Our Mission is Motivation

Obesity is the leading preventable cause of death in the United States, and each of us has been personally affected by this epidemic. We know that losing weight is difficult, and keeping it off is an even bigger challenge. We created Scale Down Challenge help motivate individuals to lose weight and help them end the weight loss roller coaster.

Using evidence-based research from behavioral economists and psychologists, our platform creates a fun collaborative, challenge environment that engages and educates participants, and helps them succeed by showing them what challenges to expect and how to overcome them.

To learn more about Scale Down Challenge, get in touch with us!

Our Story

Ryan Beckland and Drew Schiller met as undergraduates at the University of Iowa, spending long hours discussing societal woes and debating ways to fix those problems and make the world a better place. Now, ten years later, the two formed Scale Down Challenge to take our country’s obesity epidemic head on.

The idea for first came when Ryan read a study by behavioral economists that demonstrated how financial incentives are highly effective for motivating health behaviors, including weight loss. Ryan and Drew immediately recognized that by systematically providing the right financial incentives in an online format, they could affect positive change for a lot of people.