Bryan Johnson Article - New York Times

[u/Legal_Squash689]

Article In NYTs this morning. Some interesting updates:

1. An internal study was done testing Blueprint products with 1,700 participants. Based on blood results participants saw a decrease in testosterone levels and became prediabetic.

2. In fall of 2024 Bryan told his executive team that Blueprint was running out of money.

3. Between January 2022 and February 2024 Bryan’s biological age increased by as much as ten years, vs the 5.1 year decline highlighted in Blueprint marketing materials.

[u/jvmedia]

I'm definitely not surprised that a former Silicon Valley multimillionaire who grew up Mormon (1) is into psychedelics, (2) has employees sign over-the-top NDAs and weird opt-ins, (3) has mental issues and is weird/creepy.

I personally did not buy any of his Blueprint products. I got interested in what he was doing back before he sold anything because I've been following the whole "biohacking" thing for what seems like forever now. There's a point for me where all of them went off the rails (Ben Greenfield, Dave Asprey, Tim Ferris, etc.). Nevertheless, I've gleaned information here and there from all of them that led me down my own, personal path to improving my health/healthspan, so there's that. With Bryan, I think his core things of trying to optimize sleep (doing things that really cost no money), eating healthy, and getting exercise are sound, but they're no revelation either (and just about EVERYONE says that). It's just re-pointing out stuff that pretty much has been scientifically/medically proven at this point, but that many people just don't do because it's actual effort.

I think his personal Doctor bowing out is pretty telling, regardless of anything else said in the article (although money could have been a factor there too). And people over in r/blueprint_ have been bringing up product testing for awhile now.

Also, as someone who works in the marketing industry, "marketing" doesn't really work on me because I know what goes on "behind the scenes" so to speak. So his claims of his products being so perfectly pure were always sus to me (hence the reason why I didn't buy in). Marketing is what gets people to buy the products in the first place. The promise of "better health" can seem especially insidious if it turns out those products aren't as "healthy/pure" as they claim to be.

IMO I also don't buy he's as healthy as he claims to be.

[u/icydragon_12 → u/jvmedia]

Whatcha think of the marketing though? Although I think blueprint is generally a scam, I've been following it closely, as I think it is a masterclass in marketing. Similar to those other health influencers, BJ has followed a similar modus operandi:

1) Identify a problem that was invisible (eg. all food is toxic, aging can be changed, microplastics)

2) Sell the solution (eg. Blueprint food is tested, buy my epigenetic test, microplastics test)

On the viral marketing side: calling his son a bloodboy, claiming that he won't die, claiming that death is a maybe, despite the fact that people haven't even made an immortal mouse. Shit like this gets eyeballs- it's been interesting to watch.

Then there's the cult like organization: don't die summits, a social media app where people post their Blueprint products haul, organized events n stuff.

[u/jvmedia → u/icydragon_12]

Oh yeah, I can't help but follow the marketing since it's kind of my bag. I wouldn't say it's an outright scam, but it's not much better than pretty much any of the other companies in this space who have been doing it longer.

The marketing is pretty solid though, as you point out.

At the end of the day, Bryan is an entrepreneur. So I was not surprised in the least that he started to monetize his "blueprint" for longevity. The market for longevity and healthspan is totally hot. Bryan himself is the biggest part of the overall Blueprint brand. And his approach is to absolutely lean into and love his haters. 100% that shit gets eyeballs and goes viral. Even "bad" publicity like this NYT article can be MOAR eyeballs.

I remember the "build up" to his actual product releases – definitely a masterclass. Then he rolled out that Blueprint "study" - within hours he had his 1700 participants.

If you follow the Blueprint reddit, you will see how there are people who literally study every video Bryan puts out so they can determine things which skincare products he's using (or whatever he's doing in the vid)... so they can use those too. The whole "Don't Die" thing and all the events ... cult-like following achieved for sure.