A decade of relentless building. Five development companies. Six figures invested. Two parents lost. One vision that never died.
"What if you turned an advertisement into a puzzle?"
— Frank Legg, 2011 · The question that started everythingNatanel Eisenberg and Christopher Legg — classmates at WVU Tech turned co-workers at a local engineering firm — hear an idea from Chris's dad Frank over dinner. "What if you turned an advertisement into a puzzle?" Nat doesn't immediately see it, but after sleeping on it agrees it could be revolutionary. Concept & Innovation Group, LLC is formed.
Nat and Chris design web mockups, raise investment funding from personal connections, and hire a local development firm to build a desktop prototype. Nat begins learning video production from YouTube tutorials.
After a 6-week appeal with PayPal to allow payments to winners — apps that pay weren't a thing yet — ConsumerBreak.com launches on desktop using puzzles featuring Nat's own photography and prizes paid out of pocket. A promo video is recorded in a living room with a fraternity brother doing narration.
The world shifts to mobile. Chris and Frank step down, remaining as advisors. Natanel's father Michael becomes CEO and funds iOS + Android development with a new development company. The team begins building apps.
Nat designs an elaborate Kickstarter campaign — rejected because they don't allow prize-giving products. Launches on RocketHub instead, raising $888 from friends. Uses it to present at One Spark Crowdfunding Festival in Jacksonville, FL. Gets great public feedback but no funding. Gets fired from his day job for making the trip. Moves to Maryland. Gets engaged.
Six figures of development investment produces a completely unusable product. The project scope was too complex; months of bug-fixing ends in forcing the development company to close the project. Everything starts over from scratch.
In the summer of 2016, Natanel's mother Barbara is diagnosed with untreatable Stage 4 soft-tissue Sarcoma. Nat and Megan move their wedding date forward so Barbara can witness it. They have a beautiful small family wedding. Four months later, Michael is diagnosed with Stage 3 esophageal cancer.
Michael undergoes chemotherapy, radiation, and a 4-hour surgery. He spends his remaining assets funding a simplified iOS prototype — hiring a third development company — to give Nat something to work with. The app launches with cash prize contests. They fail to grow a user base but continue refining.
Michael and Barbara Eisenberg lose their battles with cancer, in the same Hospice room, on February 12th and February 14th, 2018.
Natanel is committed to carrying on their legacy. He ramps up iOS traction with new cash contests, pitches brands, but cannot gain traction without scale. More funding is needed.
By chance, Natanel connects with a private investor willing to fund Android development, new features, salaries, and prizes. After another development cycle, a new prototype launches in December 2019 with real resources behind it.
Nat runs hundreds of puzzle contests, pays out $100,000+ in prizes to 4,800+ unique winners across the country. Invents QuestBreak™. Starts a Facebook group that grows to 1,000+ members. Recruits puzzle designers. Launches MerchBreak.com.
The data is definitive: puzzle contests create prolonged guaranteed engagement and unparalleled advertising immersion. But without prizes, users disappear. The Catch-22 of scale vs. sponsors remains. Megan and Nat decide to divorce. Nat moves back to West Virginia.
Nat connects with old college friend Travis, active in WAX blockchain communities. They design Hybrid Creatures NFT — a creature collection that will sponsor ConsumerBreak weekly. Nat hires a crypto attorney, plans a gaming token, and schedules January 2022 releases. Also begins BibleBreak™ and StudentBreak™ development with illustrated stories.
After everything — the investment, the setbacks, the loss — here is what exists today.
"They believed before anyone else did. Every line of code, every contest, every creature, every show — it's all dedicated to them. The puzzle was always meant to be solved."
The Breakery is live. The marketplace is coming. The universe keeps expanding. Come be part of what happens next.