You can also see DietBet in the news, blog posts about DietBet, and access our Press Releases.
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MEDIA KIT
Get basic company information, fact sheets, company bios, and images in this section.
Media Contact:
Victoria Grantham
Rose Communications
vgrantham@rosecomm.com
917-328-3287
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DietBet Company Backgrounder
Overview
DietBet makes losing weight fun. Its 4-week contests motivate players to lose 4% of their starting weight by offering them a healthy dose of friendly competition. That and the lure of taking their friends’ money.
Research at Harvard, UPenn, and Cornell has shown that financial incentives can be effective in helping people lose weight.
DietBet blends three proven motivators: the thrill of winning money, the aversion to losing money, and the support that comes from losing weight as part of a group effort.
It’s the kick in the pants many people need to jumpstart healthy lifestyle changes.
Why DietBet?
- Players are five times more likely to succeed in their diet. Don’t take our word for it, see the research
- It’s easy. DietBet makes setting up a 4-week weight-loss game a breeze. Plus, it’s free.
- It’s fun. We’ve gamified dieting the way Nike+ has gamified running. Track your progress and taunt, gloat, and talk smack to your rivals as you vanquish them for bragging rights.
- Its social. Research shows that it’s easier to lose weight when you’re part a group effort.
- It’s free! You can set up a game at DietBet.com with your friends or co-workers for free.
- It’s not winner-take-all. You don’t need to be the first to cross the finish line. Everyone who arrives at their target weight by the end of 4 weeks winds up splitting the pot evenly.
- It’s healthy. It encourages people to rethink their nutrition and fitness choices. And with no advantage to exceeding your goal, DietBet promotes steady, sustainable weight loss.
- It’s motivational. Many people find that dietbetting is the only way they can lose weight.
DietBet’s Founder & CEO
Jamie Rosen, Founder & CEO, dropped out of Harvard Business School to start his first internet business, Comet Systems, which he sold in 2004 for $33.5 million. At Comet, he invented the company’s flagship product, which received Adweek’s “Best Marketing Technology of the Year” award in 1999. That same year he was profiled as CNBC’s “Entrepreneur of the Week.”
Prior to Comet, Rosen was a toy inventor and today he has 10 pending and issued patents. In 2007, he sold several of his patents, covering location-based games, to Yahoo! He graduated from Harvard College in 1992 and is married with three children.
Headquarters
New York City
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DietBet Fact Sheet
DietBet is a social dieting game that uses friendly competition and money to motivate people to lose weight in 4-week private contests.
Quick Facts
- Getting Started. Games must be initiated by an “Organizer” who sets the parameters and invites the players. Parameters include how much each player must bet (up to $500).
- Options to Play. You must be invited to join a private game by a friend, or organize your own game and invite your friends. It is free to organize a game at dietbet.com.
- Inviting Players. Organizers may use DietBet’s free invitation engine to invite players by email and Facebook.
- Official Weigh-Ins. Organizers are responsible for coordinating official weigh-ins on Day 1 and Day 28.
- Organizers’ Role. Organizers can join the game if they wish or remain just Organizers (e.g., an HR manager may choose to set up a dietbet at her company without participating as a player).
- Remote Games. There are two ways to play: first, when players are all in same area and get together for the official weigh-ins on on Day 1 and Day 28. And second, when players are spread out and can't easily get together for weigh-ins. In this case, they can weigh-in separately and email their weights to the Organizer. Sometimes the Organizer will require players to document weigh-ins by photo or video.
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Refereeing. To avoid a conflict of interest, an Organizer who is playing may appoint a third-party referee to officiate at the weigh-ins, though this is not mandatory. Groups can self-referee by having everyone present as each player is weighed.
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Privacy. Players may choose to hide their weight so that other players and spectators (except for the Organizer) would see only that player’s relative weight loss or gain.
- Self-Reporting. Players are encouraged to post their weights during the game via the website or mobile app (mobile app to be released in early 2012). Self-reported weigh-ins are for reference purposes only—to update the game’s leaderboard and enable you to see a chart of your progress. Only data from the initial and final weigh-ins are used to determine who has won.
- Rules. DietBet provides its players and Organizers with a comprehensive dietbetting ruleset. The rules specify everything from what to wear at weigh-ins (“airport-security attire”) to what happens to the pot if nobody loses any weight (a charity may be designated as a beneficiary; if none is designated, money is returned to the players).
- Mobile App. DietBet’s mobile app will be released in the first quarter of 2012.
- Daily Carrot Newsletter. During the game players receive the Daily Carrot, with fun motivational tips and suggestions, written by our team of comedy writers at Harvard.
- Ties. If everyone reaches their goal, bets are returned (minus processing fees, if any).
- DietBet’s Business Model. DietBet makes money from advertising, affiliate marketing, and from the fees we collect when Organizers sanction DietBet to collect bets and manage the pot on their behalf. (The latter is optional since Organizers may elect to collect bets and manage their pot on their own.)
- Safe Weight-Loss. There is no advantage to crossing the finish line first or for losing the most weight, as in The Biggest Loser television show. All players who reach their weight goal are deemed “winners” and end up splitting the pot equally, regardless of who came in first or lost the most. This is designed to disincentivize players from going overboard.
- Bonus Stakes. In addition to betting for money, players may play for non-monetary “Bonus Stakes”. These are defined by the Organizer and may include perks like extra vacation days for the winners or free training sessions at a gym, or may include anti-perks like losers must clean the office refrigerator or cook dinner for the winners.
- Global. DietBet supports imperial and metric system units and can be played anywhere in the world.
- Not Gambling. DietBetting is not gambling because it’s skill-based. Betting requires wagering on an event that is outside the bettor’s influence or control. In DietBet, players bet on themselves and the determining factor is their weight, which is (at least in theory) under their influence or control.
- Our Team. The DietBetting team spans six countries: US, Canada, Mexico, Spain, Moldova, and India.
- Private. DietBet is a privately held company backed by private investors.