It is strange they should compare the safety of their non-prescription nootropic to Tylenol, which is a particularly hazardous over-the-counter drug.
Secondly, you can get L-Theanine readily and inexpensively in the US. This crowdfunding campaign seems to be a marketing exercise for something already sold by multiple supplement makers. L-Theanine also appears to be less hazardous than Tylenol.
Tylenol may be "hazardous" when abused, but doesn't it say something that it remains over-the-counter? It suggests to me that the benefits outweigh the risks, and the same could be true of a nootropic.
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To call it a "marketing exercise" glosses over all of the important subtlety. Identifying a brand, messaging, form factor, and specific combination of ingredients to appeal to mass market is non-trivial. Isn't Red Bull just a marketing exercise? What about Chobani and Muscle Milk? The original Apple computers were just a "marketing exercise" around the Homebrew Computing Club, packaging up things that were already available, but doing so elegantly and building a trustworthy brand. There's considerable value in that.
I think time will tell if the gamble here is correct. Currently nootropics are quite niche - a small minority of people even know what they are or take them. This is odd, given how beneficial they can be. By serving nootropics to the public on a silver platter, we hope to evangelize the benefits, assuage people's concerns, and become defacto leaders in the biohacking space.
Comments
It is strange they should compare the safety of their non-prescription nootropic to Tylenol, which is a particularly hazardous over-the-counter drug.
Secondly, you can get L-Theanine readily and inexpensively in the US. This crowdfunding campaign seems to be a marketing exercise for something already sold by multiple supplement makers. L-Theanine also appears to be less hazardous than Tylenol.
Tylenol may be "hazardous" when abused, but doesn't it say something that it remains over-the-counter? It suggests to me that the benefits outweigh the risks, and the same could be true of a nootropic.
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To call it a "marketing exercise" glosses over all of the important subtlety. Identifying a brand, messaging, form factor, and specific combination of ingredients to appeal to mass market is non-trivial. Isn't Red Bull just a marketing exercise? What about Chobani and Muscle Milk? The original Apple computers were just a "marketing exercise" around the Homebrew Computing Club, packaging up things that were already available, but doing so elegantly and building a trustworthy brand. There's considerable value in that.
You could say the same about potato salad.
Then start a potato salad company :)
I think time will tell if the gamble here is correct. Currently nootropics are quite niche - a small minority of people even know what they are or take them. This is odd, given how beneficial they can be. By serving nootropics to the public on a silver platter, we hope to evangelize the benefits, assuage people's concerns, and become defacto leaders in the biohacking space.