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Soylent Closes $50M Series B Round Led by GV

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

#581

Post by Lewton »

Chathamization wrote: post #580
Lewton wrote: post #266

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is a really weird myth that has started spreading lately. That somehow Soylent was just another meal replacement in a long line of meal replacements. No, none of the products you mentioned is anywhere near as nutritionally balanced as soylent. And those that are, clearly came after

Yeah, I've noticed that. It seems many people simply aren't aware of the state of meal replacement drinks when Soylent came out. People in the Soylent community actually looked at the other options at the time, but they were all fairly bad.

Yes, exactly. The reason why I remember it so well is because I had been looking for something like Soylent for years before it came out

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

#583

Post by jackmodern »

ghostly_s wrote: post #391
monkmartinez wrote: post #199

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes. Yes, you can go hiking on slimfast or Weight Watchers. I go hiking all the time in Arizona with a Builder Bar or an apple and some water. 6 to 8 mile trail runs with some water (nothing else) is very common for me and my friends. I am not going to mix up Soylent for trail running or hiking, ever. I can almost say that 99% of my friends will not either. I also participate (professionally) in uSAR via a technical…

Sorry, why can't you drink a protein shake on a call?

yeah, when I'm out backpacking I drink trader joe's chocolate protein powder, costs less, same nutrition facts on the label, no strange gas.

Soylent is just very good at marketing to people unfamiliar with protein powder.

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

#584

Post by Kurtz79 »

CPLX wrote: post #123
Kurtz79 wrote: post #106

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Soylent does nothing for me because I find that any other viable option for eating, be it a sandwich from a vending machine, is a more attractive. Even low quality food is likely to give me a modicum of satisfaction, when a meal replacement does not. I can't get the hate either, though. If you are happy with it and improves your life, more power to you (and to Soylent).

> I can't get the hate either, though. I believe the fact that someone just wrote them a $50MM check is a fine reason to make a critical assessment of their actual value.

But I think that's really the point.

Criticism of Soylent seems to be due to factors that go beyond a reasonable critical assessment of the product, and tends to be much harsher in form.

I think many people tend to assume that just because Soylent is not an appealing product for THEM, then there is not a market for it.

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

#585

Post by wutbrodo »

nazgulnarsil wrote: post #556
wutbrodo wrote: post #459

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't think the gulf is as significant as you're making it sound based on "30 seconds of googling". I had a pretty severe vitamin D deficiency a year or two ago and the (high-IU) prescription my doctor wrote for me was D2. I asked him if I could just buy OTC D3 pills and take more of them, and his response was "yea that's fine, if anything those are more bio-available". This medical professional's nonchalance about…

I don't think it's a bizarre claim at all. The ingredients just don't look like the recommendations of nutritionists, dieticians, or researchers focusing on nutrition. Nothing aiming at human health would have soy protein (59% bioavailability) and maltodextrin (absorbed by your body as fast as glucose but doesn't need to be listed as a sugar) as the first two ingredients. Why oh why are these two of the most common i…

I was responding specifically to the vitamin D claim, since that was the evidence you presented to make your fairly-extreme claim (and one that I happened to have some personal knowledge about).

Even in general though, I don't see why the only thing to optimize for is as much bioavailability as possible. People care about things like cost too. (Though this opinion of mine is a lot less strong than my reaction to your initial claim)

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

#586

Post by rubber_duck »

marricks wrote: post #568
rubber_duck wrote: post #402

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Soylent has 20% of calories from protein - good luck with that if you do any physical activity. The stuff I mentioned can be bought in 5kg bags which will last you a month at least - depending on how much meals you're replacing - if it's all then you'll probably go trough more - you can pre-mix a week worth in a standard plastic container and shake in like two minutes. The major time difference is going to be in figu…

Oh my gosh, one of you shows up in every thread about Soylent or veganism talking about how we need 30% protein in our diet or something. As I went vegan I went from benching 120 to 200 with about 20% protein intake, and it was fine. We don't need shit tons of protein that everyone says we do, Soylent has a nice ratio of it.

You went from 55kg to 90kg (I'm assuming those numbers are lbs beacuse I highly doubt someone eating 20% protein can bench 200kg) ? That's just your CNS learning how to activate the muscles with intensity - you probably gained very little lean mass. For comparison I made a bigger jump in first 3 months of training on a 500 kcal deficit - but I plateaued after that because I just wasn't getting enough calories and protein to grow - after I went in to a surplus I started adding weight to the bar again. There's no way you'll be anywhere close to a competitive (even on recreational level) with 20% protein intake - and you won't gain significant muscle mass/look like you lift (you might get some newbie gains but even those will be underwhelming compared to a proper bulk diet).

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

#587

Post by andygates »

nommm-nommm wrote: post #434
BugsJustFindMe wrote: post #102

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 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…

Products for people on feeding tubes like Jevity? Last I checked Soylent contained Sucralose (Splenda).

Not speaking to that specific product, but actual medically-approved food replacements are at a big price premium, because their use is so niche.

(And if it's not going in your mouth, it can taste like ass.)

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

#588

Post by victorhooi »

I just completed the Everest Base Camp trek with my wife - I used Soylent (version 1.4) for the hike. So I basically subsisted on Soylent for 2 weeks of hiking/climbing up to 5,500 metres above sea level.

I did 1 packet per day (2000 calories), supplemented with some snack food on the trail (dried nuts and fruit, Stinger-brand honey waffles, muesli bars etc.).

Motivation was firstly as an experiment (to see how I would cope), secondly because I wanted to accurately control/measure my caloric intake, and thirdly, because I was somewhat paranoid about getting food poisoning on the trek. (I used a MSR Guardian to provide clean filtered water for mixing up Soylent).

I didn't really notice any odd effects - and it went better than expected well. Didn't get food poisoning (wife got diarrhoea, but she ate local food) - was a bit hungry on some days (in hindsight, 2,000 calories was a bit low - I upped it to 2,500 calories on the day I climbed Kala Pattar).

All I can say was, Soylent was great for this use-case, and I'm a firm believer now. At home, I only use Soylent for when I have no time to cook, and need a reasonably healthy/complete meal - if your alternative is going out for a late-night kebab, or 24-hour fast-food, it's not a hard choice for me =).

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

#589

Post by andygates »

aroman wrote: post #35
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.

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.

Is that product penetration or advertising?

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

#590

Post by Ftuuky »

aisofteng wrote: post #567
jdavis703 wrote: post #388

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

Do you shower?

He could be like me and shower before going to bed.
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