Keep working on MatGoat (https://matgoat.com/en/) - management software for Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and other martial arts' academies.

I train BJJ and kept hearing the same pain points from academy owners regarding attendance tracking, communications, missing payments, etc.

So I built a tool for martial arts academies in 2024 with belts progression, automated payments, attendance tracking, and a tablet check-in system. Nowadays I'm still onboarding new academies every week and working a bit more on the marketing side to keep growing.

Amazing to see such a long tenure in that competitive market. Thanks for sharing!

I wonder, apart from the normal exposure/distribution on App Store, what are the main strategies you've used for marketing?

Building MatGoat (https://matgoat.com) - management software for Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and other martial arts' academies.

I train BJJ and kept hearing the same complaints from academy owners regarding attendance tracking, comms, missing payments, etc.

So I'm building a tool for student tracking with belts progression, automated payments, attendance-based promotion criteria, and a tablet check-in system.

Focusing on Spanish-speaking markets first since it's completely underserved. Currently onboarding early academies, and will market it in the US/UK soon.

Author here :)

I’m sorry this article felt that way. My intention was not so much saying that you cannot be in touch with that human side if you’re not a parent. It was more about celebrating the good parts of parenting when it comes to how they change you.

That said, I can understand how this could be seen how you shared it, thank you for your thoughts!

Author here :)

No, it's not AI-generated. I write for fun, and I don't see the point of using AI to do it.

The image, like many others I use to illustrate my articles, was obtained from pexels.com.

Thank you for the feedback!

Thank you! :)

Hey!

Author here :)

It was more a metaphor from that moment when I was writing in fact in silence and the lack of any external input / voice telling me whether something I'm doing is good or bad but I know what you mean, perhaps using "isolation" would have made the article clearer, thanks!

I also knew what you meant but it was more for those people who skip the article and comment based solely on the title.

Sidenote - if you can find the time, you should write more often. I just went through your articles and there is a lot of useful advice to be found. The projects are pretty interesting too. Cheers!

Thank you, you’ve made my day with this comment!

I also reacted the same way to your write-up. As a professional creative toward the end of a multi-decade career, I interpreted it as describing the initial moment of inception, which for me, tends to come all in a rush after a long period of uninterrupted solitude. However, after the 'aha' realization my creative process turns to first capturing the now-connected pieces, then forming them into some rough first expression and bouncing that off of early collaborators for feedback. This is usually followed by an intense period of creative engagement with others as the initial idea or concept is sharpened and refined from an often messy pile of "not quite it" into something much more like its eventual self.

What you described is the often invisible first parts of creation which involve exploring the space, then posing the question or framing the problem and finally stewing on it until the seed of the thing is ready to emerge in that moment of solitude. The best collaborators and producers understand the necessity and shape of this process.

Rich Hickey says “the computer is the worst place to work“. I guess he means precisely for the reason you state. The best ideas come when there’s no input from outside.

Hey, I'm Jose, the author of the article.

Thanks so much for this comment. Let me know if I can answer any questions.

Finding the time is hard, yes. In my case it was important to have small goals I could accomplish each week so I wasn't overwhelmed with all the things I needed to do.

Hey Jose, how much time did it took you to build this project?

Thanks, awesome work

Thank you!

I built a basic first version that a company started to use in 6 months during weekends and early mornings and then another 6 months to get to the current version.

I think it could be done faster but I also have a family so I took my time :)

I have watched the documentary, and I strongly recommend it. It shows some values in Japan that are being loosing in new generations there and in other countries.

That said, Jiro is an example of many things in their craft but his life also have a lot of drawbacks, like he barely saw his sons when they were children and if a social event comes up he tries to spend as less time as possible to get back to work.

That was a fault of circumstance though. It was a combination of Japanese values as well as being born in relative poverty as well as what was necessary to elevate above that.

A lot of Jiro's values are in Japanese society too, so you can get an idea of those ancient values that define that society from the documentary. That was what I was trying to emphasize with my comment.

But yes, I agree, the circumstances were very important and without them Jiro wouldn't be the way he is.

Thanks for the response!

I think he means that, the reason he took it to the extreme that his family life suffered was due to his unfortunate circumstances.

This is a really great documentary. Just saw it because of the post and the entire time I can't help but think of how this applies to any life and the to the pursuit of happiness.