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Ask HN: A startup trainer?

6 points by pontifier ↗ HN
I've been working on my startup for several years now, but my progress has been slow with many false starts and long periods of inactivity. My friends and family don't show much interest in it and I'm having trouble staying motivated after so long. I've recently been working with another startup and found that because the founder has high expectations and demands that things work, I've been much more productive helping them out.

Does anyone know of an outsourced motivation service. I'm thinking about something like a personal trainer service, but for business.

Someone who will work with you a couple times a week and demand that you push yourself just a little more than you would on your own. Someone who will objectively rate your performance and effort, and help a flabby founder to get their startup fit.

6 comments

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efnysien
It sounds like what you're looking for is best served by an incubator. Barring that, if you're in the valley (or even elsewhere) you should get involved with some sort of shared-working space like HackerDojo. From what I've experienced, the people and environment provide a nice expectation boost (it's very difficult to push yourself alone - much easier when people know what you're up to, and have expectations on you to succeed - then you have to!).

Best of luck!

rgovind
I came here to tell about haker dojo and you beat me to it. In Bay area Hacker dojo, agile entrepreneur meetups happen. Once a week (Fridays?), you give update to others in the meetup on what you accomplished, what you plan for the next week and what your stumbling blocks. I believe this is a great way to keep pushing yourself forward. Apart from that, you should consider working in a co-working space so you can meet like minded people.
JSeymourATL
Best and smartest motivation hack is engaging with your beta-testers/customers/end-users daily. Live interaction & feedback is huge. Your passion will re-emerge if you focus giving them something cool and worthwhile. Try to build those conversations into the top-half of your day.
macguyver
This is a very interesting idea.

The day-to-day realities of managing and growing a startup are very challenging, especially if you are the sole founder. I've been there in the early days for numerous startups and for myself, and found that most difficult parts are not necessarily related to the business, product, or customers themselves, but rather they are usually emotional in nature, and center around how to stay motivated, continue to get things done and move forward when there's no end in sight. The hardest part is feeling like you're alone, there's no one else who gets it to talk to.

I'm not an investor or startup advisor, but I'd be happy to help you out if you want to work together. My contact is in my handle.

afarrell
Where are you? If you are in Boston, email me at $username@mit.edu and I'll introduce you to a friend of mine who does this for startups.