Simple is an AI-powered health and wellness company that provides an app designed for sustainable weight loss, mindful eating, and habit tracking, rather than strict dieting. It uses AI, specifically a coach named “Avo,” to offer personalized, real-time guidance on nutrition, fitness, and, often, intermittent fasting to help users build healthier, lasting routines. Pulse 2.0 interviewed Simple co-founder and CEO Mike Prytkov to learn more.
Mike Prytkov’s Background
Could you tell me more about your background? Prytkov said:
“I grew up in a very different environment from the one I work in today. My family shared a small room in a communal apartment, with very little personal space and a lot of chaos. From an early age, I learned what it means to adapt, to be persistent, and to look for ways to make life better.”
“My father worked as an engineer in medical technology, which sparked my early interest in computers. I spent hours around early MS-DOS machines, first playing games, then learning to code. That curiosity eventually led me to building small digital products while studying at university.”
“Over time, I moved into product development and performance marketing, working across multiple companies and roles. I helped grow products to hundreds of millions of users and eventually founded my own performance marketing agency. But at some point, I realized I didn’t just want to grow metrics. I wanted to build a product that genuinely improves people’s lives.”
Formation Of The Company
How did the idea for the company come together? Prytkov shared:
“The idea for Simple came directly from my personal health journey. While running a fast-growing company, my sleep was poor, eating habits were chaotic, and I felt constantly stressed. My weight increased, my energy dropped, and my health markers started getting worse.”
“I tried everything that was available at the time: from popular diet apps, intermittent fasting protocols, working with nutritionists and trainers to extreme approaches. I managed to lose 45 pounds, but I also came to relization that most products were focused on tracking behavior, not coaching it. They lacked personalization, emotional support, and long-term sustainability.”
“I realized there was a gap in the market for a product that behaves like a real human-like health coach. It is adaptive, supportive, and built around habits rather than guilt or restrictions. That insight became the foundation of Simple.”
“Today, my role as founder and CEO spans product vision, strategy, and culture. I stay involved in how we design behavior change, ensure our approach is ethical and non-shaming, and build systems that help users stay consistent over time. My personal experience continues to shape how we think about health, retention, and long-term impact at scale.”
Favorite Memory
What has been your favorite memory working for the company so far? Prytkov reflected:
“One of my favorite moments recently was when we rolled out our gamification layer – especially our Tamagotchi-like mascot Blinky – and it stopped being “just a feature” and became a daily relationship for users. People weren’t simply tracking meals anymore; they were showing up to see what Blinky might say next, keep streaks alive, and celebrate wins that feel genuinely personal.”
Core Products
What are the company’s core products and features? Prytkov explained:
“Simple Life is a personalized weight-loss coaching and habit-building app, designed to deliver sustainable results, not short-term hacks or rigid routines. We’re designed for adults who want to lose weight and feel good while doing it. It’s not just about losing the weight, but improving your health and your overall energy levels.
Here are our features:
— Personalized Weight-Loss Program: Every user gets a plan tailored to their goals, lifestyle, and real behavior. No guesswork. No decision fatigue. Clear priorities from day one.
— Coach Avo (AI Coach): Coach Avo adapts in real time based on what users actually do — not what they promise they’ll do. It adjusts guidance based on adherence and results, offering practical course correction without guilt, pressure, or rigid rules.
— Easy-to-Follow Daily Actions: Most weight-loss products fail because they demand too much. Simple Life focuses on small, achievable daily actions designed for real life — not perfect days.
— Progress Tracking & Feedback Loops: Users don’t just track progress — they understand it. Clear insights show what’s working, what’s stalling, and exactly how to move forward.
— Blinky (Motivational Companion): Blinky adds energy, personality, and momentum. Smart nudges keep users engaged during plateaus and low-motivation moments — without sounding clinical or patronizing.
At its core, Simple Life removes complexity and replaces it with clarity, structure, and motivation that actually works. No extremes. No noise. Just progress people can stick to.”
Challenges Faced
Have you faced any challenges in your sector of work recently? Prytkov acknowledged:
“One of the biggest challenges in consumer health right now is how noisy the space has become – more competition in weight management, GLP-1s gaining significant traction, and AI evolving to support people’s health.”
“Our response has been very deliberate. We doubled down on engagement and retention as the foundation of the product. That meant investing heavily in gamification mechanics, deeper personalization through our AI coach, and expanding beyond a single use case into a more holistic experience, covering nutrition, hydration, activity, coaching, and support for those users on GLP-1 medications. We have some exciting things coming when it comes to GLP-1 medications and helping clients on GLP-1s feel proactively supported during and after treatment. The goal has been to make the product feel valuable every single day.”
Evolution Of The Company’s Technology
How has the company’s technology evolved since launching? Prytkov noted:
“We started with a focused entry point, fasting, because it was a simple behavior-change lever and an accessible way for users to get started. From there, we expanded into a more complete metabolic health platform that includes nutrition, hydration, activity tracking, and a personalized coaching layer.”
“The biggest evolution has been moving from ‘tracking’ to ‘coaching at scale.’ We launched our AI coach, Avo, as a personalized layer that turns daily data into guidance, accountability, and next-best actions. It keeps improving because it’s powered by an unusually large volume of real behavior signals.”
“The next phase is making Simple even more health-native: adding symptom signals and, where appropriate, connecting users into clinical pathways through partners (things like labs, consultations, and GLP-1 companion support). The direction is to help people act earlier, not just react later.”
Significant Milestones
What have been some of the company’s most significant milestones? Prytkov cited:
“A few milestones really define our journey:
— Scaling to meaningful size while staying profitable. We’re now at 750K+ active subscribers with a $160M+ gross bookings run rate, built with real unit economics.
— Proving the product works. In 2024, a large share of our core users achieved clinically meaningful progress, such as ≥5% weight loss.
— The gamification step-change. Launching Blinky and streak mechanics, and seeing a measurable lift in retention and consistency in the following months.
— Building a real data advantage. Operating at a scale where our coaching engine learns from tens of millions of user interactions and hundreds of millions of tracked events.
— Strategic expansion of the roadmap. Moving from a “weight loss app” toward a broader metabolic and preventive health platform, including future clinical service pathways.
Customer Success Stories
Can you share any specific customer success stories? Prytkov highlighted:
“Today, Simple Life has been downloaded over 20 million times, and our users have collectively lost more than 18 million pounds. Many of them share their personal stories with us, not just about weight loss, but about rebuilding energy and confidence.”
“Bryan Eure is a cancer survivor who turned to Simple Life after finishing chemotherapy. During treatment, he had been encouraged to keep weight on, which seriously disrupted his appetite cues and weight gain. After finishing his treatment, he struggled with low energy and couldn’t stay active with his children. By using Simple he rebuilt consistent routines and understood what supported his energy levels. Bryan gradually regained stamina and lost 50 pounds, allowing him to re-engage fully with his family.”
“Mandy Bell used GLP-1 medication for weight loss but found herself without guidance once the prescription ended. The medication reduced her appetite but didn’t help her build sustainable habits. Instead of restarting the drugs, Mandy used Simple Life to work on consistent routines, leading to a natural 25-pound weight loss and an impressive 310 consecutive workout days.”
“Karen Heffernan used intermittent fasting with Simple Life to support her weight loss and lost over 50 pounds by adopting a structured but flexible approach to eating. A blunt comment from her surgeon about her weight became a wake-up call that pushed her to rethink her health long-term. Her case is a great example of how intermittent fasting, paired with structure and personalization, can support sustainable results without extreme dieting.”
Funding/Revenue
Are you able to discuss funding and/or revenue metrics? Prytkov revealed:
“At a high level, we can share a few metrics that reflect both scale and efficiency. We’re currently at a $160M+ gross bookings run rate with around 800K subscribers, and we’ve been operating profitably.”
Total Addressable Market (TAM)
What total addressable market (TAM) size is the company pursuing? Prytkov assessed:
“Weight management alone is massive. Global estimates put the market at around $143 billion in 2022, growing toward roughly $299B by 2030.”
“GLP-1 adoption is also creating a new support layer. Forecasts estimate around 40M people on GLP-1s by 2029, with a large share in the U.S., and spending in this area is expected to be significant.”
“Internally, we think of it this way: we start with weight management, but we’re building toward a broader metabolic and preventive health platform that can serve consumers long term.”
Differentiation From The Competition
What differentiates the company from its competition? Prytkov affirmed:
“We prioritize simplicity, personalization, and emotional sustainability over rigid plans or extreme tactics.
— Simplicity Over Complexity: Many competitors overwhelm users with data, rules, or aggressive programs. Simple Life intentionally strips weight loss down to what actually drives consistency and results.
— Adaptive Coaching: Unlike one-size-fits-all programs, Simple Life’s AI coach evolves with the user — adjusting recommendations based on real behavior, not ideal scenarios. Designed for Real Life
— Emotionally Intelligent Experience: The app focuses on motivation, encouragement, and confidence-building, recognizing that emotional barriers — not knowledge — are often the real reason people struggle.
— Sustainable Results as the North Star: Simple Life optimizes for long-term adherence and habit formation, so you won’t see us pushing extremes for rapid results.”
“In short, Simple Life doesn’t promise to change users overnight — it helps them finally make progress they can keep, and a journey that will actually make them smile.”
Future Company Goals
What are some of the company’s future goals? Prytkov emphasized:
“Our goal is to become the daily operating system for metabolic health – starting with weight loss, expanding into prevention, and connecting into clinical care when it’s needed.”
Additional Thoughts
Any other topics you would like to discuss? Prytkov concluded:
“Our perspective on GLP-1s is that they’re powerful, but not sufficient on their own. The long-term winner will be the platform that helps people build durable habits, with or without medication, and supports them through maintenance.”
“More broadly, our mission is to shift people away from reactive, episodic ‘weight loss attempts’ and toward proactive, long-term metabolic wellbeing.”
