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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 p
by 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 agoHey. Herbalife isn't a pyramid scheme. It's a dimaryp!
- joshmn 10y agoIn case people somehow missed it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s6MwGeOm8iI https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s6MwGeOm8iI
- TaylorGood 10y agoSo amusing. (Somewhat surprised the average person hasn't gotten the memo after X decades)
- pavel_lishin 10y agoLuckily for pyramid and ponzi schemes, there are new average people being born every decade.
- btian 10y agoIt's the opposite of dimaryp - pyramid
- esja 10y agoOr a trapezoid: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uuVh36vQkSI https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uuVh36vQkSI
- dman7 10y agoAs 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 agothere 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 agoAlso, 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 agoI 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 agoPurely 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 agoWas 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 agoI 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.