A new Zyn competitor is marketing its nicotine pouches to the finance bros

Excel’s is-it-ironic-or-not branding makes sense, given the growing popularity of synthetic nicotine pouches among office workers wanting a boost.

“Starting Excel was the next logical step in continuing my life’s mission of productivity at all costs,” said John Coogan, the creator of Excel and a Los Angeles-based entrepreneur and YouTuber.

Largely seen as a safer alternative to dip, vaping, and cigarettes, market leader Zyn said it shipped roughly 385 million cans of its nicotine products in the US in 2023, up 62% year-over-year.

In addition to the corporate world, the pouches have also found loyal devotees within certain circles of the political right.

Tucker Carlson, for instance — who has said the product “frees your mind” — is launching his own brand in November. He’s calling it Alp, which he’s positioning as a more masculine alternative to Zyn.

The brainchild of a Soylent cofounder

Coogan told BI he cofounded Soylent, a beverage and snack brand, “so that people would no longer need to leave their desk.”

Coogan — who also serves as an entrepreneur-in-residence at Founders Fund — cofounded nicotine startup Lucy Goods in 2016, and it closed a $10 million Series A funding round in 2020.

Lucy houses several sub-brands, Coogan said, with others on the way.

Lucy’s first product was nicotine gum, and it also vends a Breakers brand whose nicotine pouches contain a flavor capsule. “More for the Montauk season than the office,” he said.

Excel was founded in 2022.

The branding for Excel — which straddles a fine line between earnestness and parody — was developed by Los Angeles-based creative studio Day Job, which has worked with clients including Colgate and sauce startup Fly By Jing.

In an email interview with BI, Day Job cofounder Rion Harmon said the branding was inspired by Wall Street’s hedonistic heyday.

“We’ve all heard of storied output derived from cocaine in the 80’s,” Harmon said of decreasing productivity levels today. “We felt an obligation to find a solution.”

Coogan likened Excel to “American Psycho,” a satire that he said has been “rightly embraced by finance bros as a style guide.”

“We hope that Excel will quickly enter the Wall Street canon,” Coogan said, “to sit alongside Patrick Bateman, Gordon Gekko, and many other icons.”