At its core, MacroFactor is an app that helps people reach their nutritional and body composition goals. But unlike other diet apps and plans, MacroFactor aims to empower users to create sustainable habits while improving their relationship with food. Different from a dieting or weight loss app, MacroFactor avoids shame-inducing content and focuses on energy instead.
“By tracking nutrition and weight of every user, we can calculate energy expenditure – how many calories you’re using every day,” Co-owner Lyndsey Nuckols says.
The other differentiator between MacroFactor and other “tracker” apps is that it’s not static. It’s one of the only apps that can adapt to changes in a user’s metabolism, functioning like a virtual coach. After users perform their weekly check-in, their program adjusts macronutrient targets to keep them on track.
MacroFactor became available in app stores in September 2021, but the concepts behind it have been around much longer.
A decade ago, Lyndsey and her husband Greg began a blog about lifting and nutrition. Greg is a former world record holder in powerlifting and holds a master’s degree in exercise physiology, making him a content expert both intellectually and in real-life experience.
“Greg can write about these complex topics really intelligently, plus he’s a former record holder,” she says. “He’s really well-known in this niche market of all-natural powerlifters.”
As the Nuckols’ following grew, they launched a podcast and several digital products. One was a spreadsheet called the Self-correcting Macro Tracker. This digital download helped people calculate energy expenditure and ideal calorie intake.
Greg also participated in many conversations about nutrition and powerlifting online, offering his expertise. App developer Cory Davis approached Greg via a Reddit message in 2020 and asked if he’d be interested in collaborating to bring his spreadsheet to life in the form of an app.
Cory and his developer partner Rebecca Kekelishvili teamed up with the Nuckols in early 2021 and launched the app that September. The app has a variety of subscription plans plus a free seven-day trial. Less than two years in, MacroFactor has 82,000 paid customers.
“It’s been incredible and really surprising!” says Lyndsey, who manages the company’s website and marketing.
The MacroFactor team reached out to Fourscore in the fall of 2022 because they needed to update their operating agreement. They were using a templated operating agreement, but with multiple co-owners and such rapid growth, they needed something more personalized. Fourscore Attorney Maks Ewendt updated the agreement and has also helped them create contracts for a new team member, navigate General Data Protection Regulation, and prepare to bring the app to Japan.
“Maks has been a life saver for us! He has become a go-to person in our business,” says Lyndsey. “We had a lot of growing pains from growing so quickly, and Maks has given us expert advice.”
One thing that sets this startup apart is its independence financially. The MacroFactor team does not have any outside funding or investors.
“It’s all been us growing in a small way at first to make it sustainable and then putting money back into the business,” Lyndsey explains. “I’m glad we did it this way because now we’re flexible and independent as far as how we want the future to look.”
The team hopes that their future includes other apps and products at the intersection of health, science, and tech.
“Our overall goal going forward is to go from a single-product company to more of a brand bringing together science and technology to help people reach their health goals.”
Picture on the top is by Vanessa Loring and is in the public domain.
To learn more about Stronger By Science Technologies – MacroFactor visit their website at macrofactorapp.com
