Jan 2, 2019 · 22m · a16z
a16z Podcast | Nootropics and the Best Version of Your Brain, Yourself
Jeff Woo · 9m spoken Michael Brandt · 6m spoken Kyle Russell · 3m spoken Sakantala Panjshiratna (Saku) · 1m spoken Sonal Chokshi · 37s spoken
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gold bands on the timeline = statements, start to end. Hover to read, click to jump. CC turns on captions
In this episode of the a16z podcast, host Kyle Russell and guests explore nootropics and biohacking with Nootrobox co-founders Geoffrey Wu and Michael Brandt. The discussion covers cognitive enhancement mechanisms, open-source formulations, quantified self data integration, and the potential societal impact of democratized smart drugs.
How this conversation actually went
Every chapter scored 0–10 on four independent dynamics. Hover any point for the reasoning behind the score. The host holds 2.9% of the talking time here. How this is scored →
The host as informed peer 4.4 Guest teaching 4.1 Guest disagreement 0.6 The host pushing back 2.1
speaking balance: gold is the host, purple is the guest (3 minute bins)
Sharpest disagreement ▶ 20:56 Michael Counters Societal Inequality Premise
Michael pushes back against Kyle's concern about cognitive inequality by bringing up $10 Android phones to argue that tech trends quickly democratize.
Hardest push from the host ▶ 5:12 Saku Challenges Efficacy vs Medical AdoptionSaku directly challenges the guest's claims of efficacy by questioning why doctors do not prescribe these supplements if they are truly effective.
Biggest teaching moment ▶ 5:18 Jeff Explains Pharmaceutical Patent EconomicsJeff educates the hosts on how 20-year patent monopolies drive pharma R&D spending, explaining why non-patentable generic compounds lack clinical funding despite potential benefits.
The host holds their own ▶ 21:43 Kyle Demonstrates Expertise on Metcalfe's LawKyle demonstrates deep domain knowledge by immediately defining Metcalfe's Law and illustrating it with the historical hardware deployment of Ethernet cards.
the scores for every segment, with the reasoning behind each
| Chapter | Topic | The host as informed peer | Guest teaching | Guest disagreement | The host pushing back | Why |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Defining Nootropics and Mechanisms Beyond Coffee | 2 | 5 | 1 | 0 | The hosts ask introductory questions about coffee alternatives, allowing the guests to outline three specific neurochemical and vascular pathways of cognitive enhancers. | |
| Scientific Validation, Generic Compounds, and FDA Dynamics | 4 | 6 | 1 | 4 | Saku raises a critical challenge asking why doctors do not prescribe these supplements if they work, prompting Jeff to explain pharmaceutical patent economics and generic compound dynamics. | |
| Addressing Supplement Industry Transparency and Open Source Formulas | 6 | 4 | 1 | 3 | Saku demonstrates deep familiarity with the topic by pointing out the supplement industry's opacity around proprietary blends and detailing r/nootropics community dynamics. | |
| Transitioning to Consumer Products and Future Form Factors | 4 | 3 | 0 | 1 | Kyle uses an insightful Apple computer product timeline analogy to prompt the guests on future product form factors like chewable coffee cubes. | |
| Quantified Self, Sensor Data, and Personalized Nootropics | 4 | 4 | 0 | 1 | Saku observes that individual variance makes generic supplements unreliable, framing the value of quantified self tracking, which Jeff expands on using genomic and biome data concepts. | |
| Experiential Effects: Calm Focus vs. Overstimulation | 4 | 4 | 0 | 1 | Kyle actively reframes the discussion to contrast overstimulation with sustained focus, while Michael references the Yerkes-Dodson psychological curve. | |
| Democratization, Network Effects, and Societal Impact | 7 | 3 | 1 | 5 | Kyle pushes back on potential social divides caused by cognitive tools, and demonstrates technical expertise by explaining Metcalfe's Law via Ethernet history. |
Statements from this episode (11)
Brandt: Nootrobox aims to provide daily cognitive enhancers superior to coffee
“And basically the entire notion of NutraBox is predicated on the idea of like, hey, is there something better than coffee that like everyone should be having access to on a daily basis?”
Jeff Wu: Nootropics operate via three main biological pathways
“And broadly speaking, nootropics work in three sort of main pathways. One main pathway is sort of increasing the different neurotransmitters levels in your brain, and these can be sort of acetylcholine or dopamine, things that are associated with learning and …”
Jeff Wu: Pharma R&D depends on 20-year patent monopolies
“The pharmaceutical industry is a very interesting one where their business model is predicated on the government giving the company, you know, a twenty-year monopoly on different compounds. Therefore, there is an economic incentive for pharmaceutical companies…”
Wu: Pharma ignores open-domain nootropics due to lack of patent incentives
“So they cannot be patented, therefore there's not a monopolistic sort of end goal for companies to pharmaceuticalize.”
Wu: Supplement 'proprietary blends' are used to dump leftover ingredient inventory
“And the proprietary blend moniker, as you mentioned, Saku, is Essentially a code word for industry that whatever is on our shelf at the time, we can just dump in into your capsules.”
Brandt: The human enhancement industry will produce multiple billion-dollar companies
“This is the tip of an iceberg for something really big, and that we're seeing a larger trend around human enhancement, that there's going to be multiple billion dollar companies in the space, that there's going to be real really interesting stuff, really novel…”
Wu: Subjective self-reporting is the main flaw of nootropics
“The biggest criticism that you can level at the space is that one, it's very self-reported. It's very sort of subjective”
Wu: 23andMe and uBiome function as APIs for human genomic data
“You have companies like 23 and me and uBiome essentially serving as APIs now that open up capability of reading what your genome is, reading what your biome is”
Jeff Wu: Personalization will expand into consumables and productivity tools
“Personalization will happen across all segments of the economy, right? There's already personalization for your financial advisor. There's personalization on what things you want to buy from Amazon, and it stands to reason that there'll be personalization for …”
Brandt: Yerkes-Dodson law shows over-arousal impairs mental performance
“There is a sense, like, this is a well-documented psychological phenomenon. It's called the Yerkes-Dodson curve, where if you're too activated, you actually, your performance on mental tasks decreases. If you're overly alert you do worse.”
Panjshiratna: Unlike sports doping, cognitive enhancement creates positive externalities
“This is like in complete contrast to doping in sports, where if someone takes it, you know, you're disadvantaging everyone else. But in this case, if you make yourself a little bit smarter, you're actually just helping the people around you, right? Because you…”