AfterMVP
How Neuro grew

Neuro growth strategy

Functional energy gum and mints for focus and performance

neurogum.com By Ryan Chen, Kent
MRR $10M
Users —
Stage Established
Category E-commerce
Starter Story The Underdog: From Life Changing Accident to $100M/Year
Growth roadmap

8 moves, in order

  1. Pre launch / R&D
    In person sampling

    Ryan sampled early product formulas with co-workers at Hulu — including managers and finance team members — to validate efficacy before committing to a production run.

    Confirmed product worked; identified dosing issues (one manager was wired until 3am), leading to formula refinement.
  2. Launch
    Crowdfunding indiegogo

    Launched an Indiegogo campaign to fund the first production batch. Kent leveraged his Reddit presence to post in the nootropics subreddit community to drive backers.

    Hit $30,000 goal in 3–4 days.
  3. Launch
    Earned media press

    Time Magazine wrote an article about caffeinated gum following the Indiegogo success, giving Neuro mainstream visibility with zero paid spend.

    Significant inbound awareness; led directly to Dr. Oz invitation.
  4. Early Growth (Year 1)
    Tv appearance dr oz

    Appeared on The Dr. Oz Show, exposing Neuro to a mass consumer audience (primarily moms) that was entirely different from their initial nootropics-focused early adopters.

    Drove a large wave of consumer purchases from the Dr. Oz audience.
  5. Year 1–2
    Direct fulfillment bootstrapped

    Operated out of Kent's downtown LA apartment as a de-facto warehouse. Shipped 4,000 lbs of gum to USPS daily. Reinvested all revenue, took no salary for years 3–4, and Ryan played semi-professional poker to cover personal rent.

    Year 1: ~$100K revenue. Year 2: ~$750K revenue.
  6. Year 4 (2019)
    Tv appearance shark tank

    Appeared on Shark Tank in 2019. Walked away without a deal (both offers were below their minimum), but gained national TV exposure and a key relationship with guest shark Daniel Lubetzky.

    Major step-change in brand awareness and business growth; Lubetzky later saved the company from a trademark lawsuit.
  7. Post Shark Tank
    Relationship investor advisory

    Ryan cold-DM'd Daniel Lubetzky on Instagram referencing their Shark Tank connection. Lubetzky consulted for 18 months on a trademark lawsuit, leveraged his own legal team, and threatened to personally fund Neuro's legal fees to force the plaintiff to settle.

    Lawsuit resolved without bankrupting the company; existential threat eliminated.
  8. Scale (Year 5–7+)
    Organic celebrity podcast mentions

    Organically earned endorsements from Joe Rogan (mentioned on podcast), Andrew Schulz, Ashley Graham, Steve Aoki, and multiple MLB players — none paid. TikTok Shop videos repurposing these mentions went viral and compounded over time.

    Became a top-10 TikTok Shop brand; ~$10M/month revenue (~$100M/year).
    MRR $10M

How Neuro got its first 100 users

Ryan and Kent launched on Indiegogo to crowdfund their first production batch. Kent, an active Reddit user, posted in the Reddit nootropics community to drive awareness, which helped them hit their $30,000 funding goal in 3–4 days. The Reddit push generated enough momentum that Time Magazine picked up the story and wrote an article about caffeinated gum becoming mainstream. That earned media snowballed quickly — the Time coverage led to an invitation to appear on Dr. Oz. Dr. Oz's audience (largely moms) then discovered and bought the product, giving Neuro its first wave of real customers well beyond the initial Reddit/nootropics niche.

Neuro's unfair advantage

Kent was an active Reddit user with existing credibility in the nootropics/r/Nootropics community, which gave them a warm, pre-qualified audience for the crowdfunding launch. Both founders were elite athletes (Paralympic and Olympic-level training) with genuine personal use cases, lending authenticity to the product story. Their Shark Tank appearance — even without a deal — gave them a nationally broadcast brand moment and a personal relationship with Daniel Lubetzky (Kind Bar founder) who later helped them navigate an existential legal threat at no cost.

The channel that scaled Neuro

organic_celebrity_and_podcast_mentions

What didn't work for Neuro

Shark Tank did not result in a deal — both offers came in below their floor and they walked away with no investment. Cold outreach to investors and friends during the trademark lawsuit also yielded no help.

Watch the original

The Underdog: From Life Changing Accident to $100M/Year

Starter Story

Related playbooks

More in E-commerce

Sheets & Giggles

Direct-to-consumer eucalyptus bed sheets and bedding brand

MRR $1.0M
Users —
E-commerce Established

Van Man

Natural animal-based hygiene products (toothpaste, balms, deodorant) sold online

MRR $417k
Users —
E-commerce Established

Alia

E-commerce pop-up tool for email capture and on-site offers

MRR $333k
Users 1.5k
E-commerce Growing