a large part of the Silicon Valley tech bubble is a joke. I'm work with a client that I won't name (you can search and find it easily) who has a wifi wine preservation system that can only be used on their proprietary wine bottles. All the wi-fi does is tell you about the wine and the bottle keeps wine fresh for a month. Because people want to only drink a shot of wine per night...
$120 m of angel financing for a juice squeezer. Unbelievable. I was part of a startup some years ago and we were looking for a 10th of that for a startup that would have easily taken a significant % of a billion dollar marketplace and we couldn't get a dime. Juice squeezer. Idiots.
the best part is this idiot that paid triple that:
Quote:
Kippy Williams, owner of Kippy’s Organic Non-Dairy Ice Cream Shop in Los Angeles and Toyko, said she purchased her Juicero late last year for $1,200. (Juicero charges businesses a premium, she said.) Williams, a self-proclaimed health-food evangelist, said she’d like to see the company sell packs by themselves to people who can’t afford the device. “It would be great if they offered people the opportunity to buy the packs and press them by hand,” she said. “I want juice for every man, woman and child.”
I wouldn't buy it for that reason alone. Get a $400 Vitamix and you get to consume all the nutrients in your fruits and vegetables, adding whatever you want to it.
Eh....I can understand the desire for convenience Â
$120 m of angel financing for a juice squeezer. Unbelievable. I was part of a startup some years ago and we were looking for a 10th of that for a startup that would have easily taken a significant % of a billion dollar marketplace and we couldn't get a dime. Juice squeezer. Idiots.
It's a disruptive juicer. It's like Uber, but for juice.
is for the people who have more money than they know what to do with. That "juicer" probably looks cool on their expensive, expansive marble kitchen counter.
if it's not actually squeezing the juice from any fruits/vegetables? It's just emptying a pouch.
And are these pouches really any different than something like V8? Aside from being in a pouch rather than a bottle...
Its raw ingredients that are chopped up and placed in the bag. I guess the pressure it creates gives you the juice, like squeezing a lime by hand.
Are you sure? It sure looked like they were just squeezing juice out of the pouch. Otherwise, how would the Bloomberg reporters be able to squeeze the raw ingredients?
I think the initial plan was to have raw ingredients in the pouches.
how this ever got $120 million in funding. That has to be a BS number. What did investors think the return was going to be?
Sounded like the initial concept would have fruit/veggie chunks in the pouches and those would then be compressed to create a "fresher" juice without the mess of a blender and extra convenience.
how this ever got $120 million in funding. That has to be a BS number. What did investors think the return was going to be?
the investors for the most part didn't care too much about the hardware, they cared about the consumables, the pouches of fresh fruits and vegetables that would be delivered on a subscription basis to consumers. They likened it to Keurig for juicing, where the keurig itself wasn't as attractive as the k-cups.
Problem is they can only ship locally (in 17 states now - recently up from 3) and today they only ship to people who own the hardware. Which I'd change ASAP with the revelations people can do almost as good, faster with their bare hands.
Still not sure it warrants $120M, but I'm sure people have invested more on worse ideas.
It's not my kind of thing, but I'd think there are a fair number of people who'd be interested in a juicing system that requires no chopping or clean up. The silliness of it stems from stuffing the thing with completely unnecessary technology and the resultant absurd pricing. If you stripped out all the tech and charged $50 for the thing, I could see it being successful.
You can see for yourself at the company website Link - ( New Window )
Id like to slice open a pouch and see if it really is chopped up like in that photo. I'm guessing its 99% pf its way to juice form when it gets to those packs and the pouches only strain out the pulp.
Guy with an idea and the right connections gets more money than he should, and despite his inexperience in either manufacturing or engineering sets out to build his own device.
The result - a device that doesn't fit the specs that marketing had been pushing to all the investors and early clients, whose price is too high and is functionally next to worthless.
I'm sure there were plenty of good expensed lunches and dinners along the way, though.
looking at what is in those packs, it is just so hard to believe that a human being can turn 10 oz of that combo of plant material into 7.5 oz of liquid.
Somebody read this and said I am going to invest money because this guy is of sound mind?
Doug Evans, the company’s founder, would compare himself with Steve Jobs in his pursuit of juicing perfection. He declared that his juice press wields four tons of force—“enough to lift two Teslas,”
Sounds like a carnival barker (bullshitter) to me.
why would anyone shell out money for that thing? If I'm spending that money on a juicer, I'm buying produce and making my own juice. Why the F would I buy a machine to squeeze already pressed juices out of am F-ing bag?
On your hair? For a hair dryer...really? - ( New Window )
Doesnt seem like that much to me for a great blow dryer. Some women spend 15-20 minutes a day blowing out their hair, and they cause hair damage. Shoot, many women spend $250+ on a cut/color.
Anything you use that much, if it really does a better job, could probably justify that price to me. Like the idea of a $700 smart phone. It's crazy, but then remember how much you use it and it's not so nuts.
The marketing is conning the VCs. Success.
All this for $200+.
What I don't understand is why a juicer needs a microprocessor or a wireless connection.
It's a disruptive juicer. It's like Uber, but for juice.
And are these pouches really any different than something like V8? Aside from being in a pouch rather than a bottle...
And are these pouches really any different than something like V8? Aside from being in a pouch rather than a bottle...
Its raw ingredients that are chopped up and placed in the bag. I guess the pressure it creates gives you the juice, like squeezing a lime by hand.
Well, the whole thing is staggering.
Quote:
if it's not actually squeezing the juice from any fruits/vegetables? It's just emptying a pouch.
And are these pouches really any different than something like V8? Aside from being in a pouch rather than a bottle...
Its raw ingredients that are chopped up and placed in the bag. I guess the pressure it creates gives you the juice, like squeezing a lime by hand.
Are you sure? It sure looked like they were just squeezing juice out of the pouch. Otherwise, how would the Bloomberg reporters be able to squeeze the raw ingredients?
I think the initial plan was to have raw ingredients in the pouches.
Link - ( New Window )
Sounded like the initial concept would have fruit/veggie chunks in the pouches and those would then be compressed to create a "fresher" juice without the mess of a blender and extra convenience.
the investors for the most part didn't care too much about the hardware, they cared about the consumables, the pouches of fresh fruits and vegetables that would be delivered on a subscription basis to consumers. They likened it to Keurig for juicing, where the keurig itself wasn't as attractive as the k-cups.
Problem is they can only ship locally (in 17 states now - recently up from 3) and today they only ship to people who own the hardware. Which I'd change ASAP with the revelations people can do almost as good, faster with their bare hands.
Still not sure it warrants $120M, but I'm sure people have invested more on worse ideas.
Id like to slice open a pouch and see if it really is chopped up like in that photo. I'm guessing its 99% pf its way to juice form when it gets to those packs and the pouches only strain out the pulp.
The result - a device that doesn't fit the specs that marketing had been pushing to all the investors and early clients, whose price is too high and is functionally next to worthless.
I'm sure there were plenty of good expensed lunches and dinners along the way, though.
Somebody read this and said I am going to invest money because this guy is of sound mind?
Doug Evans, the company’s founder, would compare himself with Steve Jobs in his pursuit of juicing perfection. He declared that his juice press wields four tons of force—“enough to lift two Teslas,”
Sounds like a carnival barker (bullshitter) to me.
For a hair dryer...really? - ( New Window )
Doesnt seem like that much to me for a great blow dryer. Some women spend 15-20 minutes a day blowing out their hair, and they cause hair damage. Shoot, many women spend $250+ on a cut/color.
Anything you use that much, if it really does a better job, could probably justify that price to me. Like the idea of a $700 smart phone. It's crazy, but then remember how much you use it and it's not so nuts.