Soylent? No normal person I have ever met in my life has ever heard of the stuff. Slim Fast — everyone has heard of that, but Soylent? That’s an ultra niche product with little mass market appeal. Is it successful? Sure, but about as successful as a company that produces kits for growing orchids. The whole concept of Soylent is essentually Ensure for Hipsters. Even the name sounds like some kind of cyberpunk cliché.
> Even the name sounds like some kind of cyberpunk cliché.
I'm pretty sure this is a deliberate reference to the specific thing. I'm not sure if I won't end up looking stupid for saying the obvious, but this: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soylent_Green
I know a couple of people that worked at Juicero. The news article that humiliated Juicero came just as they were about to get another round of funding. All of the investors pulled out, so they basically ran out of cash. This is completely due to the negative publicity generated by that one article that went viral. It couldn't have come at a more inopportune time for them, it's almost as if the reporters wanted to do as much damage as possible to the company.
You talk as if the negative press wasn't justified. And as if journalists were supposed to consider a company's convenience when writing about them. And as if investors were such empty vessels that they are blown hither and thither by each thing they read.
If one negative article about your product can kill your company, your problem is not a couple of journalists. It's your product.
Was the price too high? Didn’t manage to turn PR against them? Was it designed to fail?
I think the product is awesome in every possible way.
The model worked for Nespresso (Kruger or smth in US), printers, dishwashers, Soylent, etc.