Entrepreneur Stories: Josh Sutcher from Train Heroic

Interview conducted by Audrey Cheng (1871 intern)

What is Train Heroic?

What Train Heroic does is that it brings trainers with athletes in real time using technology, so athletes are able to access those coaches, even when they’re not physically in front of them. They can get the instruction around that exercise and everything that happens in the weight room is tracked and we encourage that type of competition. A slogan that we use a lot is “Win in the gym,” so that everyday you’re training for your sport you’re able to compete and there’s a clear-cut winner and loser, so you encourage what happens on game day to have a daily basis, so folks are always competing and thriving to do their best.

How did you become an entrepreneur and what were you doing before?

I graduated college at the University of San Diego in 2009 with an accounting degree. I was working for a tax and consulting firm out here in Chicago and was happy doing that, but there’s just a different type of work that I do. I was coaching on the side too.  I’m wired in a certain way with the type of work that I was doing when I was coaching. The type of work that I did when I was consulting was so different. I loved one of them and liked the other one and thought if I had one chance to do this—live—I’m going to do something I’m passionate about. With this whole startup, it’s about me being close to something I’ve been close with for a long time.

How did you know you were passionate about this idea?

My role specifically when I was coaching—I was a varsity position coach—I manned the strength conditioning. There is so much that transfers from what happens in the weight room or how people eat, sleep and treat their bodies to what happens on the field, but also beyond that and much bigger, how they feel. You can see that and it is very apparent in a high school athlete. Socially, the high school athlete’s life in general is a product of what he does in that weight room or how he eats. I knew that at that point, there’s a lot I learned along the way. You feel good, you’re helping kids, and when I say kids, you’re helping college athletes. The things you learn when you’re 21, 22, 23 impacts your life beyond sports.

What appealed to you about entrepreneurship?

I’ve always been an ideas guy and I’d to think I’m a GSD (Getting Shit Done) guy too. Since I was young, I’ve always had the drive to be by myself, work on my own and do my own thing. When I was little I used to buy flowers wholesale and then sell them. That’s just the type of guy I am. I’m going to work my tail off, but I’d like to do it not for myself, but on my own terms and be able to navigate and make an impact.

Why do you think Chicago is a good community for entrepreneurs?

I’m from here so I love Chicago. I didn’t know a whole lot about Chicago’s entrepreneurial scene until I got directly involved in it. 1871 is a great resource. Going to school in California, I was always able to pick out the Midwestern people. You don’t notice it until you’re gone. People are wired a certain way in Chicago. It’s great especially for entrepreneurs—people are open, willing to help. There are just a lot of good folks in Chicago.

What is it like working at 1871?

It’s great. There’s a lot of energy. For the first nine months of our company, we were working out of our homes. That’s a lot different. You get lonely—you’re working. Being here, there’s energy. You feed off people. There are tons of resources, whether that’s people, events, meet-ups, and office hours. It’s great.

Tell me about your failures. Have you had a lot and how did you overcome them?

We launched at a number of schools. There were a couple schools early going that were tough. It was tough because we didn’t have our implementation process lined up. It’s still a work in process; this is new. People aren’t out there looking for Train Heroic. We’re educating them that this is what it is and this is how you use it. There’s been really one particular moment when we rolled this out and maybe it wasn’t the right customer or our communication wasn’t great with the coach, but there was one implementation that was spotty and wasn’t being used in the way that it should.  We learn a lot though. We ask, ‘What did we do here and how can we not do it again?’ That’s big. You kind of need to fall down to know why.

When you do fall down though, sometimes it hurts. What do you tell yourself to get back up?

I’ve failed thousands of times in my life. That’s what you signed up for. If it were smooth and easy, everybody would be doing it. When we got into this, we knew it was going to be hard, but I’ve learned in my life that if you fail, then at least take something away from that—maybe I wasn’t prepared or maybe something was out of your control. What was in your control that you could have done better? For me, I don’t expect every transaction to go super smooth.

What are your words of advice for budding entrepreneurs?

First thing is, just believe in what you’re doing and believe in your purpose. For me, I know that I’m doing something good for other people, so it’s easy to wake up in the morning and get stuff done. Just believe in your idea, your business, the purpose you’re serving and be persistent. Nobody is looking for you initially. You have to go find them and make things happen.

Words that you live by?

 I like by this phrase, ‘If you don’t grind, you don’t shine.’ It was something I learned in college. It was something that we used to say on our team. It started as a joke, but it’s something I truly believe in. If you don’t put in the work, you’re not going to shine. I try to live my life by that phrase. Something I’m doing things that might not be the best way of getting it done or it might not be the most efficient, but I know I’ll wake up in the morning and work super hard. At the end of the day, I think that’ll lead to some type of success if I can listen and make some change along the way.

What is your biggest fear right now?

I think any entrepreneur’s biggest fear is failure. I don’t know if I’m scared of failing. I think I’m scared of not doing everything I can to make sure I succeed.

What are some of your successes?

Just seeing the product being used and the value you can provide to a kid at the high school level. At the college level, these guys have a ton of resources. We’re just making their lives easier. At the high school level, you have these kids that would never have access to something like this learn and do things they’re doing at universities. It’s really cool seeing them feeling motivated and just feeling good and knowing they have some kind of direction.