Among the many exhibitors on the current Dubai Muscle Present, few drew as a lot consideration as James Smith – health coach, creator, podcaster, and co-founder of Neutonic, a brand new “productiveness drink” that merges neuroscience with way of life efficiency. Whereas many founders conceal behind advertising groups, Smith does the alternative: he offers out his private e-mail and, if a buyer isn’t pleased, refunds them instantly from his personal account.
“Individuals get an alert that claims James Smith despatched you £28 (AED 130),” he laughs. “That builds belief. They realise there’s an precise human behind the model.” It’s an strategy that runs via every part he does – private, direct, and sometimes counter-intuitive.
From failure to focus
Smith’s entrepreneurial journey started with failure. “I moved to Australia with large desires as a private coach, however it didn’t click on,” he says. “The fitness center tradition was hostile, and I couldn’t make ends meet.” Trapped in a one-year contract, he purchased a whiteboard and began filming exercises on his iPhone, streaming dwell twice a day for his shoppers again within the UK.
“After I hit 50,000 followers, I purchased a digital camera and taught myself to edit,” he remembers. “The worst second of my profession turned out to be the most effective. If that fitness center had labored out, I’d by no means have constructed this life.”
That on-line begin led to bestselling books, sell-out talking excursions, and an viewers of hundreds of thousands — however Smith by no means outsourced the private connection. “I nonetheless reply to messages. I nonetheless use my actual e-mail. I don’t need individuals speaking to a ‘group’. They’re speaking to me.”
The spark behind Neutonic
The concept for Neutonic didn’t come from a advertising brainstorm. It got here from Smith’s personal wrestle with focus. “After I was writing my first e book, I used to be taking Modafinil (a prescription drug for narcolepsy) simply to remain awake and focus,” he admits.
Realising that wasn’t sustainable, he started experimenting with nootropics: pure compounds like Alpha GPC and Lion’s Mane stated to assist cognitive efficiency. “If I might be cognitively primed, I’d write 10,000 phrases as a substitute of three,000. In my world, one good thought on one good day can change the whole month’s income.”
Ultimately, these private experiments turned the blueprint for Neutonic, a drink that helps you focus with out the chemical crash. “I wished one thing authorized, secure, and efficient but additionally one thing individuals wished to drink, not needed to.”
From whiteboard to model
The identify merged nootropic and tonic, and the brand got here from AI after a whole bunch of iterations. “Now I look again on the graveyard of dangerous concepts and I’m equally haunted and proud.”
Even the can design displays his perfectionism. “We wished it barely much less fizzy so you possibly can drink it throughout a exercise. The matte end prices a fortune however feels premium. The dents in transit taught us that perfection has a value.”
Smith calls Neutonic a productiveness drink – “vitality, however smarter.” However what actually differentiates it’s how he retains the model human. “If somebody doesn’t prefer it, I refund them myself,” he says. “In the event that they’re well mannered, I don’t even verify the order quantity. I’ll banter a bit — typically I ask if they need more cash to get their style buds checked after which I ship the refund.”
That playful honesty wins loyalty. “When prospects realise I really despatched the cash, not some bot, they inform their pals. Even the dissatisfied ones turn out to be advocates.”
It’s a philosophy that has constructed the corporate extra successfully than any advert marketing campaign. “If you happen to gave me a $100,000 influencer funds, I’d spend all of it on free inventory,” Smith says. “I’d relatively give cans to actual individuals than pay somebody to faux they drink it.”
His intuition for advertising defies conference. “Everybody informed me to not do a thriller flavour launch. I ignored them. We offered 1,000 instances in 24 hours. Generally the ‘fallacious’ thought is the appropriate one.”
Discovering a second dwelling in Dubai
Smith first got here to Dubai years in the past to play within the Rugby Sevens with a social group known as the Pie and Pint Pilgrims – “we have been higher at fancy costume than rugby,” he laughs.
In the present day, he sees the town in a different way. “At first, I didn’t get it. However now I realise Dubai aligns with my values – ambition, respect, entrepreneurialism. It’s a hub of excessive achievers.”
One assembly sealed that bond: a coaching session with Sheikh Tarik Al Qassimi, a Jiu-Jitsu black belt. “He utterly modified my notion of the area. The tradition, the openness, the values. Each time I come again, it feels extra like dwelling.”
