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SYS–02Case studyCo-founderArchitecture / pre-MVP

Cadence

A coach ↔ athlete strength-coaching platform, mobile-first, for francophone Quebec.

Type
Co-founded product
Domain
Sports coaching
Status
Architecture / pre-MVP
Period
2025 · present · "athlete-first" pivot (May 2026)
Role
Co-founder · Tech lead
Team
Ralph (tech) · Alexandre Boisvert (product & design)
Market
Francophone gym coaches in Quebec, and their athletes
Platforms
Mobile (iOS / Android) · Web (landing + app)
Expo · React NativeTypeScriptSupabase (Postgres · Auth · RLS)Next.js 16NativeWindGitHub Actions

01 Summary

Cadence connects a strength coach with their athletes: the coach builds programs, the athlete follows them and logs sessions. Co-founded with Alexandre (product & design), I own all the tech. The project is discovery-led: validated athlete personas, competitive analysis, then a documented "athlete-first" pivot.

02 Problem & market

Independent coaches juggle spreadsheets, messages and videos. Cadence centralizes program, tracking and communication.

  • Beachhead: francophone gym coaches in Quebec
  • Two athlete personas validated through interviews (Mom Test)
  • Competition analyzed: Hevy, TrueCoach, Everfit, Trainerize, Hexfit

03 My role

Co-founder and tech lead: architecture, data model, authorization, auth, CI/security and development. Alexandre leads product and design; product decisions are shared.

04 Main contribution

  • The data model (14 tables) and its Row-Level Security authorization
  • The auth system (mobile + web) on Supabase
  • The mobile app architecture (Expo/React Native) + design system
  • A CI pipeline with security analysis (secret scanning, dependency audit)

05 Who did what

AreaMeAlexandreShared
Technical architectureLeadConsulted
Data model & RLSLead
DevelopmentLead
UX/UI designConsultedLeadYes
Product & prioritizationContributorContributorYes
User researchContributorLeadYes

"Other" = Alexandre Boisvert (co-founder, product & design).

06 Progress & preparation

At this stage most of the work is preparation and design — shown as such, not as product results.

241Planned
structured issues (177 web + 64 mobile)
governance & traceability — not a product result
14Implemented
tables · RLS on all of them
2Validated
athlete personas validated (Mom Test)
5Validated
competing apps analyzed
Implemented
mobile app: auth + navigation + design system
designedDesigned
mobile feature screens
full mockups; implementation to come

07 Lessons

The main lesson: only build on validated demand. Only the athlete personas were validated — hence the "athlete-first" pivot (the athlete app first, coach later) rather than building speculative coach features.