Howdy Myco Fam,

We’re doing another Mycopreneur Incubator at 5 pm EST / 2 pm PST today

The invite info is here:

Mycopreneur Incubator

Time: Oct 3, 2024 05:00 PM EST / 2 pm PST

Join Zoom Meeting

https://us06web.zoom.us/j/81887683622?pwd=1aTKbwdF4TTmFZqpcUoSs6t8SsEPPg.1

Meeting ID: 818 8768 3622

Passcode: 730442

I’m in Chicago - finally back in a U.S. time zone ( :

In the event you’re reading this and haven’t been to an incubator yet, here’s a breakdown of some of what we do:

Get everyone working on mushroom projects into a zoom room together and level up together. That’s the goal. We’ve had really solid turnouts and a lot of tangible value created just by virtue of who shows up and contributes. Actionable intel, real world scenarios, valuable perspectives.

The following sections are a breakdown of some current events and opportunities involving mushrooms.

Mushrooms in the news: 

Mushrooms are the Darling of Sustainability (Washington Post)

My Thoughts: This article touches on a lot of the core thesis that Mycopreneur was built around - that mushrooms touch every imaginable vertical of the sustainable design and development world and that the future belongs to entrepreneurs and businesses who recognize and intelligently leverage this potential. 

As with any promising technology and market, there’s always a challenge to separate signal from noise once the proof of concept has been dialed in and brands start to disrupt. But as the article states, “Fungiphiles seem to be winning” (no lies detected)

The Fate of Magic Mushrooms in California Is Unclear. Some Wellness Businesses Are Using Them Anyways.

My thoughts: Psilocybin mushrooms are federally illegal in the U.S. & at the state level in California, yet there are increasingly public, professional, & quality brands producing lab tested mushroom products & bespoke experiences in numerous cities across the U.S. This article cites a ‘herd mentality’ - “Safety in numbers”

The only route to access that federal regulators seem to be interested in potentially validating will likely come in the form of pharmaceuticalized psilocybin grounded in a clinical framework - there could perhaps be a carve out for Microdosing as we’ve seen with some studies in Australia. 

Cannabis is still federally illegal, but three dispensaries have recently opened up in the conservative middle class area I grew up in and there’s a legal market in 15 states. 

Rather than outright cede control over a legal mushroom market to a government monopoly, as has been proposed in a recent RAND report, perhaps a ‘membership model’ similar but not identical to the mushroom churches we see popping up all over is a viable regulatory option; most of the legitimate underground brands and experiences already operate this way on a referral and vetting process anyways. You apply to join a club, have access to community & education, are accountable to the community, and can have your membership / access revoked in the event of bad faith actions. 

I’m also definitely a cognitive libertarian and fundamentally support decrim but that’s a different conversation than regulated access and a marketplace from my perspective. 

Any way you slice it, the mushroom genie’s not going back in the bottle and it’s great to see people who are deeply embedded in the culture of psychedelics publishing their work in the LA Times.

Companies that caught our attention this week: Mycosoft

Mycosoft's Mycology Technology harnesses the power of mycelium - the root network of fungi - to develop sustainable materials and innovative biological computing solutions.

Say what? Mycelium computers? It’s a thing 👀 A number of labs have been taking on the mission of ‘fungal computing’ in recent years.

Mycosoft has a number of innovative and intriguing mycocentric projects in their portfolio - their Virtual Petri Dish is one such application:

TruNorth Naturals: This Canada based mushroom company offers sustainably wild harvested mushrooms from Canada - they have undertaken an initiative to educate the public about the importance of sustainable harvesting practices, and offer a number of mushrooms that aren’t as readily available in the stocks of many functional mushroom companies (see Willow Bracket, Red Belted Polypore and Hoof Conk below)

The prospect of wildcrafted fungi products based on sustainably harvested wild mushrooms is extremely interesting for a number of reasons - wild fungi have the thwart much greater environmental pressures than harvested fungi, and in doing so are potentially able to generate a stronger immune defense which translates to a more impactful benefit profile among active compounds as compared to their counterparts grown in a lab sterilized environment.

The key issue then becomes sustainable harvesting practices, which TruNurth has built their brand around.

If you attend the Incubator, please consider sending $10 - $15 to @mycopreneur on Venmo. If you’d like to sponsor an Incubator session, hit me up below. Mycopreneur sponsorship is also available, the platform reach is in the hundreds of thousands of viewers / readers / listeners monthly (Over 300k in the last 30 days)

See you all at the Incubator, hit me up with ideas or questions by replying to this email.