{{Short description|American internet company}} {{Other uses|Stick (disambiguation){{!}}Stick}} {{lowercase title}} {{Infobox website | name = stickK.com, LLC | logo = StickKlogo.png | logo_size = 200px | company_type = Private | genre = | foundation = New Haven, Connecticut, United States | founder = Dean Karlan<ref name="forbes make">{{Cite news |title=Make A Commitment |language=en |work=Forbes |url=https://www.forbes.com/forbes/2010/0830/ideas-why-not-ian-ayres-barry-nalebuff-make-commitment.html |access-date=2020-06-24}}</ref><ref name="auto1">{{Cite news |last=Grayson |first=Pamela Weiler |date=2009-02-04 |title=Dieting? Put Your Money Where Your Fat Is |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/05/health/nutrition/05fitness.html |access-date=2020-06-24 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref><br />Ian Ayres<ref name="forbes make" /><ref name="auto1" /><br />Jordan Goldberg<ref name="forbes make" /><ref name="auto1" /> | location_city = Brooklyn, New York, NY | location_country = United States | location = | locations = | area_served = | key_people = | industry = | products = | services = | market cap = | revenue = | operating_income = | net_income = | owner = | num_employees = | parent = | divisions = | subsid = | url = {{url|www.stickk.com}} | screenshot = | caption = | website_type = | language = | advertising = | registration = | launch_date = 2007 | current_status = | footnotes = }} '''stickK.com, LLC''' is an American internet company that enables users to make commitment contracts in order to reach their personal goals.
== Service == stickK users set up a "commitment contract", a commitment device where they agree to achieve a certain goal, such as losing weight, exercising more, quitting smoking, or conserving energy.<ref name="economist">{{Cite news |date=February 7, 2008 |title=An idea for Lent – Carrot and stickK |newspaper=The Economist |publication-date=February 7, 2008 |url=http://www.economist.com/displaystory.cfm?story_id=10661442 |url-access=subscription |accessdate=December 23, 2008}}</ref> They sign a legally binding contract that will send their money to third parties, including either individuals (referred to as "Friend or Foe") or a number of organizations and charities.<ref name="nytimes-levitt">{{Cite news |last=Levitt |first=Steven D. |date=January 21, 2008 |title=StickK To Your Commitments |work=Freakonomics Blog |publisher=New York Times |url=http://freakonomics.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/01/21/stickk-to-your-commitments/ |authorlink=Steven D. Levitt |accessdate=December 23, 2008}}</ref> If users pick "Charity" as a recipient of their forfeited money, stickK selects the charity for the user. Users can also pick a specific organization whose views they oppose<ref name="economist" /> referred to as "'''anti-charities'''".<ref>{{Cite news |last=Hood |first=Duncan |date=March 24, 2008 |title=Self-help: How to buy a will of iron |work=MoneySense |url=https://www.moneysense.ca/magazine-archive/self-help-how-to-buy-a-will-of-iron/ |access-date=September 23, 2019}}</ref><!-- MoneySense article was posted to Canadian Business magazine at https://web.archive.org/web/20110522124444/http://www.canadianbusiness.com/my_money/planning/article.jsp?content=20080324_120053_5812 --><ref>{{Cite web |title=stickK – FAQ |url=https://www.stickk.com/faq.php |accessdate=December 23, 2008}}</ref>
The site also allows for referees—people selected by the user to help monitor the progress of their contract. When a user submits a report to the website, the referee is asked to confirm the accuracy of the report. Users are also allowed to designate other users and friends. Such people, known as supporters, receive emails about the users' progress.
== History == stickK was started by two Yale University professors, Dean Karlan and Ian Ayres. During graduate school at M.I.T., Karlan and a colleague made a wager to lose 40 pounds each, and to referee one another so as to stay on target.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Grimshaw |first1=Jeff |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PPhMK5fDwEwC&q=stickk&pg=PA148 |title=Leadership Without Excuses |last2=Gregg Baron |publisher=McGraw Hill Professional |year=2010 |isbn=978-0-07-160004-0 |pages=148 |accessdate=June 8, 2010}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last1=Sunstein |first1=Cass |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dSJQn8egXvUC&q=karlan |title=Nudge: Improving Decisions about Health, Wealth, and Happiness |last2=Richard Thaler |publisher=Yale U Press |year=2008 |isbn=978-0-14-311526-7 |pages=46 |accessdate=June 10, 2010}}</ref> Their service draws on their experiences and two principles from behavioral economics, loss aversion and time inconsistency.<ref name="npr">{{Cite news |last=Aubrey |first=Allison |date=March 6, 2008 |title=Put Your Money Where Your Girth Is |work=NPR |url=https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=87931325 |accessdate=December 23, 2008}}</ref> They recruited Jordan Goldberg, then a student at the Yale School of Management, to build the company.<ref name="nysun">{{Cite news |last=Pantin |first=Travis |date=November 23, 2007 |title=How Yale Professors Lose Weight |publisher=New York Sun |url=http://www.nysun.com/business/how-yale-professors-lose-weight/ |accessdate=December 23, 2008}}</ref>
The company was founded in New Haven in 2007<ref name="nysun" /> and subsequently moved to New York City. It was initially funded by a $150,000 investment from the three founders, and later raised about $2 million from a pool of investors in two rounds.<ref name="techcrunch">{{Cite news |last=Wouters |first=Robin |date=September 30, 2009 |title=StickK Raises More Funding For Self-Commitment Service, Eyes B2B Play |work=TechCrunch |url=https://techcrunch.com/2009/09/30/stickk-raises-more-funding-for-self-commitment-service-eyes-b2b-play/ |accessdate=February 22, 2010}}</ref> The web site was launched in the beginning of 2008.<ref name=techcrunch/>
Usage of the site is free for individual users, with the initial business plan involving advertising revenues.<ref name="npr" /> The company later created non-free B2B products, offering corporations a co-branded version of StickK for the use of their employees or members.<ref name=techcrunch/> In May 2010, stickK.com launched Choose You, where individuals can write commitment contracts and have their friends or family pledge money to the American Cancer Society if the contract is fulfilled.<ref name="Forbes">[https://www.forbes.com/feeds/prnewswire/2010/06/08/prnewswire201006080635PR_NEWS_USPR_____PH16161.html]{{dead link|date=January 2022|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}</ref>
According to Goldberg, users who put money on the line and have a referee tend to do best. 78% of these users achieve their goals, as compared to only 35% who put no money down.<ref name="bostoncom" /> Steven Levitt, co-author of ''Freakonomics'', wrote about and approved of the website and its concept.<ref name="nytimes-levitt" /> StickK also appears in the [popular press] book ''More Than Good Intentions'', where it is mentioned as an example of a type of commitment device that can be adapted to development programs in microsavings and health.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Appel |first1=Jacob |url=https://archive.org/details/morethangoodinte0000karl |title=More Than Good Intentions |last2=Karlan |first2=Dean |publisher=Dutton Press |year=2011 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/morethangoodinte0000karl/page/160 160]–161, 235–236 |isbn=9780525951896 |url-access=registration}}</ref>
According to Karlan, the company's name comes from 'stick'ing to it, and the second K is the legal shorthand for a contract.<ref name="cnbc">{{Cite news |last=Sittenfeld |first=Linda R. |date=March 11, 2008 |title=StickK.com: Take a Contract Out On Yourself |work=CNBC |url=https://www.cnbc.com/2008/03/11/stickkcom-take-a-contract-out-on-yourself.html |access-date=December 23, 2008}}</ref> It also refers to carrot and stick.<ref name="bostoncom">{{Cite news |last=Schweitzer |first=Sarah |date=April 15, 2008 |title=A Web contract for personal goals |work=The Boston Globe |url=http://archive.boston.com/news/local/articles/2008/04/15/a_web_contract_for_personal_goals/ |access-date=December 23, 2008}}</ref>
{{Expand section|Basic company data (number of employees, revenue & profits)|date=June 2008}}
==Further reading== * {{Cite book |last=Ayres |first=Ian |title=Carrots and Sticks |publisher=Bantam |year=2010 |isbn=978-0-553-80763-9 |pages=166–189 |chapter=A Commitment Store}}
== References == {{reflist}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=September 2019}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Stickk}} Category:Yale University Category:Online companies of the United States