[Red_Tarsius]

The name seems wrong: Pavlov is famous for the development of classical conditioning; that is, you train one stimulus to trigger another. As far as I know, classical conditioning is about involuntary behaviours.

Instead, the startup seems to follow the old law of effect from Thorndike: "Behaviours associated with pleasure and comfort are more likely to be repeated, whereas those associated with displeasure are less likely to be repeated".

Combining extrinsic motivation and punishment doesn't seem a winning strategy.

"Pink warns against contingent or 'if-then' rewards: if you perform, then you get paid, or if you do your homework, then you get cake. He shows how contingent rewards lead to a very short-term motivation, a higher likelyhood of unethical or risky behaviour (cheating), and poorer performance. Therefore, he recommends that extrinsic rewards be given only after the fact as a bonus, not as a carrot." – Dorian Peters, Interface Design

My guess is that the Pavlok would help for short term accomplishments, but it's not going "to create the conditions for people to motivate themselves (Edward Deci)".

I'm not an expert; It would be interesting to read an actual psychologist's take on the Pavlok product.