7 ms·

I'm not trying to be antagonistic here, but are they total dicks or exceedingly reckless or something? Or just "disruptive"? Why do people have a bone to pick w

by jrowley 10y ago

I'm not trying to be antagonistic here, but are they total dicks or exceedingly reckless or something? Or just "disruptive"? Why do people have a bone to pick with the soylent folks?

nsxwolf 10y ago
Name is gross.
amsilprotag 10y ago
There is a schism on this site between the entrepreneurs and the technologists. The entrepreneurs will tell you that what Soylent did was hard. They found a population that would enjoy a nutritional supplement, but didn't like the branding of current offerings. The created and popularized a brand to serve busy, health-conscious professionals. The technologist will tell you that Soylent is essentially a direct marketing business that mixes commodities (poorly) and sells them at high markup. A similar narrative has existed in business news for the past year, where readers bemusedly read about a pyramid scheme company that distributes protein shake called Herbalife to see whether it will implode or not.
- joatmon-snoo 10y ago
  Hey. Herbalife isn't a pyramid scheme. It's a dimaryp!
  - joshmn 10y ago
    In case people somehow missed it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s6MwGeOm8iI https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s6MwGeOm8iI
    - TaylorGood 10y ago
      So amusing. (Somewhat surprised the average person hasn't gotten the memo after X decades)
      - pavel_lishin 10y ago
        Luckily for pyramid and ponzi schemes, there are new average people being born every decade.
  - btian 10y ago
    It's the opposite of dimaryp - pyramid
  - esja 10y ago
    Or a trapezoid: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uuVh36vQkSI https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uuVh36vQkSI
- dman7 10y ago
  As a sidenote, Herbalife started as a pyramid scheme but has evolved its business model beyond it. This article on the fight between Bill Ackman and Herbalife (http://fortune.com/2015/09/09/the-siege-of-herbalife/ http://fortune.com/2015/09/09/the-siege-of-herbalife/) is a good summary of Herbalife's history and its current approach.
- Shivetya 10y ago
  there are times I think we are just anti-success. as in, its okay to get certain rewards, get to a certain size, and then suddenly the community turns on you. I am guilty of this at times, there are certain companies I cheer on yet I have to sit back and wonder why others I vilify. Is it the personalities at top or the actions of the companies as a whole?
- jsight 10y ago
  Also, some of us remember the misleading claims from when Soylent was first in development. I because pretty negative on the product from those early posts fully of hype.
  - nommm-nommm 10y ago
    I don't doubt you at all but can you give some examples? I remember them saying "it should be a total replacement for food" but I hear they are backing off of that now.
- crystalPalace 10y ago
  Purely anecdotal but I suffer from Crohn's Disease and the only thing that really helped was Soylent. I can't eat solid food and since starting Soylent I have experienced much lower occurrences of symptoms.
  - hollerith 10y ago
    Was Soylent the only liquid you tried that aspires to complete nutrition? For example, have you tried Ensure? Also, how long has it continued to help? I ask because it is fairly easy to find interventions that help a chronic illness, but then stop working or accumulate prohibitive adverse effects after a few months.
    - crystalPalace 10y ago
      I have only tried Soylent. I have a very restrictive diet and Soylent is the only liquid that fits my requirements. It's worked for about 3 months so far.
_greim_ 10y ago
Food is a topic where people are intensely invested in their views, and shame-based thinking holds strong. Anyone who claims a shortcut to decent nutrition will draw the nay-sayers out of the woodwork. Proper nutrition ought to be hard.
cgag 10y ago
I think food is something people have a lot of their identity tied up in. I'm a mealsquares man myself but all for something like Soylent or something becoming popular and cheap.
Temp445 10y ago
I can't speak for others, but I read about two paragraphs of his blog-diarrea and suffered instant hate of the guy. Truly sounds like he has his head firmly up his arse.
nommm-nommm 10y ago
Anytime anyone says (practically) anything about food or nutrition some people are going to be enraged. Food is both extremely personal and very polarizing.
fapjacks 10y ago
For what it's worth, way back in the beginning (I was there), the Soylent guy solicited work from the community under the guise of contributing to an open source product. That the "source" was eventually closed up and the end product rented out for a subscription fee... That might be where some of the disdain is coming from. Plus also he is kind of insufferable to a lot of people, if you read any of his writing.

by jrowley 10y ago

I'm not trying to be antagonistic here, but are they total dicks or exceedingly reckless or something? Or just "disruptive"? Why do people have a bone to pick with the soylent folks?

nsxwolf 10y ago

Name is gross.

amsilprotag 10y ago

There is a schism on this site between the entrepreneurs and the technologists. The entrepreneurs will tell you that what Soylent did was hard. They found a population that would enjoy a nutritional supplement, but didn't like the branding of current offerings. The created and popularized a brand to serve busy, health-conscious professionals. The technologist will tell you that Soylent is essentially a direct marketing business that mixes commodities (poorly) and sells them at high markup. A similar narrative has existed in business news for the past year, where readers bemusedly read about a pyramid scheme company that distributes protein shake called Herbalife to see whether it will implode or not.

joatmon-snoo 10y ago
Hey. Herbalife isn't a pyramid scheme. It's a dimaryp!
- joshmn 10y ago
  In case people somehow missed it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s6MwGeOm8iI https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s6MwGeOm8iI
  - TaylorGood 10y ago
    So amusing. (Somewhat surprised the average person hasn't gotten the memo after X decades)
    - pavel_lishin 10y ago
      Luckily for pyramid and ponzi schemes, there are new average people being born every decade.
- btian 10y ago
  It's the opposite of dimaryp - pyramid
- esja 10y ago
  Or a trapezoid: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uuVh36vQkSI https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uuVh36vQkSI
dman7 10y ago
As a sidenote, Herbalife started as a pyramid scheme but has evolved its business model beyond it. This article on the fight between Bill Ackman and Herbalife (http://fortune.com/2015/09/09/the-siege-of-herbalife/ http://fortune.com/2015/09/09/the-siege-of-herbalife/) is a good summary of Herbalife's history and its current approach.
Shivetya 10y ago
there are times I think we are just anti-success. as in, its okay to get certain rewards, get to a certain size, and then suddenly the community turns on you. I am guilty of this at times, there are certain companies I cheer on yet I have to sit back and wonder why others I vilify. Is it the personalities at top or the actions of the companies as a whole?
jsight 10y ago
Also, some of us remember the misleading claims from when Soylent was first in development. I because pretty negative on the product from those early posts fully of hype.
- nommm-nommm 10y ago
  I don't doubt you at all but can you give some examples? I remember them saying "it should be a total replacement for food" but I hear they are backing off of that now.
crystalPalace 10y ago
Purely anecdotal but I suffer from Crohn's Disease and the only thing that really helped was Soylent. I can't eat solid food and since starting Soylent I have experienced much lower occurrences of symptoms.
- hollerith 10y ago
  Was Soylent the only liquid you tried that aspires to complete nutrition? For example, have you tried Ensure? Also, how long has it continued to help? I ask because it is fairly easy to find interventions that help a chronic illness, but then stop working or accumulate prohibitive adverse effects after a few months.
  - crystalPalace 10y ago
    I have only tried Soylent. I have a very restrictive diet and Soylent is the only liquid that fits my requirements. It's worked for about 3 months so far.

_greim_ 10y ago

Food is a topic where people are intensely invested in their views, and shame-based thinking holds strong. Anyone who claims a shortcut to decent nutrition will draw the nay-sayers out of the woodwork. Proper nutrition ought to be hard.

cgag 10y ago

I think food is something people have a lot of their identity tied up in. I'm a mealsquares man myself but all for something like Soylent or something becoming popular and cheap.

Temp445 10y ago

I can't speak for others, but I read about two paragraphs of his blog-diarrea and suffered instant hate of the guy. Truly sounds like he has his head firmly up his arse.

nommm-nommm 10y ago

Anytime anyone says (practically) anything about food or nutrition some people are going to be enraged. Food is both extremely personal and very polarizing.

fapjacks 10y ago

For what it's worth, way back in the beginning (I was there), the Soylent guy solicited work from the community under the guise of contributing to an open source product. That the "source" was eventually closed up and the end product rented out for a subscription fee... That might be where some of the disdain is coming from. Plus also he is kind of insufferable to a lot of people, if you read any of his writing.