe and credible! Including but not limited to the option to perform a background check through our site.
2. Great sports trainers and coaches. We partner with great trainers. We have former Olympians, former professional athletes, former and current college players and professional private sports coaches! Every athlete is different and so is every coach, we have something for everyone!
3. The power of search. We provide the true power of search and choice to our athletes!
4. Connection that fits you. Our athletes (or their parents) can truly connect and interact with coaches prior to making the final decision to schedule a session!
Our trainers’ sessions are not marked up, we will not take any ‘cut’ of the transaction between coach and client and athletes (or their parents) have the flexibility to pay for the private coach’s service in any way they want! Additionally, our coaches have the ability to market themselves like never before. Our coaches have the ability to create a personal URL to use as their own personal web page to increase their digital marketing presence. On their page, they have the ability to upload pictures/video, share their unique certifications, training specialties and background information, add inks to their personal websites and social media outlets, set their price per session and designate their training venue.
What’s one dilemma you’re having in the startup process?
The space that TRAINlete has entered is truly brand new. It is a challenge for any new company to create a strong brand and build brand loyalty. What is even harder is creating brand value in an undefined space. Because the space is undefined and opportunities seem endless, it is important that we stick to our value proposition and our core beliefs. Which is sometimes easier said than done!
What’s one challenge you’ve overcome in the startup process?
This is a great question as it seems like challenges pop up daily that need to be tackled. We would have to say the biggest challenge is “time.” During the start-up process the “to-do” list seems to grow at an exponentially faster rate than the number of hours in any given day. Our challenge has been ensuring that we follow our plan and are strategic about where we spend our time. At this point, time is our most valuable commodity and we are continually ensuring that we are spending our time focusing on the right projects and things that are going to move our business forward.
What’s next for Trainlete?
It isn’t important to be at the right place at the right time, it is important to know you are in the right place at the right time. At TRAINlete we know we are in the right place at the right time and what is next for us is sticking to our plan and executing it flawlessly. We will continue to partner with great private sports trainers and coaches and drive athletes and their parents to our site. We will continue on our journey towards becoming the source for athletes looking to reach their next level in sports!
Linkage:
Check out TRAINlete here
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