Fella

Hey PH! I'm Richie from Fella (https://www.joinfella.com), the telehealth clinic for men with obesity. I personally struggled with stress eating for 6 years. During that time, I was at Cambridge University, then built and sold my first company working with the UK government. It was tough, and poor eating habits as a teenager became a coping mechanism as an adult. Originally, Fella was a product to help men battling stress eating. It resonated due to the stigma around men's eating struggles. But we realized for the guys with obesity, even when they stopped stress eating they weren't getting to a healthier weight. So we started researching effective, evidence-based treatments for obesity. When I say "we", I really mean my co-founder @luke_harries. He studied medicine at Cambridge University, developing a patented AI approach to detecting cancer at a YC bio company, before moving to Microsoft Research. He parses bio papers better than me... -> Obesity treatment is about to radically change: Obesity treatment is about to radically change thanks to a breakthrough medication — NY Times called it a "game changer" in Feb 2021 [1]. The medication (Wegovy) was approved by the FDA in June 2021 [2]. It leads to an average 15% decrease in body weight, efficacy close to bariatric surgery [3]. But medication-assisted treatment for obesity is still stigmatized by family doctors and therefore hard to access. -> Why the focus on men? Only 10% of those using weight management services are men, despite men representing 50% of those with obesity. This is because almost all programs market to women, placing too much emphasis on looks and not enough on health for a male audience. Stress eating is widespread among bigger guys, but mostly ignored — with too much focus on willpower and "eat less, move more". -> Fella today: So we pivoted to the Fella you see today: a telehealth experience with a board-certified obesity doctor for FDA-approved medication, combined with personalized health coaching. We went live in Texas in July, and are soon to be live in California and New York. Fella is a 12-month program and costs $149/month, paid quarterly. We’ll bring costs down over time to improve accessibility. We still have lots of difficulties ahead. The main one could be insurance reimbursement: the latest wave of medications are expensive and insurers don't like to cover them [4]. We’re excited to hear your ideas, questions, concerns, feedback — and maybe any personal stories. I’ll be responding to comments all day, or feel free to shoot me an email at richie@joinfella.com. ---- [1] https://www.nytimes.com/2021/02/... [2] https://www.fda.gov/news-events/... [3] https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10... [4] https://www.bloomberg.com/opinio...

Congrats on sticking to it and the launch! Obesity is a huge problem but most solutions for weight loss are targeted at women. I like the focus.

I really love this idea so some men don't need to feel self conscious