From Business Insider:
What People Don't Understand About Food Replacement Startup Soylent, According To A VC Who Led A $20M Investment
Soylent, a startup that offers a powder mixture that can act as a replacement for food, got a $20 million investment from top venture-capital firms Andreessen Horowitz, Lerer Ventures, and Index Ventures.
Chris Dixon, who works at Andreessen Horowitz, wrote a blog post explaining the firm's investment in Soylent.Dixon thinks people are missing the big picture when it comes to the product. He was struck by the community Soylent has built around its product, comparing it to GoPro's.“Many investors decided not to invest in GoPro because they saw it as a camera company, and camera companies generally get quickly commoditized," Dixon writes. "However, investors who properly understood GoPro saw it primarily as a highly engaged community of sports enthusiasts, something that is very hard for competitors to replicate.”Dixon believes the community Soylent has built around its product is irreplaceable and that "this community of people who are enthusiastic about using science to improve food" makes the company "an obvious investment."...MORE
