My co-founder had a key insight, born from his interactions with a few golf coaches. He observed their disorganization and limited tech-savviness. They only used basic video analysis and booking software. He had the entrepreneurial bug, and after years consulting was ready to indulge it. Although he had orchestrated enterprise services, he had never gone 0 to 1 with an app.. This is where I came into the picture. I was ready to guide him through the challenging yet exciting journey.

I was skeptical. I’m accutely aware of the myriad challenges and slim odds of success. But my founder’s unwavering determination was infectious. I pitched him on my joining the team with my years of experience building products to the table. He accepted.

Our first step in launching Istruzi was research. We dove deep into the world of golf coaching. I interviewed coaches and players, gathering insights into their challenges and needs. We hypothesized an app enhancing their business operations would be valuable. Yet we needed concrete evidence. Interviews revealed their reluctance to adopt existing tools. We learned more about how many struggle with the business side of being a coach.

Golf coaches are great at their craft. Often they struggle with the business side. Existing apps focus on two areas: marketplaces generating more leads and video analysis. Although new leads are great, marketplaces don’t help coaches with retention. They make it harder to retain by reducing friction to switching coaches. Video analysis is table-stakes today, but it doesn’t help with the business side.

We thought a business automation app would be most uniquely valuable to golf coaches. We brainstormed a laundry list of opportunities. My co-founder was committed to bootstrapping Istruzi. We needed to narrow down to the mix that could generate revenue and more runway. 

We speculated independent coaches were most underserved by the market. We hypothesized basic CRM, scheduling and payments would be a winning formula. I advised him to validate the our hypothesis to be efficient with spend.

I designed a prototype and we tested this with our coaches. We used a Von Westendorp style pricing survey to gauge the potential value to our customers. The responses were very positive. Coaches were not only impressed with our pitch and prototype but also willing to invest in it.

Next we needed to pick our development partner. With my experience in consulting, I guided my co-founder through this process. We chose the team at 3Advanced, who proved invaluable in going from concept to reality.

Throughout we kept a customer advisory panel of key coaches actively involved. They validated each step providing feedback as we realized new capabilities. Cost-efficiency was key. 

Eventually, the moment of truth arrived. When trials ended and revenue flowed into the account, we knew we had achieved something rare. It had been over a year of research, development, and unwavering belief.