I came up with Zelyte my senior year of high school, after years of rowing, wrestling, and lifting. I knew the feeling of being 1,000 meters into a race with a dry mouth and cramping legs, no way to stop, no way to drink, just suffering through it. I watched my teammates reach for nicotine pouches and thought: Why can't that format actually do something useful?
I spent the next summer in my kitchen mixing prototypes and tracking down manufacturers. When I got to college, I built our team, pitched the idea, won, and haven't stopped working since.
Zelyte launches this summer.
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