The following is based on a phone conversation and email correspondence.
The Birth of Think Gum
It all started outside the main library on campus where he would stop before class. He would pick fresh rosemary from a rosemary bush and mix it with peppermint gum. Matt thought, “This makeshift gum that I am chewing now could be so much more than it is now and could help other students.” The first person he told his idea was to his girlfriend. “I have a good amount of ‘outside the box’ ideas and I run them by her first to see if they make sense. She thought it was a good one so I told my friends and they agreed it was a good idea.”
He was an undergrad at The University of California at Berkley. As a student he use to chew a lot of gum to help him focus (chewing gum has been proven to keep people alert).
In his senior year of college he heard about two different studies. One in involved 'context dependent memory'. The idea being that if you learn something in a certain setting, your recall is better if you apply that setting again. It implied that if he chewed a particular type of gum when he was studying, his recall would improve if he chewed the same type of gum during an exam.
Then he was in another class learning about how drugs affect the brain. They learned about different aromas and how it could impact people’s concentration and memory. And the two best were peppermint and rosemary. So he chewed peppermint gum and put rosemary in it. After he graduated, he realized that it really helped him as a student. He wanted to make it available to others students.
The ‘Thinking’ Process
Matt knew what he wanted after reading these studies. So, he looked into how feasible it would be to get a chewing gum manufactured on his behalf. He started experimenting with different formulations and tried different herbal supplements that could go into the gum.
It came down to how it tasted and what to put in the gum. He went to Whole Foods, which is an organic-type supermarket, and bought all the herbal supplements that he’d read about to improve memory concentration. He tasted them all. Some tasted pretty good and others tasted terrible.
After he figured out which ones would taste better in a gum, the next step involved online research. He looked at what ones could be effective in a small enough dose to put them into a gum. Then he tested different combinations to see if it would still be effective.
The Name
It was either going to be called ‘Think Gum’ or ‘Brain Gum’ or ‘Smart Gum’. Matt decided on Think Gum because “that what the gum does—it helps you think. It’s not necessarily going to make you smart. You can’t just chew and get straight A’s but it does facilitate your thinking.”
Marketing Obstacles
The first obstacle was his background. He doesn’t have a business or marketing background—his background is in science. So the problem was trying to figure out how to get gum made, how to finance it, getting effective marketing strategies, etc. He had to talk to a lot of people who had business experience. The second obstacle was the size of the company. “We were starting out pretty small. Most companies don’t like to deal with small companies. I had to call and meet with lots of people.”
I asked Matt to tell me...
What are consumers most surprised at regarding Think Gum?
People are amazed that it exists and that it actually works! That’s what they’re most surprised at—that it helps recall. And, that it actually tastes good!
What is the biggest misconception that people have about Think Gum?
When people see herbal ingredients they think it won’t taste good. But when they try it, they find it not to be the case.
What can’t Think Gum do?
The answer lies within the name—the reason we named it Think Gum instead of Smart Gum. It’s not going to make you smart just by chewing it. It will just help you do your work better.
What is the best thing about founding Think Gum?
The best thing about being the founder of Think Gum is seeing people benefit from something that I created. I also like having unlimited access to chewing gum!
What doors have opened because of this product?
I am now talking with various international distributors and even with some government organizations. I can't really go into it much more than that for confidentiality reasons.
Who's been the greatest influence in your life? Whom do you admire?
The greatest influences in my life are: my parents, my 7th grade science teacher, and my 9th grade biology teacher. I admire people who are creative and people who have started large, successful companies. I believe that most people can teach me something new about who they are or what they do, and learning really keeps me going!
What role does science play in creativity?
Science contributes to creativity by providing a foundation that can be built upon by anyone. It allows people to “stand on the shoulders of giants.” I would have never come up with Think Gum were it not for researchers who had studied the attributes of something as simple as chewing gum, the impact of aromas or the properties of various herbs. Science allows people to be creative but rational at the same time. You can learn from people’s mistakes and successes without having to start from scratch every time.
What advice do you have for people who want to pursue their ideas?
I have lots of advice.For starters, you don’t know if something is going to work until you try it.I am a fan of ‘more doing and less thinking.’The first try at anything is never going to be perfect, no matter how much thought goes into it.So just start doing and modify your idea or business plan as you go.Another big thing is getting everything in writing.
Finally, don’t be discouraged. There are good days and bad days in running a business and you have to be able to handle rejection and move on. Realistically, you will fail more then you succeed; but you don’t need many successes to get some momentum to propel you forward to success.
More About Think Gum
Details about Think Gum (ingredients, price, availability) are found at www.thinkgum.com.
Related Trivia
The most successful chewing gum company was established by William Wrigley, Jr., in 1892. The secrets of Wrigley gums are strong flavor and prominent advertising. As William Wrigley, Jr. said early in the century, “Tell ‘em quick and tell ‘em often.”
The U.S. Armed Forces have regularly supplied soldiers with chewing gum since World War 1 because it helped to improve their concentration and to relieve stress.
Greek scholars chewed mastic gum made from the resin of the mastic tree to help improve memory recall. They also wore rosemary in their hair while studying to increase concentration.
When the smell of rosemary was pumped into cubicles where people were working, those people showed improved memory, though with slower recall.
Related Links
Chewing gum and cognitive performance: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15458809?dopt=Abstract
Chewing gum reducing stress: http://casesblog.blogspot.com/2006/04/chewing-gum-reduces-stress-and.html
Related Quotes
“In science—credit goes to the man who convinces the world, not to the whom the idea first occurs.” Francis Darwin
