I’ve been with TrainerRoad since 2017 and listen to all the podcast. I take away as much about organizational leadership and team building as I do about bike riding. I am a student of leadership principles and tactics and am always amazed at your company. One of the reasons your company is so outstanding is because you stay grounded, you follow your heart and you treat people the way you want to be treated. I really appreciate you taking the time to gather our opinions on this, but I think you should keep running the company in a way that stays true to your passion for transparency.
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I honestly think the way you do it is perfect. I think 90% of people’s confusion and frustration comes from:
- not being familiar with engineering development speak or the process that go into it. i.e. You never really know when something will be ready to release until it is.
- their priorities differ from TR’s. For example, The triathlete crowd is understandably frustrated that swims and runs can’t be imported but they also don’t know the whole business picture of TR. they don’t know how many resources you have or what you are working on or what exactly is holding that particular feature back.
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I want to second this. I was honestly shocked to hear you say you considered releasing it as an add on product with an additional expense. That would have felt like flipping on the “as long as I am CEO of TrainerRoad” pledge. I haven’t used TR as much in the last year because I’ve been a little burnt out on the heavy Sweet Spot focus, and the podcasts have become too long for my attention span while driving, but I’ve maintained my subscription because I value the product, the team, and want to support your vision and the overall suite that is TrainerRoad.
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Also - I’m a triathlete and I get that importing runs and swims is a whole new level. After importing is possible, then people will want analysis. Then all of a sudden TrainerRoad is trying to be TrainingPeaks. I actually think it’s a bad idea to import Runs/Swims in the end. As Collins wrote in “How the Mighty Fall,” the “Reckless pursuit of more” is often how companies find themselves out in front of their ski tips.
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I would prefer all communications to include Chad, Beer/Wine and Instagram 
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You just need to call it the very buggy beta. Set expectations low so people aren’t in such a rush to get it. Then release a version that crashes on startup. That way you released something and when your ready for more people to use it you keep it from crashing for the people you want to use the beta.
What? Bad idea? 
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People need to lighten up … watch/listen to the podcast and enjoy the knowledge, banter and teasers. When it’s ready you will let us know … I don’t know anyone in the field who shares as much as you guys. Just keep on doing what you’re doing … looking forward to seeing the Polarized training plans whenever they are available.
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You have communicated very well. You tend to be very open, maybe even too open in your communication. People are not all patient. You will in todays social world see lots that disagree or complain. That is just life.
The poll shows the majority are fine with how you are proceeding. IN fact the number is greater then we would assume based on the posts on the forum. Dont overthink it. You cannot please everyone.
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I’d love to hear about what you’ve got planned, and I’d love an IDEA of anticipated release date. If you’d told me a year ago about AT, and said “We don’t know when this will be ready, possibly early 2021, but more likely late 2021”, I’d be happy with that.
Even some of the less well-planned ideas that you might have, I’d love to know what you guys are thinking about. “We’re thinking of adding in an option to include prescribed strength training into your plans, but we don’t have an ETA on that, and we don’t have any resources allocated at this time. It’s something we are considering, but may or may not implement.” I’d be delighted with that.
I agree with the timing question comments but not sure how you can really change that. If you share too much and miss the date people will be upset. You can set false dates into the future and delay release, People will appear happier. As an engineer I understand that new projects take time and the message is hard to get across. But that’s what marketing departments do. I’d rather not have the BS layer and just get it done when it gets done.
For me, I had just completed Base and was starting a Build and wanted to try out the new system just because it was new. I simply continued on with what I was planning before the announcement.
I think this relates to the Osborne Effect. httpss://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Osborne_effect#:~:text=The%20Osborne%20Effect%20states%20that,Osborne%20Computer%20Corporation%20in%201981.
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@Nate_Pearson As so many others have said, keep to the track you’re on. This program has helped me so very much thought the many years I’ve been with it! I’ve gone from mid pack to ag bike leader and the credit is TR! Also being a student of the sport (for 40 years!) I absolutely LOVE the podcasts, especially the Chad deep dives and the banter among you all. I find myself disappointed the you to Chad are not on the podcast as the interest you both foster is the magic. After listening to a lot of podcast with many of the sport “illuminaries” you guys have the perfect chemistry for state of the art information and fun, light humor. The package is pretty magical…keep on keepin’ on.
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I think this is bang on. A feature on a roadmap is something you want to get to at some point, and the backlog is always changing so it’s hard to put a date on it. Don’t go hard on marketing until it’s ready to drop, some things in beta will never get out of beta, or they take so long people forget about it or the world changes. You don’t want to risk something getting tagged vapourware
I mean all I wanted from you was a user interface to match that offered by Zwift…was that so hard?
Uh…hold on a mo…
Sorry…I think I had a brain fart…
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What you are doing with the customer base is great Nate - open and honest. Don’t change a thing
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From the perspective of a person who works in an aspect of “development” for a huge company… we pretty much act the same way. Intake request in, analyze it, yes/no decision, backlog, prioritize, plan, develop, test, implement!
And we get all the big red tape that comes with it too so some features may have other things “in the way” before it can get properly prioritized… which i guess you guys would have less of.
I can appreciate your efforts
@Nate_Pearson keep communicating and running the the company the way you have.
You and staff are doing an excellent job improving the product and community
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Beware the Osbourne effect.
Don’t undermine current product.
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@Nate_Pearson I opted for Hard/Firm dates.
I do prefer the way you currently communicate but I think for your own sanity and that of TRs employees, Hard/Firm is the way forward.
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@Nate_Pearson
Start worrying when people stop complaining. I’m pretty sure you already understand this better than most.
I’m a big fan of the open communication. Keep it up IMO.
Today’s responses to many of the questions surrounding the new planned updates filled in a heap of the gaps for me. Thanks for that. Nothing better than hearing it from the horses mouth in that regard.
That said, I was left a little confused after the podcast. I wasn’t overly bothered by the lack of a timeline, but I did find the whole thing to be a little vague.
For the record, my sub has rolled over for another year. I’m still getting good value out of the TR platform without the new bells and whistles (and megaphone announcements).
I was signing up again either way.
Peace out and I hope you’re enjoying dinner with the fam right now.
Edit: stuffed up the time difference. 
@Nate_Pearson, I agree with sharing and being transparent. The marketing/teaser is great, but could be even better if TR sets up more specific limitations and expectations of that roadmap.
An example is setting up a limit on max number of beta testers. If there’s going to be criteria on that selection process and a sign-up deadline, share that too. Then publish all that during the same marketing announcement. I signed up for it, but I’m now left in the dark wondering if I will be selected or not…and if so, when? I can understand the early announcement since you need the public to be beta testers. Having more specifics on beta testers would help.
I got so excited listening to TR hosts during the announcement, but I actually don’t have a fully clear roadmap to follow.
As for setting hard dates to go live, it’s easier said than done. Perhaps a time frame would be helpful and share a timeline chart of that roadmap.
In any case, I’m a big fan of TR. Your unique style leading makes the entire TR team outstanding and revolutionary!
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