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I've been reading HN's overwhelmingly negative treatment of Soylent (as the concept) with some amusement. I'm glad they're successful, and hope they become even

by ph0rque 12y ago

I've been reading HN's overwhelmingly negative treatment of Soylent (as the concept) with some amusement. I'm glad they're successful, and hope they become even more so. That said, I was really underwhelmed with the taste of Soylent when I finally got mine. I understand that I can improve it by e.g. blending a banana into the shake, but if I need to take out my blender and prepare other food to add to Soylent, I might as well make a smoothie out of available fruits and veggies. The next time I order Soylent will be when their price comes down to the point where it's cheaper than the food I buy.

jeffreyrogers 12y ago
This was my experience as well. I'm curious what percentage of people reorder. Nonetheless, I'm happy to see soylent doing well over some of the other startups I've seen addressing really trivial problems that probably are better off without VC funding.
jasonisalive 12y ago
I've been reading HN's overwhelmingly negative treatment of Soylent (as the concept) with some amusement. It's interesting. HN is supposed to represent some of the world's most dynamic, forward-thinkers. However almost every truly disruptive development is greeted with small-minded negative thinking and parochialism. Bitcoin is scam money for paranoiacs who don't trust banks. Inflation is good for economies. The rich are too rich. We need more and higher taxes and more socialist redistribution of wealth. Soylent tastes bad and destroys traditional food cultures. Uber is too powerful and going to become a monopoly. Google is evil. Without the protection of friendly governments capitalism will exploit the poor. People are too stupid to protect themselves from predatory opportunists (and the government is somehow a perfect vessel to counteract them.) Everything is scary and the way things should be is how a small group of white men who are very good friends with the US government tell us how it should be, which happens to be very similar to today but with more friendly government intervention to fix everything white male programmers are scared of and don't understand. I guess it'll be entertaining to watch people changing their tune over the coming decades.
- TheCapn 12y ago
  You're using this as a platform to address other issues than what I think the OP is hinting at. Soylent isn't "new". It isn't "disrupting" anything. Meal replacement alternatives have existed for decades and there are numerous brands out there that have a medical proven trackrecord that can be obtained for cheaper than the Soylent we're seeing pushed today. What we have here is a case of "forward thinkers" believing that some crackpot idea from the startup culture is suddenly revolutionary because they marketed it best to this subculture of life. You're a sucker to believing Soylent offers anything revolutionary yet paying above market to have them feed you that lie. https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/tLIC_oIeeORWgna6kbpW1ug/htmlview#gid=0 https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/tLIC_oIeeORWgna6kbpW1...
  - aianus 12y ago
    I don't know where you're getting these prices from. In Toronto Boost and Ensure cost CAD$11 for 2000 calories (in bulk at Costco!) while Soylent costs CAD$10.75. The Soylent has more protein, a more balanced nutritional profile, less wasteful (and annoying) packaging, and is lactose free too. Edit: and the Ensure has 0 fiber!
  - jasonisalive 12y ago
    Hey, pretty good! Let me have a go. Ahem: The iPhone isn't "new". It isn't "disrupting" anything. Smartphones have existed for years and there are numerous brands out there that have a commercial proven trackrecord that can be obtained for cheaper than the iPhone we're seeing pushed today. What we have here is a case of "forward thinkers" believing that some crackpot idea from Apple is suddenly revolutionary because they marketed it best to this subculture of life. You're a sucker to believing iPhone offers anything revolutionary yet paying above market to have them feed you that lie. How did I do?
    - res0nat0r 12y ago
      Great, except this is More like it could be one of those knock off iPhones from China that electrocutes you since they are "disrupting" the field by not having anyone who's qualified in food nutrition working on their product day to day?
Someone1234 12y ago
Can you describe the taste? Some others have claimed it tasted like "nothingness."
- ph0rque 12y ago
  I'd describe it as liquified cardboard with a dash of sweetness.
ChikkaChiChi 12y ago
There is something productive about some of the negativity, but ultimately I end up feeling like some sort of fanboy when I start correcting some of the inaccuracies. We should hold companies to higher standards; they don't pay us to be their PR team. But in the case of some of the negativity regarding Soylent, it feels more like jealously than genuine concern.
ChuckMcM 12y ago
It certainly demonstrates that there are customer viewpoints that are not well represented by the commenters here. The interesting thing for me is that 'eating' (and by commutation 'food') is plugged in so deeply into our psyche that it seems people have opinions on it that they developed very early in life. One of the things I noted at Google was the disproportionate backlash when they cut back on the free food available. It was like someone had instituted daily flogging or something, but it was just food. And yet through out our lives and our history food, sharing a meal, etc, is rooted deeply in our tribal culture. Not something you want to mess with lightly. Its not like Christians re-enact the Last Cocktail Party, rather it is the Last Supper. Given those deep tendrils into our subconscious I wasn't surprised at the harsh response Soylent received. Nor the continuing resistance. And as someone who likes eating too much, I don't think it would be a good product for me but I certainly see how for some it would be ideal. That the company has made it this far and their problems are "success" problems (can't ship enough, more demand than product) I expect they will grow into something quite a bit bigger than they are. And I too am glad that someone is thinking about this from the perspective of an 'everyday' kind of thing rather than a 'jaw wired shut so you have to' or 'get your kids some protein before school' sort of way.

by ph0rque 12y ago

jeffreyrogers 12y ago

This was my experience as well. I'm curious what percentage of people reorder. Nonetheless, I'm happy to see soylent doing well over some of the other startups I've seen addressing really trivial problems that probably are better off without VC funding.

jasonisalive 12y ago

I've been reading HN's overwhelmingly negative treatment of Soylent (as the concept) with some amusement. It's interesting. HN is supposed to represent some of the world's most dynamic, forward-thinkers. However almost every truly disruptive development is greeted with small-minded negative thinking and parochialism. Bitcoin is scam money for paranoiacs who don't trust banks. Inflation is good for economies. The rich are too rich. We need more and higher taxes and more socialist redistribution of wealth. Soylent tastes bad and destroys traditional food cultures. Uber is too powerful and going to become a monopoly. Google is evil. Without the protection of friendly governments capitalism will exploit the poor. People are too stupid to protect themselves from predatory opportunists (and the government is somehow a perfect vessel to counteract them.) Everything is scary and the way things should be is how a small group of white men who are very good friends with the US government tell us how it should be, which happens to be very similar to today but with more friendly government intervention to fix everything white male programmers are scared of and don't understand. I guess it'll be entertaining to watch people changing their tune over the coming decades.

TheCapn 12y ago
You're using this as a platform to address other issues than what I think the OP is hinting at. Soylent isn't "new". It isn't "disrupting" anything. Meal replacement alternatives have existed for decades and there are numerous brands out there that have a medical proven trackrecord that can be obtained for cheaper than the Soylent we're seeing pushed today. What we have here is a case of "forward thinkers" believing that some crackpot idea from the startup culture is suddenly revolutionary because they marketed it best to this subculture of life. You're a sucker to believing Soylent offers anything revolutionary yet paying above market to have them feed you that lie. https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/tLIC_oIeeORWgna6kbpW1ug/htmlview#gid=0 https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/tLIC_oIeeORWgna6kbpW1...
- aianus 12y ago
  I don't know where you're getting these prices from. In Toronto Boost and Ensure cost CAD$11 for 2000 calories (in bulk at Costco!) while Soylent costs CAD$10.75. The Soylent has more protein, a more balanced nutritional profile, less wasteful (and annoying) packaging, and is lactose free too. Edit: and the Ensure has 0 fiber!
- jasonisalive 12y ago
  Hey, pretty good! Let me have a go. Ahem: The iPhone isn't "new". It isn't "disrupting" anything. Smartphones have existed for years and there are numerous brands out there that have a commercial proven trackrecord that can be obtained for cheaper than the iPhone we're seeing pushed today. What we have here is a case of "forward thinkers" believing that some crackpot idea from Apple is suddenly revolutionary because they marketed it best to this subculture of life. You're a sucker to believing iPhone offers anything revolutionary yet paying above market to have them feed you that lie. How did I do?
  - res0nat0r 12y ago
    Great, except this is More like it could be one of those knock off iPhones from China that electrocutes you since they are "disrupting" the field by not having anyone who's qualified in food nutrition working on their product day to day?

Someone1234 12y ago

Can you describe the taste? Some others have claimed it tasted like "nothingness."

ph0rque 12y ago
I'd describe it as liquified cardboard with a dash of sweetness.

ChikkaChiChi 12y ago

There is something productive about some of the negativity, but ultimately I end up feeling like some sort of fanboy when I start correcting some of the inaccuracies. We should hold companies to higher standards; they don't pay us to be their PR team. But in the case of some of the negativity regarding Soylent, it feels more like jealously than genuine concern.

ChuckMcM 12y ago

It certainly demonstrates that there are customer viewpoints that are not well represented by the commenters here. The interesting thing for me is that 'eating' (and by commutation 'food') is plugged in so deeply into our psyche that it seems people have opinions on it that they developed very early in life. One of the things I noted at Google was the disproportionate backlash when they cut back on the free food available. It was like someone had instituted daily flogging or something, but it was just food. And yet through out our lives and our history food, sharing a meal, etc, is rooted deeply in our tribal culture. Not something you want to mess with lightly. Its not like Christians re-enact the Last Cocktail Party, rather it is the Last Supper. Given those deep tendrils into our subconscious I wasn't surprised at the harsh response Soylent received. Nor the continuing resistance. And as someone who likes eating too much, I don't think it would be a good product for me but I certainly see how for some it would be ideal. That the company has made it this far and their problems are "success" problems (can't ship enough, more demand than product) I expect they will grow into something quite a bit bigger than they are. And I too am glad that someone is thinking about this from the perspective of an 'everyday' kind of thing rather than a 'jaw wired shut so you have to' or 'get your kids some protein before school' sort of way.