For those of you tuning in for the first time, The Next Next is a ‘build in public’ type of expedition from founder Jason Jacobs (me!) to chronicle my path building a new kind of athlete development company from the ground up, starting with ice hockey.
I am learning in public, ideating in public, and eventually building in public as we try to create a new kind of development experience for athletes. One that’s digital-first, built for modern families, grounded in real performance improvement, and accessible to anyone, anywhere.
I am still super early, and as anyone who has built companies from zero before knows, what comes out the other side will likely look far different from where I am starting. But the benefits of building in public along the way are invaluable for accountability, feedback, accelerated learning, and meeting lots of interesting and relevant people and potential collaborators along the way.
Each week in the newsletter (subscribe here) I share behind-the-scenes updates: what we’re testing, what we’re hearing from the market, and what’s coming next. The podcast goes deeper, featuring conversations with coaches, founders, athletes, and experts who are shaping the future of sports and human performance.
If you want to catch up, the historical weekly updates are here:
Week 1, Week 2, Week 3, Week 4, Week 5, Week 6, Week 7, Week 8, Week 9, Week 10, Week 11, Week 12, Week 13, Week 14, Week 15, Week 16, Week 17, Week 18, Week 19, Week 20, Week 21, Week 22, Week 23, Week 24, Week 25, Week 26, Week 27, Week 28, Week 29, Week 30, Week 31, Week 32, Week 33
Thanks for coming along for the ride!
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Hi all,
This week was a good reminder why the only company I could build right now is a hockey company. I spent so much f*cking time in the rink. Not a lot of time to do focused work, that’s for sure!
That being said, I am continuing to chip away at progress every week, and my conviction is only getting deeper every week as well.
Content
I am really enjoying being a student of player development. I published two new pods this week, and every one I feel like I am learning so much.
The first was with Nathan Bowen. Nathan is the founder of Total Package Hockey and TPH Academy, and is a bit of a legend in the hockey world. I really enjoyed learning about their academy model, all the tournaments they put on, and their other lines of business. Not to mention Nathan’s thoughts on the state of the sport and where it is heading, as he’s in a unique position to assess. You can find that one here: Apple, Spotify, YouTube.
The next was with Tyler Dittmer, who is Director of Player Development & Mentorship at Western Canada Hockey Academy, and Skills Coach at the Brandon Wheat Kings. He also did a ridonculous presentation recently on The Coaches Site about how to do a lethal release with a corkscrew shot, you should definitely check that out! I really enjoyed this one, and it was a good window into the world of high end Canadian hockey academies, and into the mind of a player development coach who gets results while keeping it fun. You can find that one here: Apple, Spotify, YouTube.
I have some really fun episodes coming up, including with a former NHL player and prep head coach, a former D1 captain and pro player who is now an agent, an exec at 49ing, a couple of very high end skating coaches, and a professor who works with sensors/load management to help the NTDP and several USHL teams.
If you have any requests for guests/topics you’d like me to cover, let me know.
Business update
I’m still juiced about the concept of leveraging AI to make high end video review more accessible, then personalizing development programs around it to help players train more efficiently/effectively.
While tech plays a role in that, I am most excited about the emerging player development philosophy. It is a player development company that utilizes technology vs a tech company, but it happens to be one that will be tech-forward and can serve more people at lower cost without compromising quality because of it.
Player development
I am no player development expert (though I am learning a lot!), but I have been getting to know some really great ones. One in particular has a really data driven approach and is keen to see if we can train the machines to replicate it. I am working through what a business relationship might look like there (which would probably also necessitate finally incorporating!), and while those discussions aren’t formalized yet, they seem very promising.
Tech
Once the player development expertise is in place, the obvious next place to solve for is on the tech side. I have been talking to full stack engineers and AI/computer vision/machine learning people of different shapes and sizes. It is not just the skillset that matters, but also someone’s life stage, propensity for risk, and passion for both the work and the mission.
Ideally for both of these skill sets, we would start out on a project basis first to get to know each other better, better understand the scope, and make sure its a good long term fit before making any long term decisions. But at the same time, I am eager to dive in and get rolling. Man, early stage team building is hard, and it is an important thing to get right - not something to force or rush.
Some interesting reads/listens
I enjoyed this long form discussion with Murry Gunty from Black Bear Sports. They have made quite a splash in the hockey world, and I found it very useful to better understand how he thinks.
This is back from May, but LiveBarn retained a bank and is exploring a sale. This combined with some of the noise Black Bear TV has been making make for a very interesting landscape in terms of who will own the cameras/data in the rinks.
Couple other tidbits
One is I spoke with an old colleague from Runkeeper, and he said a bunch of former Runkeeper people are hoping that we get the band back together at some point and that almost a decade later, it remains the best place they ever worked. Not sure if this company will be the one for that, but that was super nice to hear and made me feel proud.
The other is someone asked me my 10 year goal for this company and myself professionally. My answer wasn’t about getting rich, building a unicorn, or anything like that. It was about pioneering a player development approach and offering that helps the game in a really positive way, doing so without f*cking with my ability to be super present as a dad during a really important period for my kids, and making the company successful enough to feed my family - anything more is gravy. I am glad they asked that, because I hadn’t answered it before and I found that really clarifying.
Areas where I could use some help
Intros to people who have built human-in-the-loop AI systems.
Intros to well-placed show guests from the hockey world who have relevant insight around player development.
Short update this week, but I am full speed ahead (ok fine, half speed until the kids are back in school)! Thanks for following along.
Jason
I’d love to chat about human-in-the-loop ai models!!