Notes from the start

Here is a thing I have learned this year. Every chess creator above a certain audience size has the same pile of unanswered DMs. People asking, mostly politely, if the creator can look at their games.

The creator usually can’t. There are too many. So most go unanswered, and the creator feels bad about it. The pile gets bigger every week.

The student on the other end of those DMs would happily pay for a real answer. They’ve already paid for Chess.com Premium. They’ve bought a Chessable course they didn’t finish. They have a Patreon membership that gets them a Discord channel and three videos a month. They’ve watched fifty hours of the creator’s free content. None of these things look at their games. None of these things sound like the creator they actually trust.

The creator math is broken

For the creator, the math is more frustrating. Patreon underpays for what the audience actually wants. Chessable is a one-time course with a long, declining tail. YouTube revenue is volatile. Sponsorships are lumpy. Coaching at $150 an hour is the right product, but it doesn’t scale past a calendar. Most mid-tier chess creators look at that stack and conclude that going full-time on chess is something they’ll do in three or four more years, when the numbers maybe add up.

EloNotes is built to collapse that timeline.

What EloNotes actually does

It is a coaching-business-in-a-box for chess creators with serious improver audiences. Students connect their Chess.com or Lichess account. The system drafts a weekly lesson from their actual games. The creator reviews the draft, edits and improves it, and sends it. Students who need more can book a 1:1 call directly.

The creator captures recurring revenue from an audience they were already building for free, with a 1:1 funnel layered on top.

The product has three layers. AI drafts the lesson from engine analysis of the student’s games, and every claim traces to a position on a board. The creator annotates, adding teaching emphasis, voice, and judgment. The platform handles billing, scheduling, and payouts. The creator handles the part that actually requires being them.

The revenue layer under 1:1 coaching

For most creators in our target range, the path to full-time chess looks like adding a five-figure recurring revenue layer on top of what they already do. That layer is not Patreon. It is not another course. It is the coaching product their audience has been asking for in DMs they never had time to answer. Predictable. Recurring.

Built from the audience they already have.

Starting with three launch partners

We’re starting with three launch partners. Mid-tier creators in the 30,000 to 150,000 audience range, improvement-focused, currently capping out on 1:1 coaching. The first three get 80% of revenue, a per-signup launch bonus, and a small equity grant. If that sounds like you, the application is on the site. If you know someone who fits, I’d appreciate the introduction.