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Soylent Closes $50M Series B Round Led by GV

blog.soylent.com

31–40 of 665 posts

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

#31
post #8

Serious question -- do they have an FDA approval?? Can they produce and sell it without it? Recently learnt about some Amish selling home made honey without FDA approval; now awaiting trial on a 20 years jail charge.

Total hypothesis, but don't they not need it since all of the ingredients are already FDA approved?

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

#32
A question to Soylent customers:

Do you use it as the occasional convenient meal replacement or how far do you go into replacing all real food?

I suspect there is both, but what I am getting at is how much Soylent's long-term success depends on people seeing eating as a nuisance that should be optimized away versus something that should be savoured and enjoyed.

To me this is in the context of the larger question of personal utility maximisation. In the grand scheme of things, we have just started being able to really monitor and improve all aspects of our lives (in terms of time spent, convenience), and there is the question of how far we (most people/potential customers) ultimately want to go. It has become clear that there is the potential to optimise away friction/time spent in almost all human habits, but it is not yet clear if we really want to keep going down that route.

Will we keep optimizing things like meals just because we can until there are (conceivably) nutrient implants that make eating unnecessary, or will we sort of revert and see that maximising utility of every interaction does not lead to overall greater satisfaction?

In one world, Soylent could eventually dominate, in the other, it will remain a niche product because eating and food is too important too most, also culturally speaking.

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

#34
post #9

The new cacao Soylent is so much tastier than I expected it would be. Despite all the mocking Soylent gets, the product is excellent. Maybe it's groundbreaking and maybe it's not, but it's definitely helpful to my life.

The cacao is pretty good, but the other new flavor, nectar, is terrible IMO. Tastes like liquid pez. I still prefer the original flavor for meals. Cacao tastes more like a treat than a meal.

It's my favorite. Tastes like the milk leftover from a bowl of Fruit Loops.

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

#35
post #5

Soylent gets a lot of hate (I'm looking forward to skipping out on this thread before the inevitable negative comments from people who assume that Soylent consumers will eat nothing but Soylent for the rest of their lives), but to me, it's solved a large problem in my life: what to eat when I'm hungry but I don't have enough time to prepare a full meal. It can happen every now and then when I'm rushing around, and so…

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.

Brand.

Unlike the examples you mentioned, Soylent is not a "lose weight" brand.

As an undergrad in college, Soylent is everywhere. Can't remember the last time I saw any of those other meal replacements.

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

#36
post #7
post #3

I feel like I'm the only who has ever read the nutrition facts. It's a garbage product full of ingredients I wouldn't aim to put in my body. Love the idea of it all, just not the science behind it.

Can you elaborate a bit? What exactly is garbage about the ingredients?

First off ingredients on labels are listed in order of most prevalent to least. So what stands out specifically is the unhealthy oils. Sunflower and canola. I'm mobile or I would paste links, but read up on them. Horrible omega ratios, and sketchy by-products are usually found in them (hopefully Soylent at least has quality versions of this).

Also maltodextrin is always one of the main ingredients. Super high gi, and no nutritional value.

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

#37
post #8

Serious question -- do they have an FDA approval?? Can they produce and sell it without it? Recently learnt about some Amish selling home made honey without FDA approval; now awaiting trial on a 20 years jail charge.

Can you point to that story? I know some got caught putting "cures cancer" on the label and that is a big no-no.

Yes that was the one. He had a client cliaming she got cancer free.

http://www.naturalnews.com/2017-02-23-amish-farmer-facing-68...

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

#38
post #20

I'm curious about the naming choice as the end of the movie with Heston reveals that eating "Soylent Green" is a form of cannibalism. Does the term "Soylent" signify something outside of the movie?

No, the name is directly referencing the movie. It's a tongue-in-cheek and self-deprecating, much in the spirit of programming culture.

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

#39
post #25
post #5

Soylent gets a lot of hate (I'm looking forward to skipping out on this thread before the inevitable negative comments from people who assume that Soylent consumers will eat nothing but Soylent for the rest of their lives), but to me, it's solved a large problem in my life: what to eat when I'm hungry but I don't have enough time to prepare a full meal. It can happen every now and then when I'm rushing around, and so…

How does it blow away a clif bar?

As I recall, Clif Bars are predominantly carbs and some fat. Soylent has a reasonable balance of protein and more emphasis on vitamins and minerals.

To be clear, I'm not a nutritional expert. But I've had people who know more than me tell me clif bars are basically non-nutritious.

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

#40

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…

IIRC Soylent is not patented and the creator has said that if someone can create the same thing, then that's fine because the goal is to help people.

So... it doesn't matter.

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