F. Andrianopoli

How a big food brand can pay to shut down a startup. LMNT is suing my bootstrapped startup Oasis, and me personally, for $255 million in alleged lost sales from our social media posts. The cost of defending ourselves is likely to bankrupt us. I started Oasis a couple years ago out of frustration with the lack of transparency from bottled water brands. We began by collecting water quality reports, testing products and sharing the results so people could see what’s actually inside their water. Since then, we’ve expanded into testing other consumer products. The mission has always been to make this information publicly accessible so people can decide for themselves. We have no investors or outside funding. We’re an independent team of fewer than 7 people. LMNT is a 9-figure electrolyte company that built its popularity through paid influencer partnerships. We shared data showing heavy metals in their product, but twice mistakenly overstated the amounts because of two separate engineering bugs. We owned up, corrected the record and offered to work toward further resolution. LMNT hired Quinn Emanuel to pursue the case and silence us instead. We dispute much of what they allege, but defending ourselves could take years and cost more than we can afford. What scares me is that a company with enough money can bring a case against a small team who doesn't have the resources to defend themselves. The cost of fighting back can be enough to silence criticism before the truth is uncovered. I believe consumers deserve accurate, transparent information. Protecting access to that information is critical if we’re going to improve the US food system. Large brands suing over public criticism isn’t new, and can be won with proper backing and support. Setting a precedent that protects consumers’ access to accurate, transparent information about what they consume, and how it affects their health, is critical to improving the US health system. Accuracy, transparency and helping people make informed decisions are core to Oasis. We aim for 100% accuracy, but we are the first platform sharing such extensive product information making it an very complex challenge. When we fall short, we transparently correct the record and strengthen our processes. We did the very best we could with the resources we had and only positive intent. We acted honestly, owned our mistakes and have substantially improved since then. Unless the case is dropped, resolved or investors help us defend consumer rights to empowered personal health, we cannot afford both our legal defense and the work of testing/sharing product results with you. I started Oasis with the goal of improving humanity's health standard, starting with water and food, but it seems the existing system may be too big and powerful to change