Soylent Closes $50M Series B Round Led by GV • Hacker News Board

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

#381

Post by fghvbnvbnfe » Thu, May 04, 2017, 6:36 PM UTC

irq11 wrote: post #248

fghvbnvbnfe wrote: post #208

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

Yes. That single pouch is a significant problem when you generate several a day. They are intended to be used for meal prep, which involves hot water. They're fairly heavy and large, and you have to carry them out with you. You can save a significant amount of weight when packaging your own food by using smaller, lesser weight bags with a separate reusable insulator. Remember, we're talking about people that will pay a significantly higher price for an item that is maybe an ounce or two lighter.

It also gives you a lot more control over portions, which can be an issue as well. There is no point packing more than you are going to eat.

I brought up the salt content not for health reasons, but taste. Many of the ones I've tried have been so salty I've had trouble finishing them even after a day of backpacking.

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

#382

Post by eddieone » Thu, May 04, 2017, 6:38 PM UTC

As a person who has researched Soylent, I would not describe it as cheap or healthy. Most of the people with opposing opinions seem to think it's a magic weight loss supplement. In reality, the properties that cause weight loss seem to be the low quality ingredients.

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

#383

Post by DanBC » Thu, May 04, 2017, 6:40 PM UTC

gnode wrote: post #173

i_am_viet wrote: post #111

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Except on those days when it isn't. https://techcrunch.com/2017/04/24/dairy-might-have-snuck-int...

Unless you grow and prepare all your food yourself, you have this problem with anything.

You have it disproportionately more often with Soylent.

Other food manufacturers go for years, with tens of millions of units sold each day, without having a recall.

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

#384

Post by Rudism » Thu, May 04, 2017, 6:41 PM UTC

I've been trying out alternate-day fasting (alternating between 500-600 calorie "fasting" days and normal eating days). Primarily to help me lose a few pounds, but also in response to all of the recent publicized studies about how fasting and calorie restriction may have other overall health benefits.

Usually on my 500 calorie days I'll just drink a couple Boosts. I'd like to consider Soylent as an option for the fasting days as well, but from a cost perspective it can't really compete with the other alternatives out there (Boost, Ensure, and various no-name store brands available from places like Sam's Club and Costco). Liquid Soylent runs between $2.69-$3.09/400kcal, whereas high protein Boost (which is not even the cheapest option if you're willing to go with no-name brands) runs at $1.93/400kcal. Going with Soylent Powder can bring your costs down more in line at $1.54/400kcal, but the added hassle of having to mix it yourself doesn't make this a very attractive option in comparison.

I guess what I'm ultimately getting at is, assuming you are just using Soylent to supplement an otherwise normal diet, I don't understand its appeal over other less expensive nutritional meal supplements like Boost and Ensure.

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

#385

Post by paulcole » Thu, May 04, 2017, 6:42 PM UTC

hammock wrote: post #344

deeth_starr_v wrote: post #256

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Agreed, while the intentions of Soylent are probably sincere, when I first heard about it my response was "nope nope nope". My parents were hippies and we grew/raised most of our food when I was a kid. But my grandparents had embraced the new space-age diet: margarine in place of butter, tang instead of orange juice, kraft instead of cheese, etc. I thought it tasted awful compared to real food. As we have found out,…

>"eat what your grand-grand parents ate" Not possible, unfortunately. Meat and vegetables are so totally different now. For example meats are raised on GM corn and antibiotics, altering their balance of omega 3's, impact on gut health, and other things. While today's vegetables are massively decremented in micronutrients- and may have less arsenic-based pesticide residue than your greatgrandparents', but more of othe…

yeah, the apples of today are so different from my grandpa's apple that a bottle of soy sludge is a much better choice nutritionally.

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

#386

Post by paulcole » Thu, May 04, 2017, 6:44 PM UTC

ng12 wrote: post #295

giaour wrote: post #198

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The founder of Soylent has repeatedly pushed his product as a solution for world hunger, unhealthy diets in the first world, and poor time management. I think critiquing the product on those terms is fair.

The Soylent of today doesn't claim that though. It says right on bottle that it can replace a meal but it should not replace every meal. In that respect it's not much different than Ensure or other meal supplements.

Their website definitely claims that Soylent is a complete substitute for all food.

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

#387

Post by lifeformed » Thu, May 04, 2017, 6:45 PM UTC

Questron wrote: post #263

Weird. You need food during an eight hour shift?

Lunch?????????

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

#388

Post by jdavis703 » Thu, May 04, 2017, 6:48 PM UTC

lukas099 wrote: post #305

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.

I drink a mix of whey/soy protein powder mixed in milk each morning. Does soylent have any advantages over that if I eat balanced meals the rest of the day?

I like the Coffiest product because it's basically like green tea, due to the caffeine + l-theanine they add (basically you get calm energy). Also I have only 13 minutes from waking up to leaving my door each morning, so saving time from mixing anything up, chewing food, etc is very useful.

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

#389

Post by camillomiller » Thu, May 04, 2017, 6:48 PM UTC

pinaceae wrote: post #279

camillomiller wrote: post #223

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you call it Ktchp.io, you pretend you're using a better recipe generated through machine learning, you create an AR solution to serve it better and more effectively, [insert easy quip about startup culture here], then maybe yes.

No, it should have a 400$ wifi-enabled ketchup squeezer with the force of a hundred 747s.

Or the company doesn't really sell ketchup but it offers a platform that lets you share ketchup with your neighbors for a small fee (initially subsidized by investors).

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

#390

Post by victor22 » Thu, May 04, 2017, 6:48 PM UTC

johnfn wrote: 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…

I think you nailed it. I drink Soylent not to replace a dinner with my girlfriend, but in those times when the alternative is getting a quick burger or pizza due to lack of time, usually late in the night.