I'd first wonder about cost (hence my anecdote about $300 nutritionally complete goo-in-a-bag meals), then about completeness (side effects may be preferable to alternatives). Other products may exist which are what Soylent aspires to.
Seems a big part is that the Soylent guy just decided to DIY for fun, it went viral, and he went entrepreneur. If you've got would-be customers banging down your door, you don't respond with "somebody else makes something like it", you monetize the opportunity.
I don't think anyone's blaming him for starting the company. The reason I raised this line of questioning isn't to criticize him, but rather to figure out if this is a new idea, in a space that hasn't been explored before, and thus worthy of our interest and excitement... or just an age-old idea with a bit of new marketing.
Comments
I'd first wonder about cost (hence my anecdote about $300 nutritionally complete goo-in-a-bag meals), then about completeness (side effects may be preferable to alternatives). Other products may exist which are what Soylent aspires to.
Seems a big part is that the Soylent guy just decided to DIY for fun, it went viral, and he went entrepreneur. If you've got would-be customers banging down your door, you don't respond with "somebody else makes something like it", you monetize the opportunity.
I don't think anyone's blaming him for starting the company. The reason I raised this line of questioning isn't to criticize him, but rather to figure out if this is a new idea, in a space that hasn't been explored before, and thus worthy of our interest and excitement... or just an age-old idea with a bit of new marketing.