Weight Watchers has been around for 60 years. They still make you go to meetings. We said: the meeting can happen on your phone, the coach can message you, and the community can be digital. Same outcomes. Modern delivery.
Every diet app counts calories. We count habits. The psychology of why you eat at 11 PM is more important than the number of calories in the chips you ate. That insight built a $4 billion company.
I'm Korean. I moved to New York with no connections and no money. I started Noom because I watched my father struggle with diabetes his entire life. If I could change one behavior, I could change one life.
We spent 10 years building Noom before it became an overnight success. Ten years. The app launched in 2012 and didn't go mainstream until 2019. Patience is a business strategy.
Our ads were everywhere. YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, podcasts. People made fun of them. But our customer acquisition cost was $80 and the lifetime value was $400. The math worked. The jokes didn't bother us.
We have clinical trials published in peer-reviewed journals. Actual science. Most health apps have testimonials and before-after photos. We have data. That distinction matters when you're charging $59 a month.