The Biggest Pivot in YC History

#1

Post by jgrahamc » Mon, Jun 03, 2013, 11:02 AM UTC

The Biggest Pivot in YC History
blog.soylent.me

Re: The Biggest Pivot in YC History

#2

Post by pedalpete » Mon, Jun 03, 2013, 11:40 AM UTC

Aside from the nutritional benefits, I'm sure you guys have looked at the environmental benefits of soylent as well. I'd love to try the product (but I'm in Australia).

I don't know about the biggest pivot, but I'd say it could be the biggest disruptive business, possibly ever.

I've always envisioned a future where you'd eat a meal as a special social occasion, otherwise, get your nutrition from something like soylent (though I imagined a pill).

Re: The Biggest Pivot in YC History

#3

Post by buro9 » Mon, Jun 03, 2013, 11:47 AM UTC

Nutrition... I wonder what the core data looks like for what you need to consume, and how agreed upon it is.

I've always read differing and greatly conflicting views on what a person should have as intake, obviously because it's very subjective and so many factors are being balanced (who's saying it, why, motives, height, age, activity levels, etc).

The greatest part of this experiment that interests me is less about providing the product and more to do with determining the exact mix for someone.

Re: The Biggest Pivot in YC History

#4

Post by mherdeg » Mon, Jun 03, 2013, 11:49 AM UTC

If I remember right, another successful company which pivoted away from building wireless networks in developing countries was Meraki.

Poor developing countries. I hope they get their ubiquitous wireless soon. (Alternately, I wonder what this project will pivot into: http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1776324009/brck-your-bac... ).

Re: The Biggest Pivot in YC History

#5

Post by adlpz » Mon, Jun 03, 2013, 11:51 AM UTC

There has been a lot of criticism around here about this Soylent thing, and it's understandable: it's dangerous to trust your health to some guys without any medical or nutritional background.

But I am really happy to hear they are getting YC support and funding, now they will be able to develop it further with good input from specialists. This could become something really big.

Re: The Biggest Pivot in YC History

#6

Post by logicallee » Mon, Jun 03, 2013, 11:51 AM UTC

Why doesn't soylent just pivot to being a giant blender as a service company. Then you can just select what you want to eat: like a three-course meal, everything from soup to desert. Then they just blend all that up just-in-time and ship it out to you as one disgusting mush.

Re: The Biggest Pivot in YC History

#7

Post by zalew » Mon, Jun 03, 2013, 11:57 AM UTC

so, let me get this straight: the backers bought a powder substance from a random guy on the internet, consumed it for a week, excitingly report less sleep, more energy, better mood, and come back asking for more...

Re: The Biggest Pivot in YC History

#8

Post by arkitaip » Mon, Jun 03, 2013, 11:58 AM UTC

pedalpete wrote: post #2

Aside from the nutritional benefits, I'm sure you guys have looked at the environmental benefits of soylent as well. I'd love to try the product (but I'm in Australia). I don't know about the biggest pivot, but I'd say it could be the biggest disruptive business, possibly ever. I've always envisioned a future where you'd eat a meal as a special social occasion, otherwise, get your nutrition from something like soylen…

That sounds like a dystopia to me.

EDIT: I have to concede that while the Soylent team's lack of health/nutrition expertise is worrying, the promise of their business is so important on a global scale that they deserve to get funded and further research their ideas. Very rarely do you see a startup operate in this space, even more rare one that could end up fighting world hunger.

Re: The Biggest Pivot in YC History

#9

Post by DoubleMalt » Mon, Jun 03, 2013, 12:01 PM UTC

While I appreciate the efficiency of this, I will happily stay a relic of the olden days, when we ate food not only for being able to hack the next day, but also took pleasure out of every meal.

I am happy to spend a considerable part of my budget to procure groceries that have been grown in a sustainable way and meat from animals that were not industrially produced.

I am also happy to spend considerable time preparing these ingredients into Dishes that are not only nutritious but also a good enjoyment for all senses.

For people that otherwise get their food from budget Walmart microwave dishes or McDonalds and the likes, Soylent might be a good alternative. It is probably easy to add all kinds of spices to create the illusion of variation that is very important for most human taste buds.

Re: The Biggest Pivot in YC History

#10

Post by arkitaip » Mon, Jun 03, 2013, 12:13 PM UTC

DoubleMalt wrote: post #9

While I appreciate the efficiency of this, I will happily stay a relic of the olden days, when we ate food not only for being able to hack the next day, but also took pleasure out of every meal. I am happy to spend a considerable part of my budget to procure groceries that have been grown in a sustainable way and meat from animals that were not industrially produced. I am also happy to spend considerable time prepari…

I share your worries but "I will happily stay a relic of the olden days, when we ate food not only for being able to hack the next day" has never really been true. It's only very recently -- say last 100 years -- that people in the West have been able to eat for pleasure on a more massive scale instead of eating so you don't starve or get enough energy to work. Things like meat or variety in diet were mostly reserved for the upper classes.

Lots of people on the planet are still going hungry or even starving and for those people Soylent - provided it's actually cheaper and proven to be safe - could mean having access to regular nutritious meals for the first time in their lives.