Have real fun,
make real change.
Games that power the changes you
want to make in your life. It’s the better way
to lose weight—find out why.
Lost 22 lbs
Won $196
Jamie started WayBetter after seeing friends compete in an office weight-loss contest. People who rarely exercised were suddenly jogging at lunch, spontaneously doing push-ups, leaving chocolates on each other's desks, and laughing a lot. It was like someone had spiked the water. Jamie decided to recreate that healthy energy on a large scale, using social media to let people motivate each other to get in shape, without it ever feeling like work.
Jamie is passionate about the Fun Theory, which contends that fun can change human behavior for the better. After graduating from Harvard, he developed toys with Jerry Lemelson, an inventor with almost as many patents as Thomas Edison. He later dropped out of HBS to start a company that made surfing the web whimsical. He patented some inventions relating to location-based games which he sold to Yahoo, co-wrote a book about unusual careers, and developed a stress-reliever called The ScreenSmasher.
He is happily married with three young kids who are experts in Fun Theory.
Matt Daniel joined the WayBetter team in February 2012 to lead the Business Development efforts. He was attracted by the opportunity to use fun, engaging games to help people make healthier choices. In November 2015 Matt took on CFO responsibilities in addition to leading Business Development. Matt's been personally and professionally committed to healthy lifestyles for a long time, having served as an officer for a $500 million publicly traded health club operator, Town Sports International, for over 10 years. Over that span he gained extensive experience in operations, business development, customer service, and pricing.
Earlier in his career, Matt spent 5 years in startup environments and 4 years in management consulting. He holds an M.B.A. from the Kellogg Graduate School of Management and a B.S. in systems engineering from the University of Virginia.
Matt enjoys tennis, good food, and wine. He and his wife have three young kids, which makes finishing a sentence at the dinner table difficult.
Matt is working on become WayBetter at replacing the “salt” in his hair with more “pepper.”
Alison is leading our efforts to spread the word about WayBetter and all of our products that help people live better lives. She is personally committed to a healthy lifestyle and wants to support others in doing the same. Her experience with behavioral change began in the weight loss industry with her role at Weight Watchers where she worked for four years in product management and e-commerce. In addition to her weight loss industry experience, Alison has had roles in product management and mobile for Barnes & Noble.com. She also worked in management consulting and strategic planning earlier in her career.
Alison has a M.B.A from Harvard and a B.S. in Applied Economics from Cornell University.
Alison is working on becoming WayBetter at developing her superhero power of mindreading.
Hailing from historic Altoona, PA, Sean received a B.S. in Genetics from Pennsylvania State University and an M.S. in Information Science from the University of Pittsburgh, but still had no clue what he wanted to do with his life. Sean moved to Manhattan in the summer of 1998 to seek his fame and fortune as a startup programmer. While neither fame nor fortune were forthcoming, Sean developed a love for creating consumer software products, analytics, and the business of application production. He progressed to the Head of Engineering of Miva, Inc. before switching over to Product Management. Sean eventually became the Head of Product for Mindspark, a division of IAC, for four years. Inspired by the WayBetter mission, Sean joined the company in February of 2015 to lead the Growth team in finding innovative ways to spread the word about WayBetter and DietBet.
When not reading Excel sheets, Sean spends his time with his wife wrangling their two young sons in wilds of Maplewood, NJ.
Sean is working on becoming WayBetter at model railroading.
Dima and his team make sure the website and mobile app get better every day, and are passionate about turning dieting and fitness into a really fun and entertaining activity. They're probably working on the next big thing while you're reading this!
Dima previously worked for Google, and is a two-time medalist at the International Olympiad in Informatics. He has a Master's degree in Computer Science.
Romain joined the team in August 2015. As part of the Growth team, Romain is leading the analysis effort of all WayBetter data in an effort to help improve the user experience. Along with his improvement responsibilities, Romain is tasked with mining gems of information out of complex data sets to assist the team in better understanding what creates successful long term behavior change in our users.
Romain has a B.A. in Psychology and an M.B.A. from San Francisco State University. After spending over 6 years in the Silicon Valley he moved to Manhattan 5 years ago looking for a different pace.
Romain is working on becoming WayBetter at sailing.
Zoe joined the DietBet team in June 2015 and manages the day-to-day operations for business development. Working with a talented team of professionals, Zoe cultivates relationships with top health, fitness, and wellness experts who host DietBet games. An avid tennis player and wannabe chef, Zoe is committed to a healthy lifestyle (although she's yet to win a DietBet...here's to 2016!).
Earlier in her career, Zoe oversaw digital communications for the State of Maryland, consulted for political campaigns, and managed public relations for a real estate investment group. She is a published author both in her own name and as a ghostwriter for top U.S. public officials.
Zoe holds a B.A. in marketing from the University of Maryland, College Park (Go Terps!).
Zoe is working on becoming WayBetter at saving money.
Kate joined WayBetter in May 2015 and manages communications and content, both within the DietBet ecosystem and for outside audiences. Attracted by the thousands of players whose lives have been changed by DietBet and their uniquely intimate relationship with the product, she creates, curates, and distributes content that tells these inspiring stories to a wider audience.
Before coming to WayBetter, Kate worked in traditional publishing settings, including three years on the editorial team at Chronicle Books in San Francisco. While living in Southeast Asia for a year, she also spent time as a freelance writer for outlets such as The Jakarta Globe, the largest English-language publication in Indonesia. Kate holds a B.A. in English and French from Pomona College in Claremont, California.
Kate enjoys baking and eating pie, and is on the constant hunt for hoppy IPAs and people to play Scrabble with her.
Kate is working on becoming WayBetter at not spending so much time staring at her phone.
Jennifer joined WayBetter in October 2013 and runs the Referee Team. As a former DietBet player, Jennifer was already a fan of the product and was attracted by the opportunity to help people create healthier lifestyles and work for a company she believes in.
Jennifer is originally from Los Angeles, CA. She received a double B.A. in Graphic Design and Photojournalism from California State University Northridge. She focused on social art and doing gallery shows, which led her to work on a cross-country art and marketing tour with the Truth Campaign. After 6 months on the road, Jennifer moved to New York where she began working for WayBetter.
Jennifer is passionate about fitness, nutrition, wellness, and helping others. In her free time she enjoys, cooking, yoga, meditation, and playing video games.
Jennifer is working on becoming WayBetter at levitating with her mind powers.
Alexis joined WayBetter in November 2015 to help manage the Referee Team and streamline customer service. She saw the job posting in the Kickstarter game she was playing, and after meeting members of the team she decided that WayBetter was the perfect place for her.
Previously, Alexis spent six years at Tiffany & Co. working in the Sales Service department helping representatives provide a great experience for the customers who called and e-mailed in. During this time, she pursued her M.A. in Museum Management. She also holds a B.F.A. in Photography from Parsons.
Alexis is working on becoming WayBetter at doing things for herself.
We also have an amazing team of Referees. Meet them!
Featured Investor
Christopher Burch is the founder and CEO of Burch Creative Capital. The company’s investment philosophy is an expression of Burch’s entrepreneurial values and his vision for new market opportunities, applying imagination, creativity, incubation, support and scale, leading to disruptive brands and businesses that have a direct, positive and lasting impact on consumers’ lives.
In his nearly 40 year career as an investor and entrepreneur, Christopher Burch has participated in the rise of more than 50 companies. By combining an intuitive understanding of consumer behavior with international and direct sourcing experience, he has a built a long track record of connecting innovation to impact.
Burch Creative Capital’s brand portfolio includes the recent introductions of ED by Ellen DeGeneres, Cocoon9, Nihiwatu, Poppin and TRADEMARK to a list of established brands previously embraced by Christopher including the Faena Hotel + Universe, Jawbone, and Voss Water. The company is currently supporting the development of several lifestyle and consumer products brands including BaubleBar, Blink Health, Brad's Raw Foods, Chubbies, Little Duck Organics, and Soludos.
Advisors
Dr. Dan Giuglianotti is a licensed and board certified osteopathic physician and founder of The Lean You Weight Loss and Wellness Program. He is also a Certified Health Fitness Specialist with the American College of Sports Medicine. His passion is helping people from around the world meet their weight loss goals, and he strongly believes anyone can be successful in losing weight. He utilizes the latest scientific research, as well as principles from neuroscience, and habit formation to help you lose weight, and improve your daily habits. He has won a national award for his original scientific research in the field of weight loss, and has recently become a #1 Amazon Best Selling Author.
Dr. Tricia Leahey is an Assistant Professor (Research) at Brown Medical School and the Miriam Hospital’s Weight Control and Diabetes Research Center. She is an expert in behavioral weight loss. Her current work focuses on disseminating evidence-based weight loss interventions, harnessing social networks to enhance obesity treatment outcomes, and examining the efficacy of financial incentives and health coaching in Internet-based weight loss and weight loss maintenance programs. Dr. Leahey has many publications in the area of weight control, and her work has been consistently funded by the National Institutes of Health.