Jason Karp

Jason is the Founder & CEO of HumanCo — a mission-driven holding company that is fanatical about creating products that help people live healthier lives.

Previously, Jason was the Founder and CEO of Tourbillon Capital Partners, an investment fund that managed over $4B, and has over 21 years of investment experience including other multi-billion dollar investment funds.

On the first hour of his day.

I’m up around 6 AM and avoid my phone for about 20 minutes

Before getting bombarded with notifications and updates, I’ll make myself a green tea latte with a combination of MCT Oil and collagen. 

Then I’ll hop onto my iPad and work through some overnight updates, dive into email, and start planning out my day. After a quick triage, I wake up my kids around 7.30, read for a bit, then hit a workout around 8 AM.

Right now I’m working with a remote trainer 3 times a week, focusing primarily on strength development and functional lifts. I try to workout out every morning of the week.

On upgrading his morning routine.

Since I retired from the hedge fund industry in 2019, my routine has changed a lot, primarily because I’m no longer actively trading in the stock market. 

I was a professional investor in public stocks for over 20 years, a big part of that was waking up and immediately analyzing futures, market news, and portfolio monitoring.

I’m quite thankful I don’t do that anymore. It was a vicious way to start the day. 

These days, especially due to COVID, I’m sleeping more, not traveling as much, and eating cleaner. I picked up caffeine again which is super helpful for morning workouts.

The morning workout is particularly beneficial to starting the day with intention. I need that time to mentally break down what my day looks like and prioritize action items.

On escaping the rat race.

While I definitely enjoyed many aspects of operating in a hedge fund, it also made me incredibly sick. In an odd twist of events, it was an incredible blessing for me. 

To be blunt, my past life was the definition of a rat race.

Drinking a ton of caffeine in the morning, working nonstop, going out for dinner and drinks with clients. Wake up and repeat.

That lifestyle disagreed with me.

I have an autoimmune disease that makes me susceptible to the negative impacts stemming from lack of sleep, processed foods, chemicals, and adulterants. 

Getting sick gave me the space and time to understand what I needed to do to take care of myself and how I thought about my personal wellness over a long-term time horizon. 

It’s the genesis behind everything that I’ve done in the health and wellness space since.

On the future of HumanCo.

Our goal is to build a modern health and wellness holding company. 

We’re actively trying to build something that truly takes health guardrails to the next level, in terms of being strict on ingredient profile and developing genuine trust with our customers.

HumanCo is launching with food brands, but that’s not the endgame.

We’re trying to hit everything that goes in and on your body, extending to personal care and beauty products. 

A major value of ours at HumanCo. is that if something can be made simpler and more real, where the taste is not sacrificed, it’s a product that needs to be developed.

In 10 years, we want HumanCo. to become a household name that people associate with ultra high quality and trust for their own welfare.

It’s in the early days, but we’re on the right track.

On personal nutrition.

I don’t eat breakfast during the weekdays, it slows me down.

Most days I also try not to have a big lunch, which tends to tire me out.

I’m pretty strict about being gluten and grain-free, so my lunches mostly consist of salads with some sort of protein. My go-to right now is an arugula salad with grilled salmon. I’ll have nuts as a light mid-afternoon snack or something savory if I’m in the mood.

Dinner is varied, but always something paleo.

On winding down.

To be completely honest, it’s been a busy few months so my routine isn’t perfect. 

I’ll usually have dinner to transition into the evening after work. We have a policy in our home of no electronics when we’re eating to make sure we’re all fully present.

Depending on the day, I’ll sometimes finish some light work after dinner, but ideally I’m just hanging with the kids and then putting them to bed. 

If I don’t have separate dinner plans meeting someone, I’ll put my phone in a different room around 8.30 to reduce blue light exposure before sleep.

Regarding product upgrades, I swear by a white noise machine and an air purifier. We also make our room unusually cold at around 65 degrees. 

Right before bed, I do my nightly brain dump in a notebook. I drop in anything that’s on my mind, regardless of what it is. It helps me clear out any stressors before bed.

Finally, I’m out around 10.30 and try to get a good 7 to 8 hours of sleep.