The Next Next: Update #35
Please can school start again, lol.
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, Week 34
Thanks for coming along for the ride!
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Hi all,
Another very distracted week, unfortunately.
Lots of kid activities. Some extended family health stuff. Some car repair stuff (got nailed while parked in a parking lot with no note, sweet!). Etc.
The good news is with every passing week my conviction is only growing in the opportunity space I am exploring. Data-driven player development is the future. Video analysis is the next wave. Packaging it in a way that is more accessible without compromising quality is good for players and good for the game. And the personalized development that can come from getting this high level video analysis in more hands can be transformative for a player’s progress.
Not a productive week, but a fertile path!
Content
Two new episodes this week:
Matt Whitney from IPH Hockey
Matt was referred by recent show guest Pete Gintoli, who worked with him at IPH early in his own coaching journey. I loved learning about Matt’s philosophy, since he seems to do a great job of getting the best from his players while keeping it fun, and works w/ pros down to the little tikes. If we lived in CT, we’d check out IPH, for sure! You can find it here: Apple, Spotify, YouTube.
Cason Hohmann from Commonwealth Hockey and Forge Hockey Academy
Cason played 4 yrs at BU, many yrs of pro, and is now an agent, a player development coach, and assistant coach at BB&N. My son has been skating w/ him twice a week this summer, and he rocks! Was super fun to learn about his path from Texas and roller blades to the pros, his views on player development, and his approach as an agent, player development coach, and prep varsity coach. You can find it here: Apple, Spotify, YouTube.
Business update
As I’ve mentioned previously, I have some excellent player development coaches around the table interested in seeing if we can train the machines to analyze player performance in games reliably.
Before I get going with them, what I need to do first is get my bearings on the technical side around an approach to get going and a phased plan. I have some calls set up that should help move that forward, and my hope is once that is in place it will be time to incorporate and break ground here. While I am not sure on timing, it feels inevitable that this is where things are heading - I am ready to rock.
Where I could use some help
I’d like to do a pass with some in-the-trenches video coaches, either off-the-record or on the show, to start better understanding their craft and approaches. If you know of any that would be open to connecting, I’d love to chat with them.
I’d like to do a pass with some technologists who know how to train the machines, launch human-in-the-loop services to customers, etc. If you know of any that would be open to connecting, off the record or on the show, I’d love to chat with them.
I’d like to better understand the paths of the camera companies (LiveBarn etc), the sports analytics companies (Hudl/Instat/etc), and the device companies (Helios/Catapult/etc). If you know of anyone at these companies that would be open to chatting, off the record on the show, I’d love to connect with them.
Thanks for following along!
Jason