Jeff Nyquist returned to his hometown to build technology for the human side of sports. A national pitch competition just put that work in the spotlight.
When Jeff Nyquist heard Journai announced as the grand-prize winner at the Center on Rural Innovation’s pitch competition, he was surprised. He had just finished pitching onstage at Dartmouth College alongside four other founders building technology companies in rural communities across the country.
The $10,000 prize and $5,000 in legal services would make a practical difference for a young company. But Jeff’s first thoughts went to the people he had met through the competition.
“Entrepreneurs are a very important tribe,” he said after the event. “And every time we get together, we can help each other and support each other.”
That belief in people helping people runs through Jeff’s story, starting with the example set by his mother
A Path Shaped by People
Jeff grew up in Marquette watching his mother build something the country had never seen before. She started the first hospice in America, and her example changed how he thought about work and risk.
“Seeing someone close to you build something to help others is deeply formative,” Jeff said. “As I got older, it gave me the confidence to bet on myself and build things that people needed.”
He trained in neuroscience at Vanderbilt and spent the next 15 years working with coaches and athletes. His first company, NeuroTrainer, developed brain-training technology used by 35,000 people before the company was acquired.
Across those experiences, Jeff kept returning to the same question: What helps a person grow when something inside them, or around them, is getting in the way?
The Problem Behind Journai
Journai, pronounced “JUR-nee,” began with that question and with co-founder Robin Goetz’s experience as a Division I soccer player at Temple University. After a coaching change, a team experience Robin had loved became difficult. Players struggled, and many freshmen left the program.
Jeff had seen the same pattern from the other side. Coaches can care deeply about every athlete and still struggle to give each person the time and attention they need. Players may not understand their role, know how to ask for help, or feel ready to have a difficult conversation.
Journai brings those two perspectives together. Its assistant, Sam, helps athletes think through challenges privately, understand feedback, and prepare to talk with a coach. It also helps coaches organize notes, prepare for player conversations, and keep priorities from getting lost during a busy season.
A player frustrated about playing time, for example, might use Sam to work through the frustration and prepare a clearer question: What do I need to improve to earn more opportunities? The technology helps the athlete arrive ready for a conversation. The coach and player still do the human work together.
“We believe that the next big thing in sports is less tech and more human empowerment,” Jeff said as he closed his pitch.
Reflection Into Conversation
Journai has been built through research and close work with coaches and athletes. An NCAA-funded study across eight universities gave the team an early sign that Sam was helping private reflection move into real life conversations.
In a mid-study survey of 40 engaged athletes, 62% said something they discussed with Sam led to a conversation with someone in their life. Temple Women’s Lacrosse became Journai’s first paying customer this fall and has helped shape the coaching experience.
Building From Marquette
Jeff’s relationship with Innovate Marquette began around 2016, when he was building NeuroTrainer. At the time, the local startup network was still taking shape, and he later moved to San Francisco to grow the company.
When Jeff returned to Marquette during the pandemic and began building Journai, he found a different entrepreneurial community. As an Innovate Marquette client, Journai received early funding, access to a patent attorney, product and marketing expertise, travel support, and connections to experienced entrepreneurs.
That support also helped Journai prepare for the CORI competition. Innovate Marquette worked with the team on its pitch deck and presentation, helped connect the Journai team to service providers for intellectual property, growth strategy, sales, commercialization, and user experience and interface design, and supported its Business Accelerator Fund proposal.
“Having built a company in Silicon Valley, I can appreciate how much Marquette’s entrepreneurial community has developed,” Jeff said. “I now feel I have more resources available here than I did there, particularly through Innovate Marquette.”
For Jeff and his family, building in Marquette also means staying close to the outdoor lifestyle and community they value. Advances in technology have made it possible for a small team to build and serve customers far beyond the Upper Peninsula. The local network gives that team people to call when the next challenge appears.
A Win and the Work Ahead
On October 29, Jeff brought Journai’s story to the sixth annual Small Towns, Big Ideas Pitch Event in Hanover, New Hampshire. The Center on Rural Innovation hosted the competition with the Magnuson Center for Entrepreneurship at Dartmouth, bringing five rural technology founders together with investors, mentors, and community leaders.
Journai took home the grand prize. The award gives the company practical support and a larger platform, but the next step remains close to the work already underway: learn from early customers, help more teams make player development part of their daily routines, and build relationships with coaches, advisors, partners, and investors who understand the company’s mission.
For Jeff, the win was also evidence that an ambitious technology company can grow from the place he has always called home.
Learn more about Journai and its work with college coaches and athletes at thejournai.com.