Common Side Effects

Imagine a world where the cure to every disease - including death - is found in a rare blue magic mushroom. Now imagine the lengths that pharmaceutical cartels and their cronies in the government would go to in order to suppress such a discovery.

Common Side Effects is a new animated show premiering February 2nd on the Adult Swim network, produced by Mike Judge and Greg Daniels, who collectively have written, directed and produced the lion’s share of the most impactful satirical and comedy television of the 20th and 21st centuries - including Beavis & Butthead, The Simpsons, King of the Hill, The Office, and more, as well as the iconic movies Idiocracy and Office Space. I mean Holy Guacamole am I excited for this one.

In an interview with Direct, show co-creators Steve Hely and Joe Bennet had this to say about their choice of casting a magic blue mushroom as the central thematic element in the show:

Steve Hely: Mushrooms are very interesting and weird, and I don't think we've begun to know everything about them. There are some that'll kill you, some that are delicious, and some that make you have strange mental experiences. And so it seemed like, close to plausible, that a mushroom could have this much power. 

Joe Bennet: And I think that mushrooms, in particular, have always kind of been sort of written off as, sort of a fringe alternative kind of medicine. And a lot of the characters... They're a little bit of a pariah in the science community. You know, they're not sort of taken seriously. I think that was another part of why it was like, okay, a mushroom makes sense.

Watch party anyone?

25 Mushroom Companies to Watch in 2025 Part 3

This segment is a continuation of a list that has been published over the last two newsletters - these are companies 11-15 of the 25 companies to watch in 2025 list.

11. Mycobim

Mycobim is a mushroom community in Barbados 🇧🇧 spearheaded by world renowned researcher Darren Le Baron, who is of Barbadian descent. It's a homegrown enterprise that teaches mushroom cultivation, education, and wild foraging among other pursuits in the Caribbean island nation where cultural stigmas around mushrooms still hold up.

12. Aether Apothecary

Aether Apothecary is a South Africa 🇿🇦 based bioceutical company founded with the intent of spreading knowledge, and expanding the use of Therapeutic herbs and Medicinal mushrooms throughout South Africa. Their founders have contributed a great degree of value to the mushroom education and entrepreneurial ecosystem in South Africa, and they are making big moves in the coming year.

13. Mycroboost

Mycroboost is a Los Angeles based functional mushroom company that has made an evolutionary leap in the multibillion dollar mushroom coffee category - with recent profiles in Rolling Stone and an appearance at SXSW in 2024 among numerous other accolades last year, they're riding a wave of success into 2025 and beyond. Look for them to continue their ascent in the functional mushroom CPG space and to continue their penetration of retail spaces across LA and coast to coast.

14. Tryptomics 

Tryptomics is a Colorado based early-stage biotechnology company pushing the boundaries in natural product research, testing services and testing technologies. They've established themselves as frontrunners in the psychoactive mushroom analytical potency testing space, and caught major press attention this year for their work to help ensure product quality and potency in the evolving psychedelic mushroom industry.

15. Fungaria 

Fungaria is a collective of mushroom researchers and educators based in Chiapas, Mexico who have made a global impression this year. Their work to bridge regional ancestral knowledge of mushrooms with modern scientific inquiry and archiving has yielded recognition from top institutions in the world of mycology, and earned founder Ezequiel Cruz invitations to present his work at prestigious academic conferences in Colombia and Canada among other notable accolades.

Mushrooms Go From Taboo to Ta-BOOM in Nepal 🇳🇵

From Our Sponsors: Real Mushrooms has been formulating best in market functional mushroom supplements for over 40 years. Drawing on multigenerational expertise and relationships in the global medicinal mushroom industry, they continue to pioneer the way forward for the functional mushroom space. I frequently point people towards their educational blog to learn more about the history, tradition, and science underpinning the mushroom revolution. Check out how mushrooms can support your health resolutions for 2025 and beyond.

Did you catch last week’s Mycopreneur podcast episode with Stephanie & Leo from MycoFutures? They share on the ground intel about how they pivoted into a unique area of the mushroom entrepreneurial space and ended up securing a 6-figure investment for their company. It’s a banger. Check it out below.

Mycopreneur Incubator Invite

Time: Jan 30, 2025 4:00 PM East Coast U.S. / 1:00 PM West Coast U.S.

Join Zoom Meeting https://us06web.zoom.us/j/82718660112?pwd=PRBbUR2ZhpWTfxDm0xQS3nEwPiPggg.1

Meeting ID: 827 1866 0112 Passcode: 528035

The incubator is a low-key, cost-free networking and mentorship opportunity for mushroom entrepreneurs, enthusiasts, researchers, journalists, lawyers, sacred clowns, etc. You never know who’s going to drop in, who you’ll connect with, and what sort of real world opportunities will spin out of the incubator.

To support the incubator, please consider making a financial contribution in the amount of your choice to

Venmo: @mycopreneur

PayPal: [email protected]

Or hit me up in the replies if you’d like to contribute via a different method of payment or sponsor an incubator for the group.

The Mycopreneur Newsletter, Podcast, Incubator, and social media platforms collectively reach over 300k people per month, with a dense concentration of mushroom and psychedelic industry executives, entrepreneurs, journalists and tastemakers.

Limited sponsorship and collaboration opportunities are available, apply by directly contacting me in the email replies here.

Thank you for reading the Mycopreneur Newsletter and see you at the Incubator today

DW

And since some of you have made it this far into my ramblings, here's an Easter Egg for ya:

Mycoday functional Mushroom Chocolate has officially been incorporated as an LLC in Delaware.

My Co-Founder Kevin and I have been hand making functional mushroom chocolate from bean to bar for almost three years now, and now we've gone legit.

There are a lot of moving parts to taking Mycoday to the next level, and I want you all to be a part of what we're building from the get go.

We're in the process of getting our first 1,000 bars dialed in and ready to bring to market - stay tuned 🤩

All leads and unsolicited advice re: best practices for launching a product are totally welcome!

Thank you for reading the Mycopreneur Newsletter!

Alrighty then, time to watch some Padres spring training baseball right now. Thanks for reading and see y'all back here on Friday! Tell ya friends where to find us!