Being a personal trainer isn’t all pep talks and spotting. A big part of the job is communicating with clients, encouraging them to keep up with their workout programs.
GOtivation, a Naperville-based fitness startup, uses chatbot technology to help trainers with backend logistics. The goal is to give them more time to build relationships with clients.
“We ask people about their fitness interests, their motivations, their fears and how they respond to setbacks,” said founder and CEO Dennis Timpanaro. “Based on their responses, we can send tailored messages and motivational content.”
A longtime fitness enthusiast who tried out for the U.S. archery team ahead of the 2016 Summer Olympics, Timpanaro has many a friend in the personal training industry. In speaking with them about their work, he discovered that they spend a significant amount of time at a desk sending tips and reminders.
Many trainers have upward of 200 clients, with some online coaches juggling as many as 500 or 600 at a time. To make matters more complicated, each client is at a different stage of training. GOtivation lets trainers customize messages for each client, whether they’re in the middle of a month-long boot camp or maintaining a target weight.
Timpanaro is also working on developing different personality settings for the chatbot to fit each user’s communication style.
“Someone might want a best friend or a buddy who encourages them, while others might want a bootcamp instructor who’s straight to the point and doesn’t take any excuses,” said Timpanero. “People want the kind of coach they think will connect with them.”
While Timpanaro had initially considered launching GOtivation as a mobile app, he decided to build a chatbot based on feedback from potential clients. For now, the startup is primarily focusing on the Facebook Messenger platform, which Timpanaro said offers the best opportunity to integrate into a client’s day-to-day life.
Although officially a solo entrepreneur, Timpanero said he has had plenty of help developing the app, including from a psychology Ph.D. who worked on the app’s motivational aspects and a development team that built GOtivation’s chatbot technology from scratch. The startup had 75 coaches using the beta version of its platform before officially launching right before Thanksgiving.
Timpanero, who plans to bootstrap the startup as long as possible, said he’s been impressed with the support he’s received from other members of the Chicago tech scene.
“I’ve been really lucky to start my company here and find a network that’s been extremely helpful,” he said. “And having my own money involved makes me very careful with how I spend it. I think it will force me to make a product that people love and that helps them, allowing it to be profitable sooner.”
