Story & Mission

Say goodbye to yo-yo diets and hello to Miinus – an online community of friends helping friends achieve and maintain their weight goals.

You and I both know that the last thing the world needs is another fad diet, Wonder Pill, or as-seen-on-TV exercise gadget you will never use. For those of us who are trying to take off a few pounds, the "how" isn't the difficult part – the "doing" is. We rarely have trouble starting a diet or workout plan, but most of us struggle to stay on track. What you and I really need is a regular dose of encouragement and accountability – a friendly nudge, sort to speak, that will motivate us to keep going after the initial enthusiasm wears off.

Miinus is a new tool in weight loss and management driven by you and your friends. We have evolved the Bathroom Scale: no longer is it something you step on and walk away from. Miinus connects the Bathroom Scales around the world and lets you make new, Social Scales. You can start a Social Scale with your coworkers, family and friends, and together, you can work towards your health goals, learn tips from other people who've had success, and have fun while you're at it!

Miinus' motto is 12-12 – our goal is to help the world lose 12 million pounds by the year 2012, and millions more in the years after that. Are you ready to be part of it? If so, STEP ON!

How YOU can help with 12-12

1. Join a scale. You can step on a scale someone has already created, and you can step on as many scales as you like.
2. Create a scale. Feel like taking the initiative!? Miinus is an easy way to organize a weight loss/management plan for your family, friends, coworkers, workout buddies, or even your brands’ customers. And find strength in numbers – you can add as many participants as you want to your scale.
3. Keep Miinus.org going. Our promise to you is that Miinus will always be free for anyone who wants to lose and maintain weight, or anyone who wants to organize such an effort. However for those of you who are able and willing to help keep Miinus going, you will have the option to "buy" the pounds you lose at the end of every month in the future. The donated proceeds we raise will go towards offsetting operating costs, site enhancements, as well as supporting selected charitable organizations.

Paiir Inc.

Miinus.org is created by Paiir Inc, a tiny operation of part-timers and volunteers. We have 0 full-time employees, 0 square foot of office space, 0 dollars in outside funding, and 1 product. Hopefully we can post better numbers in the future, but for now, just a bunch of zeros.

Every once in a while, the team comes together to brainstorm new ideas. Our approach to making things is pretty simple:

• The product is useful for the FIRST user
• The product is worth talking about (it’s REMARK-able)
• The product IS THE MARKETING
• The product GETS BETTER the more people use it
• The product is NEVER good enough

Credits

Special thanks to…
Yuriy (design & dev)
Jen (storytelling & content)
Anant & Peter (requirements feedback)
Steve & Paul (usability recommendations)
Christina & Adrian (living through the last one)
Every one of our beta testers and users