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Motiv’s Co-Founders Take Coaching Roles to Refine Their MVP

Writer's picture: Motiv BloggerMotiv Blogger
High School Track Coach

Building a product that resonates with your audience requires understanding them deeply, and no one knows this better than the team at Motiv. In a unique approach to gain authentic customer insights and test their Minimum Viable Product (MVP), Motiv’s co-founders, Jaden Walton and Noelle Scheper, are returning to their roots by coaching the sports they played during high school.


Jaden, Motiv’s CEO, will be continuing as a pole vault coach, but this season for the Track & Field teams at his alma mater, Loveland High School, while Noelle, the company's CMO, will be volunteering as a an assistant golf coach with First Tee, a nonprofit that introduces kids to golf and essential life skills. Both Jaden and Noelle are thrilled about reconnecting with the sports they love—and excited about the invaluable firsthand insights this journey will bring.


Past Experience as Athletes

By his senior year in high school, Jaden had been on Loveland High School's Varsity wrestling, football, swimming, track & field, and ski/snowboarding teams. He saw the value of competitive sports in that it taught discipline and how to work with a team, and became dedicated to his athletics, particularily in track & field.


Although his final season for track was cut short due to the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic, he continued to train for pole vault in his spare time. In order to continue his love for sports, he decided to become an assistant coach for Reading High School's track team, specifically coaching high jump and pole vault events.


There, he realized how complicated the process was to not only become a coach, but how to effectively coach a team with the current tools available.


After the season concluded, he set out to create Motiv. As the app's MVP is now set to be launched in the coming weeks, both him and Noelle are returning to coaching in order to use and test Motiv with their teams.



For Noelle, at the age of eleven, she was officially introduced to golf by her father signing her up for First Tee's summer day camp. Upon starting the seventh grade at Walnut Hills High School, she made it onto the Junior High Golf team, one of only two girls on the team. At the end of her first season, she won the Coaches' Spirited Award for her positive team spirit, always cheering on her teammates and complimenting their shots.


As a freshman, she became a team member of the Girls' Varsity Golf team and continued to develop a love for the sport. Upon graduation and during the pandemic, she continued to play golf recreationally. During that time, she decided to volunteer and give back to First Tee, the program that originally taught her how to play. There, she saw what an impact a sport can truly have on a young adult's life and was forever touched by the power of sport.


Living the Experience They’re Building For

By re-immersing themselves in high school athletics, Jaden and Noelle aren’t just relying on feedback—they’re becoming the end users of their own product. Their experience coaching will allow them to understand the challenges faced by athletic directors, coaches, and students in real time, giving Motiv a unique perspective on the real-world functionality and adaptability of their app.


Coaching provides a prime opportunity for testing Motiv’s MVP, especially since the app is designed to streamline team communications, athlete tracking, and administrative tasks for high school sports programs. Jaden and Noelle’s active roles in the field will reveal insights about the nuances of team management, athlete engagement, and parental communication—elements that are crucial to the success of Motiv.


Testing and Learning for a Stronger MVP

Jaden and Noelle’s coaching journey is more than a nostalgia trip; it’s a strategic move. Direct interaction with Motiv's primary users—coaches, athletes, and even parents—will inform the development of critical features, from scheduling and tracking to team-wide communication. Their unique coaching roles create an environment for on-the-ground testing, allowing them to identify user pain points and areas for improvement that might otherwise go unnoticed. It’s an approach that not only strengthens their product but also bridges the gap between tech innovation and practical usability.


As they coach, they will be using Motiv’s MVP to manage and communicate with their athletes, evaluate the efficiency of training schedules, and manage their teams—just as any future Motiv user would. Their combined insights will guide Motiv’s final tweaks, ensuring that the platform launches in a way that genuinely meets the needs of high school sports programs across the country.


Motiv’s Vision: Driven by Real-World Insight

By embodying their customers’ roles, Jaden and Noelle are demonstrating an inspiring commitment to Motiv’s mission: creating an intuitive, all-in-one sports management tool for high schools. As they step into these coaching roles, they bring Motiv one step closer to a product built by coaches, for coaches—an app designed to elevate high school sports programs through practical, firsthand understanding.


With plans to launch their MVP in November 2024, Jaden and Noelle’s coaching insights will be foundational to Motiv’s final design, functionality, and ease of use. Their journey emphasizes the core belief that to truly understand your audience, you have to walk in their shoes—or, in this case, coach on their field.



 

Motiv UI Design

Motiv is a great way to stay connected and reinforce connection amongst the team outside of games and practice. It allows you to track stats individually and as a team, share game footage with your team, RSVP for practices and games, purchase merch, fundraise for the team, and more! Plus, its entirely free! Learn more about Motiv:


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