Yash Jain is the founder and CEO of Hero Trainer — a free mobile app where users can earn rewards in games on PC, Xbox, PlayStation, Nintendo, Apple, and Android for walking. Listed #3 Product of Day on Product Hunt. Hero Trainer is a startup based in San Francisco.
What is Hero Trainer all about?
Hero Trainer is a free mobile app where users can earn rewards in their favorite games for exercising. Users sync their steps with Google Fit or Apple Health, earn Aura for every 1,000 steps, and then redeem Aura for fully paid games, gift cards, premium game items, and more across multiple gaming platforms. The goal is to help gamers get physically and mentally fit.
Tell us a little bit about your background and how you started your company?
I have always struggled to stay motivated to exercise, even when I did have free time. I always chose gaming overexercising. It made me realize I cared more about my character than my health.
When Pokemon Go came out, I started to walk six miles to work instead of driving, hoping to catch new Pokemon. However, people lost interest a few months later because they got bored. My vision was to develop an app that not only emphasizes fitness and social interaction, but also works for any game.
What was the biggest problem you encountered with your business and how did you overcome it?
The biggest challenge I faced was finding the right team to work with to develop my app. The first team I worked with promised me exceptional results and it completely backfired when the time came for the alpha version of our app to launch.
Almost everything that could go wrong in a startup will go wrong and the best way to avoid mistakes is to talk to experts in the field. You only work with people who have referrals in the space that you trust. It changes the entire game. When a group of people are pre-vetted, it reduces your risk. People, especially your friends, only recommend services they truly trust.
What were the top mistakes you made starting your business and what did you learn from it?
The top mistake I made was forming a company before I even started generating any revenue. You start to get lost in all the legal paperwork, tax filing, registrations, and other formal nonsense that takes away from focusing on your product. It can also be especially dangerous because once you form an entity it can sometimes turn into the sunken ship fallacy, where you keep throwing money at a bad idea.
People who usually are entrepreneurs usually cannot take no for an answer and I am no different. Fortunately, I was lucky enough that I was the end-user, and my idea held water. If you take the money you would have spent setting up a business to pay for user research and do your diligence, it can save you years of your life backing a terrible product. This is advice that I even use now to avoid investing in features that don’t move the ball at all.
What is one thing that you do daily to grow as an entrepreneur?
Most people say meditation, yoga, fitness, and I do all those and they’re great for preventing burnout. To me truly, the one thing I do daily as an entrepreneur is try something new and fail.
Building a company is like art. You are pulling from all different parts of your life to create a unique product. The best way to try something new or learn something new is to meet new people. Fortunately, there is an app for that — Clubhouse! It’s been an excellent experience in adding new puzzle pieces to my mind.
What are three books or courses you recommend for new entrepreneurs?
Atomic Habits by James Clear; Freakinomics by Stephen Dubner; and Getting More by Stuart Diamond.
What is the one thing you wish you knew before starting your business?
You’ll never want to go back to another job after becoming an entrepreneur. Yes, from the get-go it’s rough — no income, benefits, and you have to live off a shoestring budget, but if you dedicate yourself to an ideal, it’s fulfilling.
A business that will truly change the world brings you joy. You love your job, one of the few things people can ever say. For me, it filled my life back up with energy. I used to wake up at noon, but now I wake up at 7:30 because I am excited about helping people. If my company goes under and I lose everything, I will save up and try again. This world of entrepreneurship is breathtaking.
What has been your most effective marketing strategy to grow your business?
Referrals. It is not only the most effective marketing strategy for me but it also directly correlates with the quality of your product. If more people talk about it or refer their friends to it, it’s because they are enjoying your product. It’s that simple.
Word of mouth also makes it exclusive. I used that to my advantage in the beginning, people who shared it with their friends felt like they were in the know.
If you only had 1000 dollars to start a new startup, knowing everything you know now, how would you spend it?
Building the most beautifully designed website, landing page ever made. People like nice-looking things. No really, there’s a company that made a sleek designed toothbrush. The toothbrush didn’t do anything different than a regular toothbrush, but it looked sleek.
I would use my money to create a beautifully designed website and if I had extra money, I would use it to create a nice high-quality video. You have to start the market before your product launches. It changes the game entirely.
What’s your best piece of advice for aspiring and new entrepreneurs?
If you aren’t failing, you aren’t growing, and your business will fail. I’ve hit every tree branch on the way down, and it has made me capable of handling problems I never knew I had.
Also, here’s a bonus tip: take your time. Everyone is rushing to get their product out there as quickly as possible. Quick iteration. Quick everything. It has a cost beyond health. Poor quality can be a turnoff to users. They may never come back due to one poor experience with the product.
What is your favorite quote?
Speak softly and carry a big stick.
Use your accomplishments to speak for you. When you have credibility, it makes every conversation much easier, and opens new doors. Being humble can be difficult when you are also trying to get yourself out there (since you’re promoting yourself essentially).
Besides the obvious social media tools available, what are the top 3 most useful tools or resources you’re currently using to grow your company?
This one is gaming-centric, but Discord. Discord allows you to connect with people and allow them to provide input on the development of your product. It changes the game entirely.
My second suggestion is Clubhouse, it allows you to listen and stand on the shoulders of giants. If you can ask questions to experts in your industry, it saves so much time. If done right, it could even open new doors for you, especially in industries that are highly gated.
My final suggestion would be twitch or a live place to do Q&A with your product fans. People support a person, not a company. It helps them see that you’re just like them and doing your best to meet their needs. When the going gets tough, it’s these customers that carry a company forward and remember the way you made them feel.
How is running a tech company different than what you thought it would be?
I didn’t expect it to be so exciting to the point that I would rather be working on it than doing anything else, even gaming.
How can readers get in touch with you?
The best way for people to reach out is to send a DM to my personal account @foundinghero or an email to yashjain@hero-trainer.com. They can go ahead and start earning rewards for exercising on www.herotrainer.io.
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