Title: Hey HN! I&#x27;m Richie from Fella (<a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.joinfella.com" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.joinfella.com</a>), a telehealth clinic for men with obesity. Fella helps men get to a healthier weight by matching them with a board-certified obesity doctor to prescribe an FDA-approved medication, while they undertake personalized health coaching.<p>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.<p>Fella first started as a &quot;CBT+community&quot; product to help men battling stress eating. It resonated due to the stigma around men&#x27;s eating struggles. But we realized we were only half-serving most of our customers: even when no longer stress eating, most guys weren&#x27;t getting to a healthier weight.<p>So we started researching effective, evidence-based treatments for obesity. When I say &quot;we&quot;, I really mean my co-founder Luke. 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...<p>Obesity treatment is about to radically change. This is thanks to a breakthrough medication — NY Times called it a &quot;game changer&quot; in Feb 2021 [1]. The medication 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]. However, medication-assisted treatment for obesity is still stigmatized by family doctors and therefore hard to access.<p>Moreover, 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 &quot;eat less, move more&quot;. This needs to change.<p>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&#x2F;month, paid quarterly. We’ll bring costs down over time to improve accessibility.<p>We still have lots of difficulties ahead. The main one could be insurance reimbursement: the latest wave of medications are expensive and insurers don&#x27;t like to cover them [4].<p>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.<p>[1] <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.nytimes.com&#x2F;2021&#x2F;02&#x2F;10&#x2F;health&#x2F;obesity-weight-loss-drug-semaglutide.html" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.nytimes.com&#x2F;2021&#x2F;02&#x2F;10&#x2F;health&#x2F;obesity-weight-los...</a><p>[2] <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.fda.gov&#x2F;news-events&#x2F;press-announcements&#x2F;fda-approves-new-drug-treatment-chronic-weight-management-first-2014" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.fda.gov&#x2F;news-events&#x2F;press-announcements&#x2F;fda-appr...</a><p>[3] <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.nejm.org&#x2F;doi&#x2F;full&#x2F;10.1056&#x2F;NEJMoa2032183" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.nejm.org&#x2F;doi&#x2F;full&#x2F;10.1056&#x2F;NEJMoa2032183</a><p>[4] <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.bloomberg.com&#x2F;opinion&#x2F;articles&#x2F;2021-07-19&#x2F;weight-loss-drug-wegovy-could-help-millions-will-insurers-buy-in" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.bloomberg.com&#x2F;opinion&#x2F;articles&#x2F;2021-07-19&#x2F;weight...</a>
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