November 2021

Page 35

trends

life, luxury & the pursuit of happiness

DIVERSIONS

Tripping Over Microdosing

Taking small doses of LSD or magic mushrooms has long been a part of Silicon Valley lore, but does the research support the hype? By Mike Reddy

W

hen the co-founder and CEO of a $2 billion marketing startup was fired in April, the circumstances surrounding his ouster sparked a flurry of media attention. “Iterable CEO Justin Zhu says he was fired for taking LSD before investor meeting,” read an Euronews headline. Similar headlines appeared in Bloomberg, Business Insider, Forbes and Fortune, among others. It’s not surprising that Zhu’s story blew up in the press. One can’t help but wonder what would motivate someone in his position to do something so seemingly bizarre. According to Bloomberg, he was trying to take a microdose of the psychedelic drug to improve his focus and consequently enhance a pitch he had to deliver to an investor group. As it relates to psychedelics, microdosing is typically defined as taking a

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