Weilos (YC S13) Moves From Fitness Coaching To Weight-Loss Selfies | Hacker News Reader

Weilos (YC S13) Moves From Fitness Coaching To Weight-Loss Selfies

techcrunch.com

38 pointsrwu72123 comments

Weight-loss selfies? That's barely a feature, let alone a full blown product. Who gave the go ahead on this pivot?

dchuk - i did. Wasn't all that excited when I saw the title of the article. The word selfie was meant to infer that we have a special camera tool that helps people take self progress pictures, something that really motivates people to reach their goals bc they can visualize their smallest improvements. Progress pictures can be stored privately or shared publicly on the app.

More importantly, we want to build a safe and supportive mobile community to help people reach their goals. Just getting started but off to a pretty decent start - would love for you to check it out.

> The word selfie was meant to infer that we have a special camera tool that helps people take self progress pictures

Don't you just mean "camera"?

haha - yes it is the built-in camera, but added an overlay feature with adjustable opacity so people can line themselves up with past photos.

This is actually a great idea. I think the app will do well after the pivot.

<- (downvote here) LOL

It seems with the selfie because of the time taken for changes to show-up that people might get demotivated in the interim.

Have you considered doing the same for food instead ?

That is having people take photos of all their meals and automatically sharing with their friends, to encourage eating healthier (soft competition) and making people think more about what they eat because it'll be broadcast.

That would seem more conducive towards a "real-time" feedback loop.

@ig1 that app exists (I'm the CEO). It's called TwoGrand. You should check it out! iPhone: http://bit.ly/TwoGrandiPhone, and Android: http://bit.ly/TwoGrandAndroid.

And @rwu721, the Weilos refresh is super clean. Well done.

Thx @petersimones. Really great job on your app as well!

Did I miss the sarcasm or why do you use the @ in threaded discussions?

@ig1 - Completely agree with you. The great thing about progress pics is that you can motivate yourself to shoot a better next week, and also be inspired by what other REAL people have actually achieved. Real results definitely do take time though.

Users can post food pics, photo updates, and other text updates on the app. These actually make up a higher % of the posts on the app today.

Really great to see people supporting other like minded people on all sorts of posts!

So, Loseit?[0]

This isn't a criticism, but rather an observation. Lots of startups trying to take standardize verticals of the world's largest websites (Reddit and Craigslist).

[0] - http://www.reddit.com/r/loseit

mbesto, we love loseit! Met many of our best users there, and have reached reddit frontpage a couple times through posts on loseit - owe a lot to them.

In some sense, we're trying to create a more customized loseit for weight loss / fitness, with a better UX. Especially on mobile.

So.. like MyFitnessPal?

MFP is an awesome calorie counter where you can also add friends to share your meals. We're slightly different bc our focus is on photos and social support on all types of fitness, weight loss updates.

The fitness industry is already an arena of terrible misinformation. If anyone actually wanted to help people, creating a social network based around superficiality (photos) rather than any real progression towards acquiring health is not the way to go.

Even if it works financially, it will still add to the ocean of misinformation that is the modern health and fitness industry.

Another fruit fly YC startup with a micro niche too small to dent the universe more than any random fluctuation would. YC does the world a disservice by promoting the cult of the startup and then finding every mom and pop idea that knocks on the door.

In case you didn't read the title, Weilos started out as something IMO much more interesting and useful, which was pairing trainers with people trying to lose weight, which is a serious problem and a serious market for most of America.

YC has no control over what people pivot to.

I can't wait for this bubble to pop.

I'm curious what caused the pivot; was it a shortage on supply of trainers, lack of people coming in, or retention/engagement?

Photo sharing seems a lot more "lightweight", so easier to get people in, but doesn't seem as "sticky", so not as good for retention.

Any plans for an Android version? Disappointed that I can't check this app out. (Or at least an Android sign up page so I'm not missed when I forget about it in the next 20 minutes.)

Hey B0Z - thx for the interest and honesty haha. Unfortunately don't have android yet, but will be in the works soon!

Hi Ray - Best of luck with this pivot. Just wondering if you have any bandwidth nowadays to get in touch and help out a fellow startup guy (god I hate the word "entrepreneur"). I am setting out to build a mobile social network with some other partners. Would love to pick your brain on how to get things started. If you are still in the bay area I can buy you coffee =)

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