With the recent thread explosions (Pricing, FTP estimator) I had a thought, and wanted to show my appreciation of TrainerRoad and @Nate_Pearson. He’s been active in these threads and countless others through the years and it amazes me (and it should you) that we can communicate directly with the CEO of a company we use. Like, think about that. How often can we do that in today’s world? Granted, TR isn’t as big as Google or Amazon. But how awesome is it that we use this software and have thoughts and feedback and want to share our opinion, and the CEO of the freakin company is on here answering. I just think that’s cool. I know there’s a whole team who pop on here and answer questions as well, so shout out to all of TR.
Couldn’t agree more. Not only does he reply but actually asks for and listens to feedback.
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Awww, thank you!!
I appreciate everyone willing to give me their opinions. I certainly make some missteps sometimes but I am hopefully a net good to the company with this open communication.
I don’t understand why other CEOs don’t do it.
A couple of things I’ve speculated on why more CEOs don’t do it.
- It can be really hard to tell a customer that you’re not doing a feature that they want. You feel bad and you worry that you might lose them forever.
- You take a LOT of direct criticism. That can be hard for a lot of people to take.
- It takes a good amount of time, and some CEOs might think they don’t have enough time for it (although I think it’s SO worth it).
- You might say something that hurts the company. A lot of CEOs only communicate with carefully PR/marketing approved messages and have a very polished persona. Have a direct dialog means you could say something bad.
Basically, it’s similar to politics. Some politicians will talk to people all day long. Others sit in their ivory tower and we never get a sense of their authentic selves.
I’d rather have a real (and flawed) human to interact with as long as their heart is in the right place and they are constantly improving/growing.
A successful CEO who does this sort of thing is Elon Musk. He interacts less than I do, but he’s super good at getting his message out to a wide amount of people. I’ve also seen him take twitter requests and change product because of it (joey mode is an example). He also says a lot of stuff that is DEFINITELY not PR approved. 
P.S. I am not comparing myself to Elon Musk. He’s just a CEO who communicates as his authentic self and has a REALLY big company.
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Count myself as another customer that appreciates Nate’s communication style. I enjoy hearing about the product roadmap. It helps me better understand why my personal feature isn’t being worked on currently and where the team’s energy is going. Hearing about all the ambitious features also relieves me of the task of researching the competition. Keep it up. 
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It’s a super cool story…he literally started TR from the ground up and disrupted the entire industry. I used to use spinervals tapes (yes, in a VCR) for trainer workouts when I was just starting out. Efforts were based on the rear cog size…
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As a SW engineer turned SW manager who sometimes gets myself into trouble by being too candid I have both a profound empathy and appreciation for Nate’s communication style.
We’ll have to disagree on the effectiveness of Elon’s approach to communication though. The clear difference being a degree or self-depreciation and admission of personal faults that I find to be entirely absent in Elon which makes him somewhat insufferable to me. Thankfully not the case with Nate.
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Thank you @Nate_Pearson for being direct, honest and authentic. You continue to lead TR to new heights and we as your “athletes/clients” are fortunate beneficiaries of your continuous improvement.
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Agree on this post and about @Nate_Pearson along with the whole TR Podcast team/coaches/engineers/staff/etc! It’s we’re family now at this point and we love Nate’s passion! You’ve brought monumental developments to real training in so many of our lives (not just an exercise platform, but accessible real training) - thank you!
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Coach Troy did a nice job on those but I’m with ya”, TR is a completely different beast.
Joe
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also a big fan, keep it up @Nate_Pearson !
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One of the main reasons I choose to use the TR platform is the customer service. I’ve contacted them on four occasions and every time their support has been exemplary.
You’re having a conversation with another human being and that person actually wants you to get the best experience from the TR platform. Add to that the fact that all of my training issues have been successfully resolved.
Honestly, in my opinion, TR are the best company that I’ve interacted with
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Appreciate your work and enjoy the podcasts too. Thanks mate! Keep the progress going!
PS: I am due for a ramp test in a week, so you can guess what I hope to be released ASAP… 
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I’m also a fan of how Nate engages with his customers and can appreciate how he seems to be steering TR as a company. It’s probably a strength and a weakness that Nate is so in tune with the detailed workings of their products and services, but he seems to strike a good balance between pushing the high level vision while letting his team execute. I’ve seen some really brilliant folks do a poor job running companies because they could never climb above the details. Folks like Gates and Jobs were seen as brilliant technologists (and they were), but both of them developed business acumen that was off the charts and that’s what ultimately drove their success. And some luck, luck always helps.
I’ve been in software/technology for many years in various leadership roles and it’s the ultimate monday-morning quarterback environment from internal and external sources. While agile design/development processes have moved things forward in many ways, I also see agile often used as an excuse to throw timelines out the window. In many ways, things have gotten harder in the last 20 years. Managing market expectations around delivery timelines is as hard as it gets. I applaud TR’s willingness to try bold new things, it would be much easier and more predictable to keep layering easy incremental features on top of the old model.
Part of what I also like about Nate (and the broader TR team) is the relatability. I tend to overthink everything and try to turn training and bike racing into math problems that can be won by some measurable formula of watts x time with some overanalyzed tactics and equipment choices mixed in. Pragmatically, I understand that this isn’t the complete recipe for success, but it’s an approach I lean on in cycling and I see a lot of that in Nate as well. Nate is also quick to share his own screw ups with no filter or excuses, another concept I embrace. Business and life are just macrocosms of how I approach cycling, so it’s just the way I’m wired. The public TR team (and their guests) all bring different perspectives to the table and it’s great to get little nuggets from folks who are thinking in a way I never would on my own.
Keep up the good work Nate and team.
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Plus being detached from the reality that others face. Nate does try seeing from everyone’s perspective
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Ditto! - truly outstanding customer support.
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Great to see this thread. Nate- you, the TR team and the way you run your company are an inspiration in ways that that go beyond getting faster!
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I used to own that DVD and a few others. I sold them to a friend, along with my Cyclops, to fund a Cannondale CAAD 8. I wish I still had that bike. I don’t miss the DVDs or the trainer tire!!
Started listening to the podcasts around 5/6 years ago, and (at the time) the 3 became almost family to me. Shortly after I became a TR subscriber and in the meantime TR has grown but not like many other company’s, it still feels like family to me, just bigger with added new excellent family members.
Nate, please carry on being Nate.
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I’d also like to chime in and say that I wholeheartedly agree, Nate doesn’t get enough kudos.
I’d much rather someone is open and honest in communication rather than using corporate BS speak. Sometimes that means hard conversations need to be had. And while we don’t need to agree, I think it is good to know that they considered other options but just came to a different conclusion than you.
I also think the amount of dog fooding by the entire team is quite impressive. Jonathan prepared for nationals with the polarized plans and lots of outdoor workouts. And I hope no one thinks that Amber, Chad and Jonathan are all picking up triathlon now. While triathletes should expect a longer wait, that’s a level of commitment that isn’t done just for kicks and giggles.
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