Navigating Entrepreneurship Beyond VC Influence

In this episode, Molly O'Shea talks to John Coogan, EIR at Founders Fund and co-founder of Lucy and Soylent. They cover topics such as his role as an EIR at Founders Fund, his journey from starting Soylent & going through YC, becoming a successful YouTuber (over 430K subscribers & over 8M views), as well as his insights into the history of nicotine & tobacco with his company Lucy.

John dives into all of the complexities of startup entrepreneurship, the importance of really good storytelling in marketing, working in a regulated industry, as well as shares some hot takes in the VC/tech world.

Learn the misconceptions about nicotine, the realities of “big tobacco,” the future of nicotine replacement therapy, and his business journey building & marketing Lucy. Lucy was founded to help adult tobacco users who are looking to try high-quality alternatives to cigarettes and traditional tobacco products, without the carcinogens.

Nicotine is an addictive chemical, use responsibly.

Follow on Twitter https://x.com/MollySOShea https://x.com/johncoogan

Check out: John Coogan: https://www.johncoogan.com/ Founders Fund: https://foundersfund.com/ Lucy: https://lucy.co Soylent: https://soylent.com/

Subscribe to Sourcery: https://www.sourcery.vc/

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Companies mentioned:

Helium: https://www.helium.com/

Coinbase: https://www.coinbase.com/

Flexport: https://www.flexport.com/

Varda: https://www.varda.com/

SpaceX: https://www.spacex.com/

Palantir: https://www.palantir.com/

Zyn: https://www.zyn.com/ph/en/home.html

Juul: https://www.juul.com/

Altria: https://www.altria.com/en

Nicorette: https://www.nicorette.com/

Dollar Shave Club: https://us.dollarshaveclub.com/

Warby Parker: https://www.warbyparker.com/

Red Antler: https://www.redantler.com/

Swedish Match: https://www.swedishmatch.com/

General Snus: https://www.generalsnus.com/

Newport: https://www.newport-pleasure.com/

TiVo: https://www.tivo.com/

Vita Coco: https://vitacoco.com/

Pepsi: https://www.pepsi.com/

Casamigos: https://www.casamigos.com/en-us

Teramana: https://teremana.com/

Rabbit R1: https://www.rabbit.tech/

Rizz: https://rizz.app/

Tinder: https://tinder.com/

TIMESTAMPS:

(00:00) The Origin Story of Lucy

(00:41) Introducing John Coogan

(01:20) What does an EIR at Founders Fund do?

(04:22) The Birth of Soylent

(08:31) The Viral Success of Soylent

(10:50) Challenges in the Nutritional Supplement Space

(12:40) The Regulatory Landscape of Nicotine Products

(14:46) Sponsor: Archer

(16:42) The Juul Phenomenon

(22:59) The Complexities of Tobacco Regulation

(36:25) Debunking Nicotine Myths

(37:38) Nicotine as a Stimulant

(39:33) The Smoking Epidemic

(40:31) Regulatory Challenges and Big Tobacco

(42:48) Building a CPG Company

(47:30) Marketing and Storytelling

(55:46) Tech Hot Takes and AI Gadgets

(59:38) The Future of AI in Consumer Products

(1:07:23) Closing Thoughts and Reflections

Recommended Podcast: What separates the most enduring and generation-defining venture firms? Turpentine VC talks to Ben Horowitz, Vinod Khosla, Alfred Lin, Mike Maples, Roger Ehrenberg, and more to find out. Subscribe: https://link.chtbl.com/TurpentineVC