
Soylent’s Next Chapter - dankohn1
http://blog.soylent.com/post/168437321722/soylents-next-chapter
======
jamestimmins
This reminds me of a comment (here on HN I believe) after David Sacks took
over Zenefits after its compliance debacle:

"When the old CEO writes the announcement letter, it was her choice. When the
new CEO write the letter, it was the board's choice."

~~~
hsod
What if, as in this case, they both wrote it?

~~~
jamestimmins
Per the spirit of the "rule" (whether it reflects reality is a different
question), I'd say that what matters is whether or not the first CEO took part
in the announcement at all. The fact that the new CEO also wrote something
seems less significant.

------
noncoml
Probably in the majority of the cases it makes sense for the founder to step
aside for a new CEO, but I can only imagine how brave and difficult decision
must be.

Edit: Maybe some HN folks who have done the same can share their stories?

~~~
tt
Never easy to do this. But most founders' mindset is to do whatever is best
for the survivability and growth of the company. That's the path I took.

~~~
dexterdog
I don't know if that's the mindset of most founders, but it is probably the
mindset of most founders who have a company that is still alive.

------
patrickyeon
It's neat to look at the two pictures:

Rob is holding up a bag of Soylent, presenting it to the reader, bag in focus
Rob considerably out of focus. Background is hard to make out, maybe a lag,
kitchen, or kitchen-lab?

Bryan is sitting at a table, clearly in a situation where he's "on display"
(jacket, microphone, earpiece), face well-lit. The product is in front of him,
almost as out of focus as Rob is in the first photo. In fact, although the
bottles are branded, you can more easily make out the Soylent logo on Bryan's
shirt even though it's folded than you can on the bottles.

I'm just saying, if this were a movie I know what the message the director/DP
would be trying to convey is: Rob was all about being the CEO who invented
Soylent and brought it to the world. He makes a bag of powder the star of the
photo of himself. Now it's Bryan's time, where the focus of the CEO's office
is the CEO: Bryan.

Of course, this is not a movie. They're probably saying a lot less than that
with their photo choices in real life.

~~~
modfodder
As a video editor, I'd say you are close. imho, to me it doesn't say that Rob
was making his leadership of the company all about the product (you'd really
have to go back and look at past photos to see if this is true) but more that
he is now fading into the background of the company, while Bryan is "focused"
on future of the company (looking towards the viewers right which is typically
the future). Although many decisions like that in films often tend to be happy
accidents (or subconscious choices), it is pretty clear that they are
deemphasizing Rob.

------
neals
Is there a template out there for these types of "farewell letters", it feels
like every leaving CEO, every startup that pulls the plug and every company
that is bought by one of the big ones, these letters all have the same buildup
and delivery.

~~~
Bartweiss
As I read this, it's the standard shorthand for "after a product setback, the
board got worried that I'm too eccentric and not managerial enough, so they
brought in an MBA". I mean, that's a _bit_ harsh, but I don't think I'm wrong
- the dot com bubble produced so many of these letters that they really are
down to a standard template.

If this isn't a respectability move after Soylent's recently quality
struggles, I'll... drink a bunch of Soylent, I guess.

~~~
jamoes
Soylent hasn't had any quality struggles in the past 6 months that I'm aware
of.

12-18 months ago they had multiple issues: sporadic mold under the caps, some
people severely allergic to the algae-based ingredient they used, and
occasional long shipping delays. But all of those issues have been ironed out
while Rhinehart was still CEO.

I honestly think this situation is closer to young Larry Page stepping aside
for 10 years while Eric Schmidt ran Google than it is to anything particularly
bad that Rhinehart has done. By all measures I've seen, Rosa Labs is highly
successful and growing fast.

~~~
Amygaz
While I agree with you, I want to point that last October Health Canada
decided that soylent could not be sold in Canada anymore, because it doesn't
meet the minimum requirement of a meal replacement.

~~~
BigJono
I'd be interested to hear what requirements it failed. Because on the surface
(which is as deep as I've looked into Soylent) it seems pretty comprehensive,
no?

~~~
jnwatson
It didn't have enough carbs (seriously). Canada has very specific nutritional
requirements for a "meal replacement".

The KetoChow guy gets around this by recommending to their Canadian customers,
instead of mixing with cream, to mix KetoChow with maple syrup.

I kid not.

------
tejaswiy
What's going on with Soylent these days? They've been out for a while, so I'd
be interested to learn about any (relatively) long term studies that came out
about the health effects of a soylent-only diet.

~~~
xeromal
Not sure if it's a meme, but reddit/hackernews seem to harp on soylent and
prefer Ensure which seems to have more nutrients per meal.

~~~
t0mbstone
Ensure is made with milk, though, which a lot of people are allergic to

~~~
dragonwriter
Milk is a common allergen, especially among young children, but Soylent is
also made with common food allergens (notably, soy protein and gluten), so on
balance that issue is kind of a wash (or, maybe, advantage to Ensure), though
specific users may avoid one or the other based on their specific allergies
and conditions.

------
oopsies49
Soylent has been unavailable in Canada since October:
[https://faq.soylent.com/hc/en-
us/articles/115005267426](https://faq.soylent.com/hc/en-
us/articles/115005267426)

~~~
Waterluvian
Yeah. And I'm running out of my stash. It's what I have at lunch when I'm not
interested in walking away from my code.

I'm not even romantically interested in Soylent. I will use any brand. It just
has to have a low glycemic index. =(

~~~
ghostbrainalpha
I would suggest KETOCHOW if you are looking for a lower glycemic index.

Also I laughed out loud at your typo. Please don't edit it.

~~~
Waterluvian
I explicitly put "romantically" :)

I meant that I don't have a, "I'm a Soylent fanboy" attitude.

------
dschuetz
Aw, not soylent again! I was wondering why _this_ is being linked on _HN_ ,
but then I reminded myself that Soylent is supposed to be food hacking.
Great... Scott...

------
sudosteph
That's cool and all, but maybe just focus on fixing the overly-tight bottle
caps now? I can't drink it and buy more if I can't open it...

~~~
fosk
This is not how we do things these days - you will have an option to buy an
accessory on every delivery for $9.99 extra.

~~~
IncRnd
You can actually use Amazon Opener instead of purchasing the Soylent holder
and turner. Plus Amazon Opener can open Soylent using your phone app. Very
convenient in my book to get Amazon Opener on Prime, since they give 24 months
to pay @ $17/month, and you still get free app updates.

------
cphuntington97
Soylent Food Bars were the only vegan food bars on the market. Now they're
gone. Please bring them back.

~~~
astura
???

What?

There's _tons_ of vegan food bars on the market: Luna Bars, Larabars, Clif
Bars, ProBars, and probably a lot more.

------
pmarreck
There’s a lot of valueless appeals to taste/opinion in this discussion...
possibly the least informative commentary I’ve ever seen on HN

~~~
resfirestar
That's just every Soylent thread, or more broadly every nutrition related
thread. It's one of those things everyone thinks they know a lot about,
whether from investing a lot of time and money into a fad diet or just from
watching a youtube video with more emotional than scientific content.

Since small changes in diet don't really affect the health of most people when
compared to the sum of everything else, I imagine we tend to get a lot of
meaningless confirmation, too. One time I gave up on eating vegetarian because
I was feeling worse. So I wrote off the idea of vegetarian meals for years.
Looking back on it, the problem was probably more about my extremely high
stress levels at the time than the food.

~~~
deeth_starr_v
Also, being vegetarian doesn't mean eating healthy. I was vegetarian in
college and ate tons of fries and quesadillas. I eat meat now but try to eat
mostly vegetables.

------
wmil
Ctrl+F Canada

And crap. Looks like I'm not going to get more Coffiest any time soon.

------
bactrian
Good time to start a Soylent competitor if you’ve been thinking of it.

~~~
orthecreedence
Huel just came to the US. I haven't tried Soylent, but I have to say I really
love Huel. Keeps me full, no stomach issues, the vanilla just tastes like
lightly sweetened oatmeal.

Plus it's vegan, gluten-free, non-gmo, low fodmap, etc etc. You'd have to try
REALLY hard to find a stomach condition that wouldn't allow Huel.

~~~
RepressedEmu
I have a bag of Huel in my kitchen gathering dust because I just couldn't get
past the consistency of it(the little chunks of oats or whatever). Also the
name reminds me of "Human Gruel" meanwhile everyone I say it to immediately
thinks "Human Fuel", which I think is amusing. I guess my brain burned the
connection to those two words after trying the stuff for a couple weeks!

~~~
orthecreedence
I actually don't mind the chunks, but I am probably the least picky eater I
know. That said, I have gotten to the point where I can mix it to a fairly
uniform consistency (just shaking a lot and doing the right ratios of liquid
to powder) so maybe it just takes practice.

~~~
RepressedEmu
I think the chunks definitely help with being able to feel very full after
drinking it. Maybe I'm just not letting it mix/soften well enough before going
for it. I'll do more experimenting!

------
zanedb
This is only semi-related, but is it possible to order a sample of Soylent?

They ship in bulk on Amazon and I just want to try it (maybe 1 bottle per
flavor) before buying an entire set.

~~~
unobtaniumstool
They make a variety pack, but it's only available with the caffeinated
flavors.

~~~
zanedb
Do you have a link to the variety pack? There used to be one on Amazon but I
can't find it anymore.

~~~
hartzell
Here's a link to the 12-bottle variety pack of the caffeinated flavors:
[https://www.amazon.com/Soylent-Replacement-Drink-Variety-
Bot...](https://www.amazon.com/Soylent-Replacement-Drink-Variety-
Bottles/dp/B073WW761F/)

There are ASIN's for smaller packages (e.g. [https://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-
listing/B01MTBJCR6/](https://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/B01MTBJCR6/)) but
the pricing isn't rational.

------
kirykl
Distribution is really key for their business, and refrigerated shelf space is
pricey and hard. If an industry insider is needed to make it happen faster, go
for it

~~~
skybrian
Maybe it will help that Soylent doesn't need to be refrigerated before
opening? Though that might be the preferred way to drink it, like soda.

------
xupybd
I've been waiting a long time for them to ship to New Zealand. Still no option
:(.

~~~
aunty_helen
I've been getting Aussielent after the local brand Sipreme uh... imploded.

Worth checking out and is actually slightly cheaper.

~~~
xupybd
Thank you madam prime minister

------
jbergens
First thing for new CEO, add more countries. Last time I checked they still
missed a number of countries including Sweden. Strange that they couldn't fix
this in their first two years.

------
mathgeek
I was hoping this would be some new product rather than just a change of
leadership.

------
samnwa
I hate Soylent so much. If you like the idea of eating efficiently, just get
some whey protein and possibly a veggie shake mix. Oh wait, that's not good
enough. I need to seem hip, cool, and into the latest fad diet plan.

~~~
zzzzzzzza
Right now what kind of whey protein, and which veggie shake mix? Do I need to
buy a blender?

It's more complicated. Hate is a strong word already. I don't think anyone
(okay maybe a very tiny minority in sv or something where cool is defined
differently from everywhere else) drinking soylent is trying to be hip or
cool.

Do you hate people trying paleo diets? How about gluten free? I doubt it.

~~~
dragonwriter
> Right now what kind of whey protein, and which veggie shake mix?

Pretty much any of either that is on the market. Soylent isn't that
remarkable, nor is there a well-understood narrow optimum (despite Soylent
both pretending that there is and that it is always right at that point even
with the major formula changes.)

> Do I need to buy a blender?

No, just a closed container for shaking will work tolerably well, or a blender
bottle/cup (the ones with either an agitator ball or internal fixed plastic
blades to help with shaking a powder) is even better.

~~~
zzzzzzzza
there isn't a well understood optimum but it's easy to screw up and get a
vitamin b12 deficiency for instance, or to put too much fiber or sulfur and
constantly pass gas, etc.

------
evo_9
Chapter 7?

------
Justsignedup
"Soylent's CEO is replaced." Saved you a click, and reading some PR mumbo
jumbo.

~~~
superquest
Probably a good thing for Soylent and the former CEO.

The guy always seemed like the kind of eccentric dynamo who excels at starting
companies, rather than running them.

~~~
glibgil
Excels?

~~~
superquest
[https://www.google.com/search?q=excels](https://www.google.com/search?q=excels)

------
Lambent_Cactus
Picture of new CEO Bryan Crowley looks like a parody. And this line!

> First of all, I want to take a moment to say hello and thank you to all of
> our Soylent friends out there who have helped turn Rob’s vision into one of
> the most talked about and fastest growing brands in the food and beverage
> industry!

~~~
Kiro
How can this be the top comment? Making fun of someone's look? Is this what
we've become?

~~~
dmcy22
I'm not sure the comment was about the CEO's looks as much as the photo
itself. It has a stock/cliche feel to it with the product in the foreground,
slight smile, pose, clothing, etc.

------
crsv
TLDR: Transitioning from lovable nerd as CEO to oddly-similar-to-Tony-Robbins
CEO.

On the surface, about as appealing as the thought of drinking Soylent.

------
cocktailpeanuts
function bullshit_translator(post) {

    
    
      if (/(next chapter|incredible journey)/.test(post.title)) {
    
        if (/new ceo/.test(post.content)) {
    
          return "I'm stepping down as CEO";
      
        } else if (/joining/.test(post.content)) {
    
          return "We ran out of money and our VCs saved us and themselves by acq-hiring us to the company."
            
               + "Even though we made 0 money from this and will be stuck with this company for next 2 years for vesting,"
    
               + "this is the part where you say 'Congrats!"
    
               + "so that I can call my self a 'serial entrepreneur' and put 'my company got acquired by XXX corp' on my resume"
    
        }
    
      }
    
    }

~~~
tomasien
Soylent is definiteeellllly not out of money

~~~
cocktailpeanuts
that's not how this code works

------
spamlord
The plant estrogens in this soy filled pseudo-nutrition are harmful for men's
health. No idea why dudes drink this stuff.

------
ghostcluster
The soy boy memes must have really got to him.

~~~
exception_e
Oh, come on. Don't downvote this. Had a big chuckle xD

------
ivanbakel
I wonder if this was submitted as a grand announcement or as a case study. The
idea of a drink having a "next chapter" is pretty comical.

What radical twist is in beer's next chapter? More hops?

~~~
dexterdog
That was beer's last chapter.

~~~
astura
Yeah and beer's next chapter seem to be sours... Which I can get on board
with.

~~~
dexterdog
Sours are already sour enough and I do like some of them. If they follow the
same trajectory as IPAs it will be a race to be the most sour and I don't look
forward to that.

~~~
astura
Exactly.

However, there's going to be some standouts.

