Series 2: Shark Tank
Ep. 105 - Mark Bernstein - MealEnders
Mark Bernstein is founder and chief executive officer of MealEnders, where he is responsible for driving the MealEnders vision and go-to-market strategy.
Bernstein was a founder of CNN's new media businesses serving as a Senior Vice President of CNN and the General Manager of CNN Interactive. There he oversaw the management, strategy and operations of CNN's primary provider of digital content and helped build it into one of the premier properties on the Internet.
Bernstein was recruited away from CNN to serve as the President of Springstreet.com, a division of Move.com (formerly Homestore.com) — the Internet's dominant real estate portal. This Kleiner Perkins backed company went public in 1999. Bernstein has run his own private investment and consulting firm working with early stage technology and media companies. In that capacity he has served as the CEO of Juventus Bioscience, LLC and as the co-Publisher of Hundreds of Heads Books a company that he co-founded.
A native of Knoxville, Tennessee Mark graduated with a bachelor's degree from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and earned a J.D. from New York University's School of Law. He was an attorney with the King & Spalding law firm in Atlanta and served as Senior Legal Counsel at Turner Broadcasting System, Inc.
Mark has received several awards for his community service including the Martin Luther King, Jr. Center Community Services Award, the WXIA Atlanta Community Service Jefferson Award, the Metropolitan Atlanta United Way Golden Rule Award and the 2008 Community Leader Award from the National Conference for Volunteering and Service.
Bernstein was selected by the World Economic Forum as one of its 100 Global Leaders for Tomorrow in 1999 and is a 2006 graduate of the Wexner Heritage Program.
"When I was at CNN, I had lunch with Mark Cuban in NYC although that was before Mark Cuban was Mark Cuban and I don't think he recognized me."
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Company Profile
In 2015, Willpower Labs invented a unique product to help users curb overeating. Using innovations from behavioral psychology and sensory science, the company created a uniquely flavored, powerful, layered lozenge that acts as both a palette cleanser and completion signal, marking the end of a meal or for use as a snack substitute — all without any drugs or stimulants.
More than 160,000 customers have purchased MealEnders worldwide. Tens of thousands are repeat customers, with many testifying to the product's impact on their lives. A 2017 Stanford Medical School study validated MealEnders' efficacy, finding that users cut an average of 231 calories ??? 12 percent of their daily food intake ??? from their diets.
The diet and weight loss market is vast and growing, totaling $72 stagnant for years. MealEnders is one of the few recent innovations billion in the U.S. and $190 billion worldwide. But the industry has been that helps people manage excessive snacking and overeating.
The Product
MealEnders employ a proprietary two-layer formula. Each lozenge has a sweet, creamy outer layer that satisfies cravings and cues the end of a meal or the avoidance of an unhealthy snack; it melts away to a hard center that delivers intense long-lasting cooling and tingling sensations, clearing the palate and transitioning focus away from eating. The lozenges help users connect to the body's natural satiety signals and foster awareness of fullness cues and appropriate portion sizes.