Zain Peer (#033)
We found the easiest way to make the best decisions was to ask ourselves: what would we love if we were buying this?; what would be the best experience for me personally?
Company: London Nootropics
Stage: Pre-Seed
Headcount: 4
Warm intro from Kyle Stanger (#030)
Tell us your story
Shez & I were having coffee with added natural ingredients for a natural energy boost before the gym, as an alternative to chemical-laced pre-workout drinks. A few friends who tried our blends loved them! And they suggested we should make our pre-workout coffee blend commercially.
We were experimenting with herbal extracts, working out which helped give us sustained energy and focus, and in the course of that experimentation came across medicinal mushrooms and other adaptogens. Very quickly, we realised how incredible adaptogens are and how they work on different systems in our body to balance stressors, increase mental clarity, cognitive performance and improve physical endurance.
We ended up developing different blends containing different adaptogens, depending on what we needed each day for the gym. Eventually it hit us that the profound range of effects that we were able to blend meant this deserved to be much more than a pre-workout product. We were surprised that there actually weren’t many high-quality products out there offering adaptogens in a convenient and delicious format. So we took the plunge and decided to launch 3 lifestyle blends to help people “flow” across their day.
Tell us a story that has really resonated with you
Whilst developing our pre-workout coffee, we booked a development day with a drinks company to help create a cold-brewed coffee with our natural extracts.
We envisioned a delicious drink and were promised a few prototypes with our flavour profile to try on our arrival. Nothing had been prepared, the day went terribly - we were trying to stomach the samples being created on the spot and it was a disaster.
When driving back to London disheartened, we really needed some Ashwagandha and CBD to help relieve the stress & anxiety the day had brought us. Then an idea popped into our heads: why are we focusing on the pre-workout coffee when we’re now taking different adaptogens depending on what we needed to find balance and find our flow?
There are times in our lives where it seems like the world is plotting against us. Take a step back and look for the positives: usually there is a lesson or new avenue the universe wants us to take. When back in London, we started straight away on our lifestyle blends and everything clicked into place.
What can't you stop thinking about?
At the moment, we’ve just moved into our first office - with a mini-warehouse powering our in-house fulfilment.
I keep thinking back to Summer 2020. Shez and I were hand-filling and sealing sachets every weekend, and now we’ve just ordered half a million sachets. It’s crazy.
If I could tell you just one thing...
This might seem obvious: there are so many important decisions to make when creating any product - the ingredients or components, the name, the packaging, the pricing.
We found the easiest way to make the best decisions was to ask ourselves: what would we love if we were buying this?; what would be the best experience for me personally?
We could have used cheaper ingredients in our blends, many of which are already in the UK. But we knew that taking the highest-quality adaptogens with a good amount of active compounds was part of our USP. We imported our adaptogens from around the world causing many a customs headache in the process.
We’re so proud of our blends and the fact that we didn’t cut any corners. We get the most incredible feedback and reviews from our customers on how our blends have impacted their lives.
A little space for shout-outs
Amanda, the most incredible and insightful nutritionist. She’s been supporting us since day 1. She introduced us to medicinal mushrooms and adaptogens and gave us so much valuable feedback on our journey. Her advice has been instrumental in creating our blends. She offers nutritional support and guidance to individuals to help you improve your diet, relationship with food and heal from within.
If you could get a warm intro to anyone in the world, who would it be and why?
The first Soviet astronauts used rhodiola for its physical and mental benefits and to help them find balance at high altitudes.
I wonder if Elon will try our adaptogenic coffee in space?!