STEM, Crypto, Startups
My first and fondest Christmas memory was a scavenger hunt my mom laid out for me. I looked all over our home for hours following clues, until finally I found a Game Boy Color buried in the dog food container. It was thanks to Pokémon Yellow and that Game Boy that I first learned how to read. I’ve been engrossed with technology ever since.
Growing up, my focus was video games, computers, and software. When I was 11 I started torrenting software and teaching myself how to use it. I was sure I would have a career in tech, so in high school I jumped into coding. To be honest it was a bit sad, learning Java from a weathered teacher who near-daily reminisced on the glory of his COBOL days. This dreary learning environment and some sudden, unfortunate circumstances pushed me in an entirely different direction.
My mother was diagnosed with cancer, and around the same time I began experiencing my own struggles with health. We were both regularly in and out of doctors offices, hospitals, and pharmacies. At that time, my every thought had something to do with health and medicine.
“Why is this happening to me?” I’d ask. I didn’t mean it in some existential “what did I do wrong” sense, but rather more literally, “what is the biological process that is causing this to happen? I need to understand.”
By the time I was graduating, my focus had shifted completely. I had an incredible, inspiring biology teacher who put the final nail in the career-coffin: I was going to pursue medicine.
More than anything I wanted to understand both my body, mind, and how I could make them both better. By the end of high school, I spent much of my free time trawling PubMed and various biohacker communities–I couldn’t help it, I loved to learn and science was now my passion.
I began undergrad and dual majored in biology & neuroscience. I loved every minute of it and was quickly considering myself a man of science. However, school was tough. Myself and all of my peers were pre-med. Not just anybody can become a doctor–I had to study harder and I had to be the best.
Being in a competitive college, naturally there was Adderall around. I saw my friends use it and grind through hours of studying before acing every exam. It was their cheat code and I played enough video games to know I couldn’t compete for the top without my own way to level-up. Instead of turning to hard pharmaceuticals, I dove deeper into something I had just discovered the year prior: nootropics.
Nootropics are non-addictive supplements that increase cognition across memory, creativity, motivation, and executive function. By definition, they’re a net positive on your brain.
I spent hours ingratiating myself in the r/nootropics community and started building my own nootropic “stacks.” In time, I gained a handle on how they worked (allosteric modulation, esterase inhibition, adenosine antagonism, and so on!). I loved nootropics, and so did my grades. I was able to focus longer in class, retain information better, and perform at a level that frankly was unfair to my noot-less colleagues. My niche hobby felt like it could really help a lot of people.
After I realized how incredible nootropics were, I became sure that in the future everyone would be taking them. No one seemed to be trying to evangelize nootropics to the masses, but the idea seemed like a very viable and impactful business. I desperately tried to find partners and knew I couldn’t do it alone, but my friends were all comfortable in their lives. Their only stress and focus was entering medical school. No one around me “wanted more.”
I didn’t have access to capital or startup know-how. As an incredibly busy, poor student with loans behind me and in front of me, brutal exams coming up, and at least another 5 years of school left, the pressure of getting into a top professional school was too much for me to pursue my nootropic startup at the same time. I focused on my studies, medical career, and refining my noot stack.
Graduation was soon upon me and it was time to start the next phase of my life. I had studied diligently, and thanks to my secret nootropic weapon, I made it into one of the most competitive schools for my field of study. This isn’t just a shill; I’ll be fully honest and say I could not have come as far as I did without this trick up my sleeve. Nootropics significantly changed my life for the better.
I began my doctorate program in pharmacy pursuing another dual degree with a special focus on pharmaceutics. My plan? Gun it for Big Pharma or jump into the startup world and develop new cannabis drug dosage forms and delivery systems. I loved the science, but as I explained before, after just two years I left to pursue crypto and entrepreneurship full time.
Crypto kept my hands full for a while, but I never let my dream die. I still used nootropics and knew they could help so many more people. Nearly everyone in the world already takes nootropics by drinking coffee or tea, but I’ve got something way way better.
I started putting all of the pieces together in late 2018, working with a partner on the concept and products. We took our time, wanting to build something we were truly proud of. In early 2019, we cofounded it with an accelerator and began developing the brand further. As science guys, my partner and I knew we could make great products, but we also knew we could use a little help with everything else. The team joined my startup at the same time that I joined theirs, and together we developed a friendly, approachable brand that helps give non-science folks a straightforward understanding of not just nootropics, but an array of health and wellness products.
We launched late last year and have been live for a few months now, it’s been one heck of a journey. After building a firm foundation for my business, I’m now sharing it with Crypto Twitter. We’ve been seeing increasing, regular sales and happy repeat customers, so it’s finally time:
