We Created A Stress Management App And Secured $150K In Funding
Hi! My name is Eddie Stern, and I am the founder of The Breathing App. Our first product came out in 2017, a free app that guides the user in a very specific slow breathing technique that has quick and amazing effects on your nervous system. The technique, called resonance frequency breathing, has been shown in many scientific studies to have a positive effect on cardiac health, lower stress, and anxiety, and has been shown to improve digestive disorders that come from stress.
We released the app as a free app, which to date has garnered just shy of one million downloads, and has 60,000 active users per month. Building on this success, we’ve created our first paid app, called The Breathing App for Diabetes. It is the first app of its kind to support people with diabetes manage the stress and anxiety that often come along with having a chronic disease.
What's your backstory and how did you come up with the idea?
I graduated from High School in 1986, a year later than expected, and started my first business right away, a T-shirt silkscreening company. Eager for new adventures, in 1988, I sold my half of the business to my partner and went to India to study to be a yoga teacher. Taking a leap of faith to follow my calling was a pivotal moment in my life.
For the next 20 years, I divided my time between India—where I continued to study yoga, Sanskrit, and philosophy—and New York, where I had my yoga school. In 2021, intending to explore more of the academic aspects of yoga, I decided to go to college. I was accepted into a Master of Science program with a specialization in yoga research and graduated with a 4.0 average in 2023. This further strengthened my foundational understanding of the discipline I had been practicing for a couple of decades.
As you might know, breathing is a fundamental aspect of yoga practice. Controlled breathing, also known as pranayama, has tremendous physical, mental, and spiritual benefits. Hence, I wanted to share this with a broader audience, and I realized that technology could help me do this in an effective manner.
Together with Sergey Varichev, we started building the Breathing App in 2016. What we created is an app that guides you in resonance breathing, a slow-paced breathing practice that harmonizes the autonomic nervous system. We launched the first version in October 2016, at the Inner Peace Conference in Amsterdam. Later, in 2018, we added Max Luhouski as a Head of Product Design & CXO and kept playing around with various concepts to improve our original app.
The Breathing App laid the groundwork for the creation of The Breathing App for Diabetes, a new version of the app that centers specifically on people who suffer from this ailment. What happened was that we noticed that the breathing and mindfulness space was an overcrowded and competitive market, and it was only marginally profitable in companies with large user bases such as Headspace, Calm, and Insight Timer.
We did not want to compete in that marketplace, because we saw there were many uses for breathing practices, and at the same time, many conditions that the mindfulness market wasn’t addressing, primarily the proliferation of non-communicable diseases: cancer, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and neurodegenerative disorders.
Our founding team decided to pivot and apply slow breathing practices to diseases categorized as non-communicable diseases, which account for 78% of the disease burden of the entire world.
We decided to focus on diabetes first because of its high prevalence (537 million cases worldwide as of 2021) and the need of people with diabetes for stress reduction practices, which not only improve quality of life but also have positive physiological outcomes.
Additionally, we want to keep our apps simple and direct. If you go onto Calm, Headspace, or Insight Timer, you’ll find 10,000 different teachers and meditations and practices to do, and that in itself can be overwhelming and stressful, especially considering that the end user already is going through some stress due to their life circumstances. Our goal is to help manage and reduce stress, so to do that, simplicity of use and simplicity of practice is key.
Therefore, we don‘t compete with other apps. Our purpose is to help people living with diabetes manage their stress levels through slow breathing and mindful awareness. That’s all. When our users practice our exercises, they can feel the difference.
One user commented, “I genuinely felt the positive benefits of resonance breathing from day one. I had not realized the level of anxious tension I was feeling before the first practice as I felt significantly less tense afterwards. The natural rhythm of my breathing was much less hurried than usual, the speed at which thoughts passed through my mind also became more leisurely in pace, and I generally felt a heightened sense of calm throughout my whole body for the rest of that first day.”
Another user, who suffers from Type 1 diabetes, commented, “The breathing exercises have really helped me manage my stress and anxieties with my Type 1 diabetes, and even my healthcare team commented positively on it at my last appointment.”
Although changes in numbers are not our primary goal, physiological markers can and do change with lifestyle changes. Testimonials we have received have shown that the TBA for Diabetes app program helped manage stress-related blood sugar spikes.
These are not isolated occurrences; slow breathing is one of the most simple and impactful self-regulatory mechanisms we have physiologically—and there are currently no products on the market that address support in this way for people with diabetes, except The Breathing App for Diabetes.
To strengthen our value proposition, we brought on a Head of Research, Nick Heath, Ph.D., a type 1 diabetic who was diagnosed with Type 1 when he was 11 years old. He had been experimenting for the past five years with the effects of slow breathing on his physical and mental health, and his feedback cemented our thesis that diabetes was indeed the pathway to focus on.
Because of our passion for healing, science, and health tech, we decided to solely focus on how we could support the growing burden these diseases place on individuals, families, society, and the economy, through simple, adjunctive interventions. A lot can change when you spend 15 minutes a day learning to calm yourself and self-regulate.
We have also begun the process of applying for FDA approval for this app and would like to exist in the healthcare world as a supportive practice for people living with diabetes. There is substantial evidence that slow breathing practices have a positive effect on stress, and that stress is a driver of inflammation which can lead to pre- and then type-2 diabetes. When, and if, we receive FDA approval for this app, we will begin to build out the next app focusing on practices for cardiovascular disease.
Take us through the process of building the first version of your product.
As I mentioned, the journey of launching The Breathing App for Diabetes began as we were considering options to revamp our original app, which was more generic and provided breathing practices with a more universal application.
Once we decided to center our focus on diabetes, we assembled a global team to develop the initial version of the app.
Our coders are based in Uzbekistan, our CTO is located in Prague, our CXO is in Amsterdam, and our Product Manager is in Tenerife. Additionally, we have a partner in Dubai and London. Dr. Heath resides in Florida and I'm situated in NYC. I originally met them through my network, and we have been working together since 2016.
During this time, we've successfully built a dedicated team, crafted the app's design, conducted two beta tests, and launched the app to the market. We built this app and brought it to market in 12 months.
We started building the app from scratch after securing our initial $250k investment from Dilesh Mehta, our sole investor, who came on board as one of our founding partners. Dilesh is my friend whom I met through Dr. Deepak Chopra, whom I have been working with for the past decade. Dilesh was looking to invest in health-related and consciousness-related opportunities outside of the beauty industry where he has been immensely successful. He asked me what I was up to, and our app felt like a good fit to him.
We have expanded our team by onboarding a social media specialist, in addition to a dedicated employee who is handling our FDA approval process. Regarding this, we are currently in the pre-submission phase. This regulatory step underscores our commitment to ensuring the safety and efficacy of our product as we continue to advance in the digital health space.
Describe the process of launching the business.
Our launch strategy has not been as expansive. We are allowing ourselves to test the app in a real-world setting, and continue to address any bugs before doing extensive outreach. Our strategy to reach communities of people who have diabetes includes influencer campaigns on social media, and most importantly, partnerships with doctors, healthcare providers, integrative medicine providers, and hospitals. We also aim to increase our coverage through discount programs and other initiatives.
In our first month, our app had 732 downloads, all organic. We have not yet done any paid advertisements. Instead, we invested in word of mouth, telling our network about the app. This is how we gained the first downloads. Our conversion rate is 8.5%, and our rating on the app store is five stars.
The app has been funded by a $100K partnership buy-in from Dilesh Mehta, and an additional $150K loan that will be repaid when the impact of doing so does not exceed 10% of the company's balance. Our monthly burn rate is $18k for our team, and we have budgeted $1400 for this coming month for targeted ad campaigns on Facebook.
I believe that securing partnerships with influencers who have diabetes and healthcare providers, whether it be lifestyle medicine or hospitals, will be our primary route towards getting the app to the people who can benefit from it.
Since launch, what has worked to attract and retain customers?
Since launching The Breathing App for Diabetes, our journey to attract and retain customers has been an evolving process, marked by continuous learning and adaptation. Our initial insights came from a pilot group six months ago, which revealed some pivotal trends.
Our original app, The Breathing App, which is free, has had over one million downloads. We grew this app organically, primarily by word of mouth. Dr. Chopra and I made a video announcement of the launch on his Facebook page, and we had one newswire release. That was it for PR.
The rest was on the ground hustle, spreading the word to the yoga community, and participating in podcasts that I was invited on. Gwyneth Paltrow was a student of mine from 1998, and she invited me on her podcast and also gave the app a shoutout. We never paid for advertising.
During COVID, somehow the number of monthly users sky-rocketed, and we have been coasting along steadily with those numbers since then. Our business model for the diabetes app, however, will be different. This is a paid app, we have a growing team, and we have a vision for the future in healthcare, so for that, we are creating a marketing and sales strategy.
Stronger Engagement through Doctor Referrals: A standout observation was the higher level of engagement and better results from users who joined through doctor referrals after a 4-week trial. This insight has steered us towards leveraging medical professionals as a key channel for user acquisition. We're intensifying efforts to connect with doctors and healthcare practitioners, recognizing their influence and trust with potential users.
Exploring Media and Publications: We've ventured into media publications to increase awareness about our app. While this channel hasn't significantly boosted our user base yet, it's an important part of our long-term strategy for building brand visibility and credibility.
Partnership-Driven Strategy: Currently, our focus is on establishing partnerships with diabetes organizations and communities, as well as medical professionals. These partnerships are crucial not just for reaching a wider audience but also for ensuring that our users get the most value from our app.
Identifying Effective Channels and Converters: We acknowledge that we're still in the process of determining the most effective channels and strategies for conversion. This involves experimenting with various approaches, analyzing data, and listening to feedback from our users and partners. It's a journey of discovery where we aim to fine-tune our methods to not only attract users but also to ensure their long-term engagement and satisfaction with our app.
Our strategy is a blend of leveraging professional referrals, building brand awareness through media, and forging strong partnerships. At the same time, we are actively exploring and learning to identify the most effective channels and conversion vehicles to grow our user base and ensure sustained engagement.
How are you doing today and what does the future look like?
We're currently experiencing significant growth at The Breathing App for Diabetes. We have landed our first paid customers and have a promising growth rate of 25% per week. Our immediate focus is launching a partnership program next week, offering referral codes and special discounts to doctors, diabetes organizations, and lifestyle coaches.
Our short-term goal is to build up a community of 100,000 subscribers in the next year. This milestone will significantly enhance our ability to reach and support individuals managing diabetes effectively.
Looking ahead, our long-term goals are ambitious yet purpose-driven. We aim to produce apps for each of the NCDs (Non-Communicable Diseases) that present a huge disease burden globally. By addressing conditions such as Hypertension, Stress, and Anxiety, and providing support for Post-COVID and surgery recovery, we're committed to extending our impact beyond diabetes management.
Additionally, we're developing a B2B product focused on managing workplace stress and improving performance. This expansion reflects our dedication to supporting a wider community facing various health challenges and underscores our commitment to innovation and excellence.
Through starting the business, have you learned anything particularly helpful or advantageous?
Starting The Breathing App for Diabetes has been an enlightening journey, rich in valuable lessons. One of the most significant insights I've gained is the paramount importance of company culture in building and launching successful products. Our culture is anchored in the principles of bonding, transparency, fun, and professionalism. This foundational ethos empowers our team to navigate daily obstacles, challenges, and setbacks with ease, consistency, and confidence.
A practice we hold dear is deep care - for each other, our product, and most importantly, our users. This care manifests not only in our work but also in how we interact as a team. Another critical aspect of our culture is transparency, fostered through our weekly 'Highlight' meetings. Every Friday, each team member shares their challenges, personal wins, learnings, business metrics, user reviews, and personal stories. This practice has not only strengthened our bond but also kept us aligned and focused on our collective and individual goals.
Practicing what we preach, our team engages in daily slow breathing and mindfulness exercises. Each retrospective meeting begins with two minutes of resonance breathing, allowing us to reflect calmly on recent events and learnings.
The 'Luck' factor in our journey has been more about attracting the right people than mere chance. I am grateful that our team possesses a unique ability to draw in individuals with the right blend of skills, knowledge, and vibe.
For instance, Nick Heath's involvement, as a Type 1 Diabetic, science geek, and breathing evangelist, has been invaluable. Similarly, Karishma's expertise in navigating through the FDA approval process has significantly bolstered our capabilities. This ability to attract like-minded talent like Nick and Karishma has been a key driver in our progress and success.
This magnetic attraction of like-minded talents has been instrumental in our journey.
What platform/tools do you use for your business?
In the fast-paced world of app development, choosing the right tools and platforms is crucial for efficiency and success. At The Breathing App for Diabetes, we rely on a suite of carefully selected tools that streamline our processes and enhance our productivity.
Miro Board: Miro is our go-to tool for team collaboration. From business ideation and roadmap planning to course programs, team retrospectives, and technical solutions, Miro's versatile platform supports a wide range of our collaborative needs. Its intuitive design and flexibility make it an indispensable part of our workflow.
Trello: For daily task tracking, we opt for Trello. Its simplicity is its greatest strength, allowing us to manage our tasks efficiently without unnecessary complexity. Trello’s straightforward approach aligns perfectly with our philosophy of keeping things simple yet effective.
Figma: User experience design is a critical component of our app development, and for this, we use Figma. Figma's collaborative interface allows our designers to craft and refine our app's user experience seamlessly, ensuring that our users always have a smooth and engaging interaction with our app.
Amplitude: To track user metrics, we use Amplitude. Although it's a complex tool and we're still exploring all its capabilities, the precision it offers is unmatched. Unlike other tools we've used in the past, Amplitude provides consistent and detailed reports that are crucial for understanding user behavior and improving our app.
Adapty: For managing paywalls, subscription segmentation, and A/B testing, Adapty is our chosen platform. Its robust features enable us to tailor our subscription models and test different approaches effectively, ensuring we always deliver the best value to our users.
Flutter: For app development, we've embraced Flutter. Flutter's ability to rapidly deliver cross-platform solutions is remarkable. It allowed us to quickly develop a web app prototype and reuse a significant amount of code for our mobile MVP application. Within just four weeks of launching the mobile app, we had a fully functional web application up and running.
These tools collectively empower us to maintain agility, foster collaboration, and deliver high-quality products. They are not just tools; they are integral parts of our journey, enabling us to turn our vision into reality.
What have been the most influential books, podcasts, or other resources?
Below are some of the top resources related to diabetes that I find extremely useful and inspiring:
The Breathing Diabetic: This resource provides valuable insights into the correlation between slow breathing techniques and diabetes management. Controlled breathing exercises can help regulate stress hormones and blood sugar levels, offering a holistic approach to wellness.
The Glucose Goddess: This Instagram account offers excellent information on making informed food choices for individuals with diabetes. Understanding how different foods affect glucose levels is essential for maintaining stable blood sugar levels and overall health.
The Circadian Diabetes Code by Dr. Sachin Panda: Dr. Panda's book is an invaluable resource for understanding the importance of timing in managing diabetes. By aligning sleep, meal times, and exercise with the body's natural circadian rhythms, individuals can optimize their metabolic health and blood sugar control.
The Glucose Revolution by Jessie Inchauspe: This book offers practical strategies for managing cravings, sustaining energy levels, and effectively controlling blood sugar. It provides valuable insights into lifestyle modifications that can positively impact diabetes management and overall well-being.
Advice for other entrepreneurs who want to get started or are just starting out?
Starting a business is an exhilarating journey, but it's crucial to approach it with clarity, purpose, and resilience. My top advice for aspiring entrepreneurs is to deeply understand the meaning and purpose behind their venture. What problem are you solving? Who are you serving? Having a clear vision will guide your decisions and keep you focused during challenging times.
Patience and determination are essential virtues for any entrepreneur. Building a successful business takes time and perseverance. Don't be discouraged by setbacks or slow progress. Instead, embrace the highs and lows as part of the entrepreneurial journey. Learn from failures, adapt, and keep pushing forward with unwavering determination.
One common mistake I've observed is entrepreneurs getting too caught up in the initial excitement of starting a business without considering the long-term sustainability. It's important to have a solid business plan, financial strategy, and scalability model in place from the beginning. This ensures that your business can weather inevitable challenges and grow steadily over time.
Finally, I encourage aspiring entrepreneurs to tend to their businesses with care and dedication, much like nurturing a plant or fostering a relationship. Consistent effort, attention to detail, and a genuine passion for your work are key ingredients for success. Remember, every small step you take brings you closer to your goals. Stay inspired, stay focused, and never underestimate the impact you can make with your entrepreneurial endeavors.
Are you looking to hire for certain positions right now?
Currently, we are not actively hiring for specific positions. However, we are always on the lookout for talented individuals to join our team. If you're interested in becoming part of our team, please feel free to email us your resume and a cover letter outlining your qualifications and why you'd be a great fit for our organization. We appreciate your interest in joining our team!
Where can we go to learn more?
If you have any questions or comments, drop a comment below!
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Download the report and join our email newsletter packed with business ideas and money-making opportunities, backed by real-life case studies.
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