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Launch HN: Fella (YC W20) – Tackling men's obesity using medication and coaching

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Re: Launch HN: Fella (YC W20) – Tackling men's obesity using medication and coaching

#31

[flagged]

Congrats on having a relatively easy time losing weight, but you're not the only person in the world, and not everyone's body works the same as yours. Your scolding of a clinically proven weight loss approach for not being what you did is solipsistic and ignorant. Your approach is, like the others, one among many that will work for some people.

Eloquently written.

Re: Launch HN: Fella (YC W20) – Tackling men's obesity using medication and coaching

#32

Any plan for Canada?

Our focus is the US for the coming year or two. The state-by-state expansion is tricky for telehealth companies. But we're British founders so we recognize that this is needed in many other countries in the coming years!

Re: Launch HN: Fella (YC W20) – Tackling men's obesity using medication and coaching

#33

Interesting offering, definitely an important market. > So we started researching effective, evidence-based treatments for obesity Fasting has a tremendous amount science supporting it [1], can you articulate why you're pursuing the prescribed semaglutide approach instead? [1] Fasting: Molecular Mechanisms and Clinical Applications https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S155041311...

I tried fasting and a pure keto diet. While they do work, I felt miserable. This is not sustainable for people like me who has to lose more than 100 pounds.

Now I started losing weight by just balancing macro-nutrients; more protein, more vegetables, less carbs as opposed to absolutes "no" and "only" except for no sugary drinks and beer and deserts except in social occasions. Also big emphasis on weight lifting as opposed to cardio. Cardio helps with its own health benefits but is very poor for muscle growth and fat loss and should be seen as a compliment.

Re: Launch HN: Fella (YC W20) – Tackling men's obesity using medication and coaching

#34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

100%. We're actually British founders so it's been a baptism of fire learning about the nuances of US healthcare! That said, the US is the focus for the moment, so we're not planning to expand to Europe for quite a while.

Canada?

Not for the coming year. We'd love to as soon as we have capacity!

Re: Launch HN: Fella (YC W20) – Tackling men's obesity using medication and coaching

#35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not affiliated, but I believe with every telemedicine company, the care providers need a medical license in each and every state they have patients in. So it will likely be a long time before they have “nationwide” coverage. This is why many telemedicine startups are only in a select handful of states.

Exactly this! Got there before me.

Hey Richie we can help with that :) https://medallion.co/

Re: Launch HN: Fella (YC W20) – Tackling men's obesity using medication and coaching

#36

Ever think of branching into addiction? That's another place where evidence based care is sorely lacking.

It's a possibility. There's already another YC co doing great things in the addiction space: https://www.quitgenius.com/

We'll have to see. We have a long way to go in the coming years reaching the 35 million men in the US who are fighting obesity.

Re: Launch HN: Fella (YC W20) – Tackling men's obesity using medication and coaching

#37

Interesting offering, definitely an important market. > So we started researching effective, evidence-based treatments for obesity Fasting has a tremendous amount science supporting it [1], can you articulate why you're pursuing the prescribed semaglutide approach instead? [1] Fasting: Molecular Mechanisms and Clinical Applications https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S155041311...

Spot on about fasting, and keto has solid evidence as well - https://www.virtahealth.com/ are a great company focused on this. The issue is we're starting to have a more nuanced understanding of the metabolic resistance people face when they undergo dietary changes - basically the body fights hard against you as you try to lose weight by dieting. So it's now industry-standard among obesity specialist doctors to see o…

> basically the body fights hard against you as you try to lose weight by dieting.

I used to weigh 310lbs, now I'm 215lbs. All I did was count calories to maintain a deficit and the results were essentially the same as predicted by the math. I was a bit hungry sometimes at first as I adjusted to it but that's really it. Prioritizing protein and fat over carbs helps with that.

What ways does the body tend to fight against people?

Re: Launch HN: Fella (YC W20) – Tackling men's obesity using medication and coaching

#39

Great Idea!I checked out the website and it looks like it is targeted towards older men (40+). Was there any particular reasoning for this? I'm in my 20s and I know a lot of men my age who are obese. Was the program developed specifically for older men?

Really good question. In our customer dev, we tended to find the older guys were a more motivated initial audience because health concerns are more top of mind. Plus there's still a lot of hesitancy & stigma around medication for obesity, but the older guys are more ready to take that step.

Fella works just as well for younger guys. Any more questions I can answer?

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