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by desigooner 4690 days ago
For me, it's really easy to dismiss the product as snakeoil when I hear something like Homeopathic energy being used to promote the product.
2 comments
swamp40 4690 days ago
You pretty much have to embrace the Homeopathic community in order to stay off the radar of the FDA.

"Nothing to see here, just more snake oil!"

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300bps 4690 days ago
He calls it “homeopathic energy” and says they’ve invested around $50,000 in it so far.

Maybe it's time he gives back the $100,000 and enrolls back in college. For anyone unfamiliar why it's such a red flag that someone voluntarily associates themselves with homepathy:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homeopathy

Homeopathy is a system of alternative medicine originated in 1796 by Samuel Hahnemann, based on his doctrine of similia similibus curentur ("like cures like"), according to which a substance that causes the symptoms of a disease in healthy people will cure similar symptoms in sick people. It is widely considered a pseudoscience.

The remedies are prepared by repeatedly diluting a chosen substance in alcohol or distilled water, followed by forceful striking on an elastic body, called succussion.[7] Each dilution followed by succussion is said to increase the remedy's potency. Dilution usually continues well past the point where none of the original substance remains.

Basically, if you have a cold:

1. Start with a poison that causes cold symptoms

2. Dilute it with water

3. Repeat diluting it with water until the most sensitive scientific instruments can no longer detect the original substance

4. The water then has an "imprint" or "spirit" of the original substance which will cure the cold

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cma 4690 days ago
He's a businessman, not the head of a charity. In 2007, the homeopathic industry did $3.7 billion in sales. It is probably higher now.

On the other hand, if this thing works, it surely does so by placebo, but due to the harmful effects of actual caffeine usage, placebo might actually be a major benefit to the consumer.

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mead5432 4690 days ago
$3.7 billion in sales is not a lot when you are talking about an industry or market.

Now if you spread the $3.7 billion over the different product options, one option alone is probably not going to bring in a whole bunch of revenue. Afterall, it isn't $3.7 billion for Caffeine sprays only...

If you give them 1/1000 of the total market, that is only $3.7 million in revenue for a company. That isn't what most would consider high potential.

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