How We Got Here
June 2007

The launch of Diet Television is the work product of more than 50 people, all of whom contributed meaningfully to our efforts, our results, and our desire to make a true difference. I have always considered myself very lucky, but never more so than now, knowing that I get to work alongside this extraordinary team.

This project began more then two years with a phone call from a high school friend, Craig Lebowitz, who wanted to start a cable television channel focused on dieting and weight loss. It was a great but incredibly challenging idea made more so because Craig was living in Israel and trying to raise the money to launch the Channel in the United States.

I instantly loved the idea. So I called on another longtime friend, Alex Drosin, who had spent his career in the TV industry and the three of us met. I can't remember if we did the deal on a napkin, but over coffee we agreed this was a very big idea worth pursuing. Very shortly after forming the partnership, another friend and a former colleague, Jon Freedman, joined the partnership.

In no time, Jon, Alex and I began to meet with the large cable television companies. To put it mildly, the cable television industry wasn't receptive to a new cable channel. New 24-hour cable channels simply weren't being launched. The cable industry was more interested in diversifying into video-on-demand and internet businesses. They saw the speed with which the convergence of the internet and television were progressing, and their focus appeared to be on the upheaval that would result. Within about a year, it became clear that they were not going to launch our channel, or even a block of programming inside an existing channel.

At the same time, but for very different reasons, we decided not to pursue a conventional cable channel. Our research with dieters, medical experts, nutritionists and fitness experts showed us that launching a traditional cable channel didn't solve the problems of people who were trying to lose weight. So we regrouped, determined the problems people face when trying to lose weight, and then built the solutions, leveraged technology and created the content necessary to address those problems.

Our audience wasn't always plopped on a couch; they were often out and on the go. They needed support and advice from professionals and there was a strong desire to be connected with others just like them. Our challenge became obvious and complex. We began to design the business to provide the best solutions technology could offer, the training and the skills that could help our members with their weight-loss goals, the connection to others just like themselves and the support they would need in their lifelong quest to lose weight and get healthy. It was no longer about putting shows on cable television. It became about uniting a community that had been underserved for so long, and designing a business and a solution to specifically serve this community.

To that end, Bill, Mat and Chris were the first to help us organize our groups of members around their goals. Then, Tamara showed us a process and a way of prioritizing and addressing the needs of these groups of customers - and delivered a truly organized and comprehensive way of designing for the consumer. And Shane gave the brand its first voice and its first look - not to mention what in my opinion is the best looking business plan and investor video that I've ever seen.

Elyse took these highly detailed conceptual ideas and early brandings and brought them to life. She designed and organized the parts to work together in a way that is simple and naturally intuitive. And, together with Jamie, she teamed up to make every last pixel look good - literally, every last pixel. Sometimes, in the midst of all of their efficiency, I was lulled into thinking it was easy to do and that everything was under control. Elyse credits the countless cups of coffee for that, but I know that there is no coffee out there (not even Eisenberg's) that could share the credit for the kind of creativity and energy she brought to the project every day (and night!).

We intend to provide a balance between being entertaining and informative and relevant and interactive. To do so, we always need to be at the vanguard of interactive content. We are cognizant that our videos must be relevant and engaging. And, when it comes to our videos, our team of Clay and Glenn make that process look easy. It's not. Especially, with the budgets they have to work with. I know they would be the first to give credit to our emerging community, who made it a bit easier by serving up incredible ideas and sound bites even before we launched. They were creative, perseverant, and incredibly original. Clay, of course, has been here since the start and has played so many roles so well it would be impossible to list them all.

There are so many to thank. There is Yak for his inspired and forward looking approach to technology and especially for bringing in the NCS Technologies Team of Aner, Barb, Beth Ann, Bill, Enno, Erica, Harry, Lou, Mark, Mike, Roland and Tony, who were our secret weapons in launching this site so quickly. They awed us every day by producing so much with so little.

Although building the site was a monumental feat, filling it with original content was every bit its equal. There are so many people we have relied on to do that. At the core of everything we built was the invaluable guidance and direction from our experts Howard, Steven, Toby, David, Dana, Brooke and John. And then there was Jodi, who not only personified the voice of our site, she created it.

Ian, who joined as our financial guru at the last minute before launch, made the final crunch infinitely more bearable. If it weren't obvious enough, when he left for his honeymoon in the middle of site testing, I felt an enormous void.

Thank you to our PR mavens, Amy and Megan, who shared our story with the rest of the world even though we made it so difficult by being so secretive. I am indebted to Rachel, Todd, Adam, Julia, and Abby, who successfully ensured that important pieces of the puzzle were ready when we wanted to launch and to Meena, who made the numbers sing.

What we have built is a team idea and a shared effort in the most democratic sense of the word. It is uniquely appropriate that our business, which benefits so significantly from user generated content, was and will continue to be such a collaborative team effort. But my greatest joy in this journey has been realizing that I will get to be a member of this team for a long time to come.

We all hope you enjoy the new DietTv as much as we enjoyed building it.

On behalf of everyone at Diet Television, thank you coming to visit us today.

Healthfully yours,

Ken Seiff
CEO