Biohacker Trend Spotting

Craig Clemens shares his approach to spotting trends before they go mainstream, particularly in the health and wellness space.

Studying Ads for Market Intelligence

• Craig intentionally doesn't subscribe to YouTube Premium to see ads

  • "An advertising guy is gonna turn off the ads? I still don't have YouTube topics to get the ads on purpose"
  • Uses ads to understand "what the lay of the land looks like"

• His marketer friend (who made ~$200M from Facebook ads) changed his profile to appear as a 45-year-old woman

  • Purpose: "So I could see the ads dummy"
  • Strategy: "I know who I need to sell to this is the golden customer"
  • Wants to see what Facebook shows to his target demographic

Biohacker Circles as Trend Indicators

• Hangs out in biohacker communities to spot emerging trends

  • "I find the things that people are doing at burning man and on venice beach"
  • When products catch fire in these small circles, they're "ready to go mainstream"

• Sometimes catches trends early, sometimes misses them

  • Mushrooms was a trend he identified
    • "That's a massive category now"
    • Their mushroom supplement "sells okay but it's not like a category creator"
    • Mentions Four Sigmatic (owned by a friend) as a successful mushroom brand

Product Strategy Philosophy

• Distinguishes between different market entry approaches:

  • "Create the wave" - pioneering new categories
  • "Riding the existing wave" - joining established trends
  • Avoiding "riding the white water" - entering oversaturated markets

• Emphasizes uniqueness in product offerings

  • Cautions against celebrity-backed products that aren't differentiated
  • "You gotta get things that are unique"
  • Example: His probiotics were successful in 2014 but have since become "commoditized"

Timing and Market Positioning

• Recognizes the importance of timing in trend adoption
• Acknowledges that not all identified trends will be successful for his business
• Values being early to market with unique offerings rather than joining crowded spaces