tech start up

[RME]

I am now weighing up the "Pros & Cons" of how to proceed with a "lockdown" project I have been working on for the past 5 years.

I am a retired college computer projects officer and have some experience as an industrial process control engineer.

A diagnosis of diabetes in 2016 meant I had an extra incentive to learn something familiar to medical dieticians called Carb counting to correctly use the Insulin I needed at that time.

Consequently, I decided to take on this project, which covers a broad scope of new dieting ideas, after noticing that the current diet management techniques seem to have missed things that were known about 100 years ago in industrial process control.

I am fortunate that my ideas proved correct, and I was able to ditch the diabetes 5 years ago.

At first sight, my project, called CAL100, looks like an ordinary Excel spreadsheet. It, however, sits on top of 22,000 lines of code (encrypted) which are embedded within the file.

I hoped to use social networks, preferably on Linkedin, to gauge my next step; however, nutrition groups seem to only allow members with nutritional qualifications.

I would have preferred to have received some sort of endorsement from groups such as this before a website launch.

I could, however, easily complete the ordering & payment part of a website I've set up and run without this feedback.

However, my available budget for advertising would be virtually zero.

My website is CAL100.COM, and demonstrates this new concept in diet management.

The website includes all the documentation as PDFs and includes over 2 hours of video demonstrations. It is framed to appeal to a general audience but would ideally suit someone with diet knowledge at a level of about GCSE Home Economics. This would include most gym members.

I would be interested in your views on my next step.



Richard Marsden

 

[Mark T Jones]

Hi Richard

As you might have spotted, you are entering a tough and very crowded market place. One that has plenty of sharks (including sharks with huge marketing budgets) competing with well-meaning,researched people like yourself.

On the plus side, you do have a defined market segment, but you run all kinds of legal risks in making claims without formal proof.

Can you clarify exactly what it is that you are selling? One feature of the diet industry is that 65% is built on failure- or more accurately the idea of hitting a goal, than reverting to prior behaviour - rinse and repeat.

Making money by being straight and honest is hard

 

[BusterBloodvessel]

I’ll be honesy, I don’t understand what your product is. Reading your post I thought you had a cure for diabetes.

Then the first thing on your website Is “a 21st century goal seeking solution for diets”. What does that sentence even mean?

Then it says “CAL100 is a "What If " meal calculator for automatically working out the amounts of individual ingredients needed to make a meal”….. so now….. it’s a meal planner?

Then we go off to random tangents about a jigsaw puzzle and hidden meanings.

Sorry, none of its clear what you actually have.

 

[fisicx]

There are already umpteen dieting and calorie counting apps. Many are well established and used by gyms, sports clubs and similar.

And as you have already discovered, you need the appropriate medical qualifications to promote such a service.

Had a quick look at the website and I'm totally confused. Why the picture of sheep?

So whilst your spreadsheet is no doubt very clever it doesn't come close to competing with the food counting apps - all of which have look up functions to pull thousands of products form all the major supermarkets with the dietary information already filled in.

Sorry to say this @RME but you don't have anything that you can use to build a business.

 

[NickGrogan]

This is your main page

Whats New | Cal100

www.cal100.com

Why is it called why go solar?

It seems to be an excel based meal planner, that's going to make it harder to update when food companies change the contents of their foods. Online would be better.

Anyway, you have 2 big problems, firstly AI. Chatgpt will give me a meal plan with whatever levels of carbs/proteins etc that I want and will let me be vegan or carnivore or whatever.

The second problem is Ozempic - which, unless it's found to have terrible side effects, will/has destroyed the diet industry.

 

[NickGrogan]

ChatGPT

I would like a meal for one that contains exactly 35 grams of protein, is nutritionally balanced and contains at least one red, orange, yellow and white food. No peppers. It must be easy to make.


Certainly! Here’s a simple and balanced meal that contains exactly 35 grams of protein and includes red, orange, yellow, and white foods:

Ingredients:​

1. Chicken Breast (120g) - About 35 grams of protein.
2. Cherry Tomatoes (red, handful) - Adds freshness and vibrant red color.
3. Carrots (1 medium, sliced) - Brings a sweet, orange crunch.
4. Corn Kernels (1/2 cup, yellow) - Sweet and yellow, adds a pop of color.
5. Cauliflower (1 cup, chopped) - The white component, perfect for roasting or steaming.
6. Olive Oil - For cooking; a healthy fat source.
7. Salt and Black Pepper - For seasoning.

This combination provides a good mix of protein, vegetables, and colors without using peppers, and it's easy to prepare.

 

[BusterBloodvessel]

The website includes all the documentation as PDFs and includes over 2 hours of video demonstrations.

This isn't necessarily a good thing. I just went ahead and watched the introduction video. 2 minutes in, and you still hadn't given me the first indication what I was going to achieve or how you were going to help better my life. So I switched it off.

 

[Mark T Jones]

The second problem is Ozempic - which, unless it's found to have terrible side effects, will/has destroyed the diet industry.

It will impact the industry - it definitely won't destroy it.

There will always be a market for non-medical treatment. Unfortunately for the OP, there is an over-supply and big marketing budgets.

Here are the current known/documented side effects of Ozempic (undoubtedly more will emerge).

The most common side effects with Ozempic (which may affect more than 1 in 10 people) include problems with the digestive system, such as diarrhoea, vomiting and nausea (feeling sick). These are mild or moderate in severity and of short duration. Serious worsening of diabetic retinopathy (damage to the retina, the light sensitive membrane at the back of the eye) is common (it may affect up to 1 in 10 people).

 

[BusterBloodvessel]

So.... had another look whilst I had my mid-morning coffee. Including downloading the full 99 page manual!

I mean firstly, well done on building something like this in Excel!

However, sadly.... I think you are about 30-40 years too late. I don't want to make this a personal attack and I hope you take it with the best of intentions but clearly you are an older gentleman (only as you say you are retired!) and I think you are missing the current pace of life and how people get/use this kind of information to diet.

Had you fired something like this up on a home computer in the late 80's or early 90's it probably would have been wondrous. People would have been ordering it on CD-ROM, installing it and sitting wondering at the magic of computers helping to decide what to have for dinner.

Unfortunately, times move on. Nobody is going to sit and read a 99 page manual on how to use this system integrated into excel. You know, references to being able to put it on a memory stick and use it on a public computer are adorable, but antiquated. Even mention of printing recipes off at this point is almost old hat - people are more likely to have a recipe on their phone or tablet now in the kitchen. Your claim of "You'll also be able to read and load this info directly from your favourite Supermarket." isn't strictly true. It doesn't load directly, it involves copying and pasting item by item. Don't get me wrong, the fact that you can copy and paste an entire web page into Excel and it will pick out and sort only the information required is pretty cool (at least to a layman like me)! But I'm not going to do that to plan my meals.

I have an app on my phone that I can search pretty much any food (ingredient or finished item) that you can think of, or I can pick up the packet of whatever I'm using and scan the barcode and it will identify it - in a split second it will deliver me all the nutritional information. I can create a recipe and tell it I'm using "1 packet", or enter the exact weight I'm using, or "1/2 a packet". I can say if the recipe is 1 portion or 10 portions. I can add to my daily tracker that I've had a portion of that meal, I can add any snacks and items as I go along, I can tell it how many cups of tea i've had, and it will tell me everything I need to know about my daily intake. I can then also link that to my exercise apps and it will adjust accordingly taking into account my exercise and calorie burn that day. That's all in my hand at all times, wherever I am. Without having to remember what I've eaten when I get home or at the end of the day and then fire up my spreadsheet. And that's what you're up against I'm afraid.

As I say, I know this and other posts may sound critical but you just don't have something here that is commercially viable to scale up or that anybody would take the time to learn and use, I'm afraid.

If anything, I'd suggest offering some tutorials with that file as an example of how to make Excel do various things! I think you'd actually have more interest in that!

 

[RME]

This isn't necessarily a good thing. I just went ahead and watched the introduction video. 2 minutes in, and you still hadn't given me the first indication what I was going to achieve or how you were going to help better my life. So I switched it off.

Thanks for your feedback

Perhaps I need to emphasise this is the first diet calculator (ever) that looks at a list of foods and it chooses the food that matches a target for macro-nutrients.

I like to think it's the equivalent of giving an accountant 100 years ago a Casio Calculator.

 

[fisicx]

There are loads of meal planner apps that do very similar.

Even if you did have something special, unless it’s easy to use on a mobile phone and has lookup tables for everything on the supermarket shelves it’s just not going to be usable.

 

[RME]

Thanks for your feedback

I decided that using a mobile phone during testing was not possible. There is simply too much information on the screen.

Again, during testing, I found a 10-inch tablet was about the smallest screen size I found useable.

 

[fisicx]

Thanks for your feedback

I decided that using a mobile phone during testing was not possible. There is simply too much information on the screen.

Again, during testing, I found a 10-inch tablet was about the smallest screen size I found useable.

Which is why it's not going to work. People use mobile phones for everything these days.

The app my wife uses lets you enter a food and it gives you a list of every product you can buy. It then does all the maths and tells you how much of your daily intake you have left and then a whole load of analysis tools showing your diet over the last umpteen days. And it's free.

Your product needs to be an app and it needs to get all the product data by searching for foods. For example, I start to type 'chicken' and it lists all the fresh chicken products from all the supermarkets. I choose the one I brought and change the quantity I'm using. Immediately it tells me the protein, fats, carbs, sugar etc. I can then use the meal planner to add the other ingredients. All for free.

 

[Mark T Jones]

Thanks for your feedback

Perhaps I need to emphasise this is the first diet calculator (ever) that looks at a list of foods and it chooses the food that matches a target for macro-nutrients.

I like to think it's the equivalent of giving an accountant 100 years ago a Casio Calculator.

That's a benefit in your mind - unless you've done research, I'd suggest it won't resonate with customers.

I appreciate this is a bit of a bucket of cold water, but you really are in a very busy and competitive space here.

I have an acquaintance who tried something similar to you.

He had a family history of heart defects. He has aspergers, so the level of research and detail in his approach was phenomenal. He could also destroy with clinical detail most of the major recognised 'diets'.

He even got his own TED talk on the subject.

He tried, over a period of years to monetise it by app, by subscription and by one-to-one consultation.

He now works in a call centre with a handful of consultation clients as a sideline.

I'm sorry to say, this isn't a business.

 

[NickGrogan]

Thanks for your feedback

Perhaps I need to emphasise this is the first diet calculator (ever) that looks at a list of foods and it chooses the food that matches a target for macro-nutrients.

I like to think it's the equivalent of giving an accountant 100 years ago a Casio Calculator.

What makes you think it's the first/only?

As far as I know they all do that.

A Samsung smart fridge will tell me what food is in my fridge, when it expires and what to cook with it, with no data entry required.

What about this app?

MacroFactor app – Smart Macro Tracker & Diet Coach

Reach your diet goals with MacroFactor, the smartest macro tracker and diet coach app. Download and try it free now.

macrofactorapp.com

Does everything and more.

 

[RME]

Which is why it's not going to work. People use mobile phones for everything these days.

The app my wife uses lets you enter a food and it gives you a list of every product you can buy. It then does all the maths and tells you how much of your daily intake you have left and then a whole load of analysis tools showing your diet over the last umpteen days. And it's free.

Your product needs to be an app and it needs to get all the product data by searching for foods. For example, I start to type 'chicken' and it lists all the fresh chicken products from all the supermarkets. I choose the one I brought and change the quantity I'm using. Immediately it tells me the protein, fats, carbs, sugar etc. I can then use the meal planner to add the other ingredients. All for free.

I'm guessing your wife is using MyFitnessPal. It is good, but CAL100 builds on some of the flaws I've found.

• For example, all the calculations are in USA format, not the UK / EU. This, at first sight, doesn’t seem important but has major implications for low-carb dieters who are also looking at Fibre.
• It doesn't automatically auto-select foods from a list (e.g., things available in your kitchen cupboard) and re-calculate immediately.
• Some of the entries on its lists are over 5 years old, and food manufacturers have re-formulated since.

 

[NickGrogan]

I'm guessing your wife is using MyFitnessPal. It is good, but CAL100 builds on some of the flaws I've found.

• For example, all the calculations are in USA format, not the UK / EU. This, at first sight, doesn’t seem important but has major implications for low-carb dieters who are also looking at Fibre.
• It doesn't automatically auto-select foods from a list (e.g., things available in your kitchen cupboard) and re-calculate immediately.
• Some of the entries on its lists are over 5 years old, and food manufacturers have re-formulated since.

Does the spreadsheet get live data? If not its also out of date, there are too many items and too many changes.

Loads of apps create recipes based on foods in the cupboard.

can you give an example input and output that you think is unique?

 

[RME]

Does the spreadsheet get live data? If not its also out of date, there are too many items and too many changes.

Loads of apps create recipes based on foods in the cupboard.

can you give an example input and output that you think is unique?

YES

 

[RME]

YES

Check out the documentation

 

[fisicx]

@RME - if you want your idea to success you need to stop using excel and start work on an app.

It’s way too complicated and nobody is going to read the documentation or watch the videos.

 

[Paul Kelly ICHYB]

I bounced when I hit the website!

 

[BusterBloodvessel]

Check out the documentation

Can you name any other diet aiding tool, in fact any other consumer service/app/software that has mass market appeal and take up - and that has a NINETY NINE page user document?

 

[Mark T Jones]

There is a common theme emerging here in that the Op is answering all of the product questions and none of the marketing ones.

@RME - nobody doubts your skills or your integrity - but this business will succeed or fail on it's marketing, not on the perfecting of the product.

Marketing includes (starts with) understanding who your customer is, and how they like to consume (pun not intended) information.

 

[RME]

Absolutely, any thoughts on my next move?

At the end of the day, this is a consumer product.

Its main drawback is that people are now used to using apps for this.

However, as I've mentioned in other posts, there’s just too much information to fit on a mobile screen.

Perhaps concentrate on gym members looking for an edge in their fitness level.

I'd be happy if I could just get some sort of endorsement from a university.

 

[Paul Kelly ICHYB]

there’s just too much information to fit on a mobile screen.

Then there is too much information!

 

[RME]

Can you name any other diet aiding tool, in fact any other consumer service/app/software that has mass market appeal and take up - and that has a NINETY NINE page user document?

Indeed, the documentation and videos are written for use by students doing project work for GCSE / A Level Home Economics.

However, any thoughts on my next move?

 

[RME]

Then there is too much information!

Up to now, I've been ultra-cautious.

Still, I'm convinced that is a new approach to nutrition/diets especialy as I've successfully shaken off diabetes by diet for over 5 years.

Could I (for example) hire? A consultant dietician/nutritionist (at a teaching hospital?) to check my work?

 

[BusterBloodvessel]

Indeed, the documentation and videos are written for use by students doing project work for GCSE / A Level Home Economics.

However, any thoughts on my next move?

Yes, keep it as a hobby/project for yourself.

 

[fisicx]

Still, I'm convinced that is a new approach to nutrition/diets especialy as I've successfully shaken off diabetes by diet for over 5 years.

Could I (for example) hire? A consultant dietician/nutritionist (at a teaching hospital?) to check my work?

It may be your research is valid. But the system you have developed isn’t marketable or a viable business.

Suppose you did pay someone to validate your model. What then? You would still need to build something that doesn’t rely on excel and does work on a phone.

As an aside. I’ve sorted my diabetes without having to use an app or diet plan. I just followed the advice from the diabetes society.

 

[RME]

It may be your research is valid. But the system you have developed isn’t marketable or a viable business.

Suppose you did pay someone to validate your model. What then? You would still need to build something that doesn’t rely on excel and does work on a phone.

As an aside. I’ve sorted my diabetes without having to use an app or diet plan. I just followed the advice from the diabetes society.

Thanks for your comments

 

[RME]

That's a benefit in your mind - unless you've done research, I'd suggest it won't resonate with customers.

I appreciate this is a bit of a bucket of cold water, but you really are in a very busy and competitive space here.

I have an acquaintance who tried something similar to you.

He had a family history of heart defects. He has aspergers, so the level of research and detail in his approach was phenomenal. He could also destroy with clinical detail most of the major recognised 'diets'.

He even got his own TED talk on the subject.

He tried, over a period of years to monetise it by app, by subscription and by one-to-one consultation.

He now works in a call centre with a handful of consultation clients as a sideline.

I'm sorry to say, this isn't a business.

Thanks for your comments

 

[Deleted member 348872]

You need proof it works. real world people trying it. Im an advocate of Keto and that has people who have reversed type 2 diabetes by it. Come up with a decent bread recipe that no more than 1g card per slice and you're onto a winner if its cheap enough.

 

[RME]

Youve got me on this one with bread, however will this do. For lunch;

The best CAL100 can see are Leerdammer Original Cheese Slices at Tesco at less than 0.1g Net Carbs per slice.

So thats 1 pack (8 slices @ 0.8g Carbs) to wrap as much Asda Corned Beef as you can eat @ 0g Net Carbs per 100g.

For a snack to go with this: A Tesco Babybell Mini Babybel Original Cheese Snacks 20g

< 0.01g Net Carbs.

And a Diet Coke 0g Net Carbs.


So thats lunch sorted for less than 1g Net Carbs


This is a similar list I once took to hospital (and some cheese string) as I knew they would forget to give me my Insulin (for 2 days!). That was when I was a diabetic.


PS. CAL100 works in NET Carbs! not TOTAL Carbs like all other diet calculators.

 

[NickGrogan]

You need proof it works. real world people trying it. Im an advocate of Keto and that has people who have reversed type 2 diabetes by it. Come up with a decent bread recipe that no more than 1g card per slice and you're onto a winner if its cheap enough.

Every diet has people that have used it to reverse type 2 diabetes - that's because the main factor is a bad diet.

Corned beef isn't zero carbs and that's a very unhealthy "meal"

 

[NickGrogan]

Grilled Chicken with Herbed Butter and Steamed Spinach
Ingredients:

Chicken Breast (200g) - A high-protein, zero-carb option.
Butter (2 tablespoons) - Adds flavor and fat, with virtually no carbs.
Fresh Herbs (like thyme and rosemary) - Enhances the taste without adding carbs.
Spinach (1 cup) - Although it contains carbs, it's high in fiber, which can offset the total carb count.

1. Chicken Breast: Virtually zero carbs.
2. Butter and Herbs: Negligible carbs, typically less than 1 gram.
3. Spinach (1 cup, steamed): About 1.09 grams of total carbohydrates, with 0.7 grams of fibre, resulting in about 0.39 grams of net carbs.

Therefore, the total carbohydrates for the entire meal would be around 1.09 grams, primarily from the spinach, which is very low.

 

[fisicx]

I’m sure your calculator is excellent at what it does. But it’s not something anyone other than you can use.

In its current iteration it’s not user friendly. Not only because it’s so complicated to use but also because it’s not a mobile app. Until it’s simple in operation and can be loaded onto a mobile phone it will remain a personal project.

 

[RME]

You are quite right, for general use, there is too much theory.

I think I will approach some Medical Software companies as a strategy instead.

 

[BusterBloodvessel]

Sorry, am I misunderstanding something in the above thread?

The request was for a bread recipe with max 1g carb per slice.

The response from you/your system was to suggest a lunch of 8 slices of cheese with unlimited amounts of corned beef and a side snack of a babybel.

Am i right or have I missed something?

 

[NickGrogan]

Sorry, am I misunderstanding something in the above thread?

The request was for a bread recipe with max 1g carb per slice.

The response from you/your system was to suggest a lunch of 8 slices of cheese with unlimited amounts of corned beef and a side snack of a babybel.

Am i right or have I missed something?

I guess he's been watching Carnivore videos on YouTube.

Also, you forgot the super healthy diet Coke - it makes all the difference.

 

[RevoMark]

A diagnosis of diabetes in 2016 meant I had an extra incentive to learn something familiar to medical dieticians called Carb counting to correctly use the Insulin I needed at that time.

You have already given yourself the answer. It is not about the calories but addressing the hormonal imbalances. Insulin is the bad boy not calories. The significant reduction/elimination of carbs is the sauce. Keto/Carnivore lifestyle reverses all sorts of medical conditions naturally. There is no need to count calories. However, there is a need to educate. Did you know that cancer cells exhibit unique metabolic characteristics that differentiate them from normal cells. One key aspect of their altered metabolism is their inability to effectively utilize ketones for energy. If that does not open your eyes very little will.