TR (and mainly Nate) Appreciation Post

I agree with the basic premise of your post. I do.

But trust me – privately held business owners actually have to answer to a huge number of folks too. I suspect @Nate_Pearson has just as many sleepless nights (ignoring his medically real sleep issues) as any other business owner/founder. In a way, he answers to the demands of thousands of TR users, every time he opens this forum. He answers to many many employees, every morning that he opens his email. He answers to his competitors each and every day.

Uneasy is the head that wears a crown

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Please keep to the topic at hand (Nate & TR).

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I feel personally attacked :rofl:

I don’t find the forum as toxic as you do, although perhaps I’m just avoiding the more contentious topics

Same here. Still haven’t met any of them in person but I feel like if anything bad happens to any of them (or when it has), it’s like it’s happened to a close friend or family member…

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What is dog-fooding? Is that like crash-test dummying oneself? TIL.

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Basically it’s using your own product.

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Gotcha. Yeah, that’s a great piece of the puzzle too… an authentic version of the old “Hair Club for Men” throwaway line.

@Nate_Pearson ‘s (and other TR folks’) transparency on their struggles, triumphs, and everything else in between is super refreshing too. It’s the opposite of toxic-masculinity or whatever you want to call it. Let’s us all feel better about the messy flows of our own lives as it relates to training and achieving goals.

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Dog fooding is an expression in the software industry (perhaps beyond) that developers are forced to use their own products and APIs. For example, a company like Apple would use its cloud service products to sync notes and messages across devices. Usually that is desirable, because some pain points and design flaws only become apparent when you are actually trying to use the products. And that’s why products that haven’t been dog fooded are often of lower quality.

If you pay close attention, then @Jonathan is often mentioning that e. g. he’s trying to do most workouts outdoors (i. e. testing outdoor workouts) or that he prepped for nationals with the polarized plans. Also, the TR team has been switching between disciplines very often (e. g. @Nate_Pearson made an effort to improve his mountain biking skills), and while I don’t remember them saying that this is to dog food their product and gain experience, to me it is clear that this is what it is. (Nobody said that testing your own product can’t be fun!)

So true and this baffles me. While this doesn’t apply to everyone and cycling is an expensive sport, to a lot of people this is small potatoes — especially since proper training will have a far, far bigger impact on your performance than a pair of carbon wheels that is 150 g lighter and saves you 4 W at 50 km/h.

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Entitlement.

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One of the things I most appreciate here is that this communication isn’t the vanity project/personality cult that Musk’s is. Nate lets others speak, listens to them, and makes clear that TR is the work of lots of people, many with expertise that he doesn’t have. A CEO that isn’t only confident but confident in his team is really admirable. Bravo.

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Second reminder, if people want to talk about Elon, Tesla or others besides TR & Nate (topic of this thread), please take that elsewhere.

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Sorry… had already posted when I saw this message. Feel free to move anything if that’ll work better. I’ll stay on topic from now on. :grin:

Done. Please use the new topic for any new Musk discussion

Another vote for Nate’s and TR’s style. I joke that even our dog’s recognize the podcast hosts’ voices. :laughing:

I used to work for a used motorcycle dealership with a similar “from the ground up” story. The owner (who recently passed away far too young) had a similar leadership and communication style–not afraid of working hard, letting people see his real self, and treating his employees and customers right. He got to know all his customers, and we were selling 100+ machines PER MONTH. Had a tremendous influence on me.

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Nate, I think it’s good that you discuss issues openly. You are never going to please everyone and as CEO you understandably need to consider the interests of the company. As a TR user, I’m very happy with the product, especially when I’ve just nailed a under/over workout😁 The Podcast’s are informative and motivational. They keep me going when I’m commuting to and from work. And this forum gives us a great opportunity to interact with fellow TR Team and other users. Don’t be too hard on yourself, I think you are doing a fantastic job!

100% agree - the whole team are amazing and love their interactivity and how available they are.
I posed @Jonathan a quick question whilst he was on holiday in Hawaii and was blown away with the speed of feedback, the quality and effort put into replies. He even looked into my training profile (whilst on holiday!!). @Nate_Pearson is the same - the CEO but has always taken time to interact and respond to emails, forum posts etc. it’s why TrainerRoad stands out above anyone else.

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Thank you Nate, Jon, Chad(s), Amber, Pete, and everyone else at TR. First it was a podcast I listened to, then it was a product I subscribed to for my own training, then in the pandemic with group training it helped make my current group of friends.

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Same here next Monday. I might just increase FTP manually and call it a day

Nate is awesome,
New here, broke my clavicle in two places in a bike wreck this summer and started listening to the TR podcast. Been working backwards i am on episode 358 :grin:.
Just got a trainer and after hearing about Nate giving members the options on their membership, I gladly started my subscription this past week.
I enjoy research papers and love the science behind the podcast.
Corey

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So bummed to hear about your clavicle but STOKED you’re with us; as a podcast listener, on the forum, and now as a TR athlete!

Let me know if you have any questions or need a hand with anything as you get going. We’re here to help!