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Soylent Closes $50M Series B Round Led by GV

blog.soylent.com

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Re: Soylent Closes $50M Series B Round Led by GV

#241

Post by Danihan »

briantakita wrote: post #144
johnfn wrote: post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> easily outplayed because you switched to a different drink already. Not really. Soylent is much cheaper than Ample, and that's a major plus for the cost conscious (which is a lot of people!) As for the other ones - honestly mostly marketing I'd imagine. I've never heard of any product billed as a "nutritionally complete" meal. SlimFast to me sounds like a dieting product (as do weight watcher shakes), which isn't w…

I lived on Garden of Life's Raw Organic Meal + Green Vibrance + Alkaline Water for a while. https://www.gardenoflife.com/content/product/why-choose-raw-... https://www.vibranthealth.com/green-vibrance/

How did that go?

Re: Soylent Closes $50M Series B Round Led by GV

#242

Post by JumpCrisscross »

rubatuga wrote: post #155

Although I was initially brought onto the hype train by great marketing and the promises of health and complete nutrition, I realize that my initial reliance on Soylent was actually part of a deeper problem, brought on by problems such as depression and inappropriate time management. When in reality I should have had enough time to eat out or possibly even cook a meal, I found myself relying on Soylent. I didn't leav…

N=1 here. After Soylent found its way into my home I started drinking it for lunch (chocolate shake). Previously, I'd have ordered in or run out to grab a salad.

With the extra time I found myself, instead of rushing between lunch and work, wandering around listening to audiobooks or podcasts. I started enjoying these walks so much I extended them. On one podcast I heard about Blue Apron. I've never liked cooking, but the release of lunch's tediousness pushed me to give it a try.

Dinner is now, three times a week, a home-cooked meal for myself and one other. (Together, Blue Apron and Soylent reduced my daily caloric intake appreciably, at least on weekdays.)

Re: Soylent Closes $50M Series B Round Led by GV

#243

Post by seanalltogether »

zorbadgreek wrote: post #16

I'm trying to understand what Soylent's business moat is. My inclination is economies of scale to drive cost of goods down, like many food companies. To that end, I don't see their product as all that unique or difficult to replicate, and I also foresee headwinds for them if/when they try to market to a broader base of consumers who already have powders, shakes, bars, and hundreds of other meal substitutes to choose…

You could ask the same thing about dollar shave club. companies pushing subscription based services benefit greatly from peoples desires not to change something that works well enough.

Re: Soylent Closes $50M Series B Round Led by GV

#244

Post by crispyambulance »

BugsJustFindMe wrote: post #102
milquetoastaf wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What advantage does Soylent have over say, other meal replacements e.g. Slimfast, weight watcher shakes, juices etc that have existed for years before it and will continue to do so for years after? All I see is SV hype and marketing. In fact you just showed that Soylent is easily outplayed because you switched to a different drink already.

> What advantage does Soylent have over say, other meal replacements e.g. Slimfast, weight watcher shakes, juices etc Which of those examples are actual food replacements instead of liquid candy blasted with vitamins? Slimfast high protein is the only option I see online that doesn't include huge amounts of sugar, but a single 180 calorie shake also gives way too much vitamins and protein to be sane times 10, which i…

>... haven't pointed to a realistic replacement for it.

The "realistic replacement" is to not worry too much about perfectly balanced nutrition if you need skip an actual real meal occasionally. The body can handle it.

Re: Soylent Closes $50M Series B Round Led by GV

#245

Post by axlprose »

johnfn wrote: post #105
macspoofing wrote: post #89

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>If there are non-diet meal replacements Millions.

Im going to copy a response I made to someone else in this thread: The fact that at least 4 people in this thread have mentioned "meal replacements" but not a single one has named a specific product I would know by name (non dieting!) seems to me a pretty clear indictment that this category is not as established as you are suggesting.

the meal replacement (or "MRP") is extremely well established. Just walk into any nutrition store like GNC or VitaminShoppe and they'll likely have a whole section devoted to MRPs right next to the protein shakes/bars.

And as for specific products...

- https://www.bodybuilding.com/store/vega/one.html

- https://www.bodybuilding.com/store/garden-of-life/raw-organi...

- https://www.iherb.com/pr/Madre-Labs-Zenbu-Shake-Meal-Replace...

- https://www.iherb.com/pr/Now-Foods-Tru-Food-Vegan-Natural-Be...

- https://www.iherb.com/pr/Nature-s-Plus-Source-of-Life-Vitami...

- https://www.iherb.com/pr/Orgain-Organic-Meal-All-In-One-Nutr...

- https://www.iherb.com/pr/PlantFusion-Phood-100-Whole-Food-Me...

- https://www.iherb.com/pr/MRM-Veggie-Meal-Replacement-Chocola...

- https://www.iherb.com/pr/Pure-Advantage-MRP-Meal-Replacement...

- https://www.iherb.com/pr/Vibrant-Health-Maximum-Vibrance-Ver...

- https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B0038B1EOY/

- https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00KS6WUUE/

- https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B0184DGHHO/

- https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B004VRGS7W/

- https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B0088YQ8MO/

- https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B01N2M3RK0/

- https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B01N3Y7R1S/

And those are just a few results from a quick search for "meal replacement" across 3 different stores.

Now, I'm not against Soylent, and I'm definitely pro meal replacement products, but let's at least be honest here and call a spade a spade. Soylent's main differentiating factor is it's marketing pitch and that's ok, it doesn't have to be totally revolutionary to succeed.

Re: Soylent Closes $50M Series B Round Led by GV

#246

Post by grandalf »

andrewmunsell wrote: post #157
grandalf wrote: post #13

I've been wanting to try Soylent but have not done so b/c of the price. Is there an HN promo code or something? I'd try it for a full month.

Soylent offers 50% off if you "refer a friend", so you can get it for ~$16. http://soy.lt/r/bbyysMpsFN Note, though this is a "referral link", I do not get anything out of it, but they do donate to World Food Program USA: https://www.soylent.com/refer/

Thanks :) Just ordered some.

Re: Soylent Closes $50M Series B Round Led by GV

#247

Post by tyleraldrich »

michaelbuckbee wrote: post #56
Danihan wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How does it blow away a clif bar?

Clif Bars are roughly the same caloric and nutritional content of a standard size Snickers bar.

Except Clif Bars have like 4x the protein, which makes them a million times better for their primary purpose, which is a compact energy source during/after a workout.

Re: Soylent Closes $50M Series B Round Led by GV

#248

Post by irq11 »

fghvbnvbnfe wrote: post #208
irq11 wrote: post #153

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Uh, you know that every REI has a wide selection of freeze-dried camping foods, right? They're a lot better than the idea of slurping down bland nutrient goo (but more power to you, if nutrient spooge is your preference, I suppose). As for price, I bought a 30-day supply of camp food for less than $100 on amazon.

Those are really not alternatives to the mentioned uses. The freeze dried food selection is somewhat limited, tends to be very salty, takes substantially more time to prepare, and generates a lot of waste you get to continue hauling around. If your goals include speed or (less) weight, those freeze dried options are really far from ideal. To get around the weight issue you mostly need to plan and package your food yo…

The things i'm talking about are a single pouch per meal. There's no more or less waste than mixing up a sack of goo. Many can be eaten dry in a pinch. Have fun eating dry soylent.

I can't really speak to the exact sodium content, but it's more than reasonable for emergency rations or hiking or SAR. You're not eating this stuff every meal for the rest of your life, and if you are, you deserve what you get.

Re: Soylent Closes $50M Series B Round Led by GV

#249

Post by jonknee »

enraged_camel wrote: post #73
blueatlas wrote: post #64

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I can't imagine that the creator of Soylent really feels that way, at least from a business perspective. I doubt investors would put their money into a business that was fine with getting beat in the marketplace as long as it helps people.

>>I can't imagine that the creator of Soylent really feels that way, at least from a business perspective. Why not? Elon Musk did the same thing by basically saying Tesla's patents are "open-source" and free to use: https://www.tesla.com/blog/all-our-patent-are-belong-you

Setting up a factory to manufacture vehicles at scale is a lot different than mixing together some supplement powders.

Re: Soylent Closes $50M Series B Round Led by GV

#250

Post by rubicon33 »

rubatuga wrote: post #219
rubicon33 wrote: post #204

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Your original comment is very confusing. It's difficult to tell whether you are blaming Soylent for the onset of depression due to nutritional deficiencies, or whether you Soylent was simply an enabler but not the direct cause.

I apologize, and let me clarify. I don't think Soylent was the cause of any of my problems. I had a problem before I started drinking it, but I had hoped the drink would be beneficial to my life. However, I started to spiral into my problems once again even with Soylent, and I believe that many others who are attempting to solve a personal problem using the drink will also do so.

Thanks for clarifying, that makes sense. I can definitely see Soylent compounding one's problems, if not taken carefully. Kudos for realizing you needed a change.
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