Jan 2, 2019 · 31m · a16z
a16z Podcast | The Future of Food
0:00 / 0:00
▶ Watch on YouTube →
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 Michael Copeland speaks with Soylent founder Rob Reinhart and Andreessen Horowitz partner Chris Dixon about engineered nutrition, sustainability, and the future of global food systems. They discuss how Soylent aims to replace unhealthy fast food, eliminate agricultural inefficiencies, and revolutionize human nutrition through science and open innovation.
How this conversation actually went
Every chapter scored 0–10 on four independent dynamics. Hover any point for the reasoning behind the score. How this is scored →
The host as informed peer 2.4 Guest teaching 5.5 Guest disagreement 1.5 The host pushing back 3.3
speaking balance: gold is the host, purple is the guest (3 minute bins)
Sharpest disagreement ▶ 3:28 Rob rejects host premise on cooking
Rob directly counters the host's assertion that cooking is simple and joyful, arguing that forced daily food prep is an unwanted chore that benefits from industrial manufacturing.
Hardest push from the host ▶ 3:05 Host calls out guest framing of cookingHost Michael Copeland directly interrupts Rob's narrative, mocking his description of cooking as 'DIY food engineering' and asserting that buying groceries and cooking dinner is not complicated.
Biggest teaching moment ▶ 17:12 Chris Dixon explains clinical nutrition and food industry obfuscationChris Dixon educates the host on clinical feeding tube nutrients and explains how corporate food lobbies and politicized FDA guidelines confuse consumers about basic nutritional science.
The host holds their own ▶ 19:34 Host points out false dichotomy in food argumentMichael Copeland sharply identifies the extreme binary presented by the guests, challenging them on why consumers must choose between hospital feeding tube formulas and manual organic farming.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Origin Story and Replacing Unhealthy Fast Food | 3 | 5 | 3 | 5 | Host Michael Copeland pushes back on Rob's dramatization of grocery shopping and cooking, arguing that cooking is simple human routine rather than a 5,000-step logistics problem. Rob and Chris reframe the issue, pointing out that fast food and convenience store items—not home-cooked organic meals—are what Soylent actually replaces. | |
| Nutritional Composition, Manufacturing, and Taste Profile | 2 | 6 | 1 | 2 | Rob outlines the biochemical requirements of human nutrition, explaining how Soylent engineered low-glycemic carbohydrates, complete amino profiles, and bioavailable vitamins. Dixon and Rob educate the host on how industrial processing and texture design make a shelf-stable complete food palatable. | |
| Sustainability, Algae Oil, and Environmental Efficiency | 2 | 6 | 1 | 2 | Chris Dixon and Rob detail the severe environmental inefficiency of animal agriculture and freshwater consumption. Rob educates the host on how single-cell algae oil grown in bioreactors bypasses land and water overhead. | |
| The Future of Food Systems and Off-Grid Applications | 2 | 5 | 1 | 3 | Michael presses the guests on what a futurist food system actually looks like in practice. Rob describes closed-loop photobioreactor tanks designed for terrestrial and space environments like Mars or the International Space Station. | |
| Fixing Broken Food Systems Through a Pro-Science Approach | 3 | 6 | 2 | 4 | Chris Dixon outlines how hospital feeding tubes demonstrate established nutritional science, while criticizing anti-science trends in modern food movements. Host Copeland calls out the false dichotomy presented between medical feeding tubes and hand-picked organic farming, asking where the middle ground lies. | |
| Open-Source Formulation, Community Hacks, and Customization | 2 | 4 | 1 | 2 | Rob describes the open-source philosophy behind Soylent's recipe, allowing community members to customize macronutrients or hack it into foods like ice cream and baked goods. The dynamic remains collaborative and exploratory. | |
| Affordability, Global Relief, and Cold-Chain Independence | 2 | 6 | 1 | 3 | Michael asks for exact cost breakdowns, leading guests to explain their $2/meal price point and plans for $1/day disaster relief paste. Rob educates the host on the massive energy waste of cold-chain refrigeration and how room-temperature stability transforms global food relief. | |
| Overcoming Cultural Skepticism and Podcast Conclusion | 3 | 6 | 2 | 5 | Host Copeland directly raises arguments from prominent food critics like Michael Pollan and Hudson Valley organic farmers. Rob reframes the anti-tech position by explaining that modern crops like corn and watermelon are already heavily engineered, defending modern tech as the solution to human stress and hunger. |
Statements from this episode (19)
Dixon: Soylent aims to replace McDonald's, not home-cooked meals
“Soylent is not meant to replace the organic home-cooked meal with friends. It's meant to replace the, you know, the hamburger at McDonald's, which is just terrible for you.”
Dixon: Sugar will be the biggest killer of this generation
“Sugar is the new smoking. It's going to you know, kill, it's going to be by far the biggest killer of this generation.”
Dixon gets half his daily calories from Soylent
“About half my calories, which is about the, I think it's about the average.”
Dixon: Every visitor to his office likes ready-to-drink Soylent
“I have yet to meet somebody who does not like the ready-to-drink. I've given it to everyone who comes to my office, including entrepreneurs and reporters.”
Rhinehart: Ready-to-drink Soylent has a one-year unrefrigerated shelf life
“To have it sit on the shelf to have a shelf life of over a year and not require refrigeration.”
Dixon: Agriculture consumes 80 percent of fresh water on Earth
“80% of fresh water on earth is used by agriculture.”
Rhinehart: Soylent uses algae oil grown in single-cell bioreactor tanks
“One example of this is the algae oil that is present in the products. So it's not it's not grown like a traditional crop in a field. It's grown in a large tank in a bioreactor with single cells.”
Rhinehart: Soylent aims to manufacture its bottles using engineered microorganisms
“The goal is, is total vertical integration. I think, in theory, we could make everything, including the bottle out of you know, out of microorganisms that have been engineered to produce these components far, far more efficiently. Than traditional processes.”
Rhinehart: Tourists will visit LA to see Soylent's glowing photobioreactors
“Going to the Soylent factory in LA in a few years is going, people are going to come from all over the world to see these giant blue glowing, glowing orbs.”
Rhinehart: Countertop photobioreactors could eventually produce food for individual homes
“I think we could have the Mr. Soylent sits on your counter, or you put it on your porch, and it gets sunlight, or you have your solar panel, which powers the LEDs, and you know, the fundamentals, there's certainly no physical limit that would make this impossi…”
Rhinehart: SpaceX and Orbital Sciences have reached out to Soylent
“We actually have heard from people that places like SpaceX and Orbital Sciences, I think, stocks the food for the ISS.”
Dixon: Soylent powder is the most calorie-efficient food for backpackers
“One really, one of the most popular use cases for soylent is people that hiking and doing other kinds of things like this, because it turns out right, the powder, carrying the powder in a backpack, it's the most efficient way to carry it's the lightest weight …”
Dixon: Science is the only way out of the climate change mess
“Science will be, the only way out of this mess, in my opinion, both for this and for climate change and for other kinds of big issues is science.”
Rhinehart: Soylent powder costs under two dollars per 500-calorie meal
“The powder is less than two dollars per meal. This is a full meal, 500 calories. The bottle is around, is two dollars and 50 cents for 400 calories.”
Rhinehart: Soylent aims to lower its powder cost to $5 daily
“Yes, that's eight dollars a day on the powder, and I'm trying to get that down to five dollars a day.”
Rhinehart: Soylent is developing a therapeutic food paste for $1 daily
“One thing we are working on is what's called an RUTF, ready to use therapeutic food, which is kind of like a paste. So it's between the powder and the drink so that it is ready to consume, but it's cheaper to ship because it doesn't have as high moisture conte…”
Rhinehart: Enough food is currently produced to feed the world twice over
“So yeah, there's plenty of food is produced to feed the world twice over.”
Rhinehart: Modern crops like corn and watermelons are not strictly natural
“If you look at the crops we have today, I mean, calling them natural is just you know, a misunderstanding. I mean, corn is not supposed to be yellow. You know, pumpkins are supposed to be this big. Watermelons aren't supposed to be this big. You know, soy has …”
Rhinehart: Returning to ancestral farming romanticizes a much harder past
“Maybe they think that if we go back to being farmers, things are going to be easier, but our ancestors didn't have it very easy, and I think it's largely a romanticization of the past, and that we have, we live in a very beautiful more peaceful world than we h…”