Michael is the Co-Founder and CEO of H.V.M.N., the part-wellness, part-F&B brand helping consumers maximize their metabolic health through drinkable ketones.

On his morning routine.

I’m awake by 6 or 6:30 AM. Actually, I’m usually up before that. If my alarm is waking me up, I take it as a sign that I’m unfortunately not well-rested enough.

I’ll make coffee in a thermos — half for before my run and half for after I get back. Then I’ll take a shot of our ketones, and I’ve also gotten hooked on Athletic Greens lately.

My standard morning run is eight miles, give or take. I have a light protein drink as soon as I get back — no major meals early on.

Finally, I start work. My first couple hours of the day are more focused and quiet: little-to-no meetings, more so just writing and thinking through things.

On reliable food habits.

I’ll often have another shot of ketones right before lunch. I love that razor’s edge feeling of being a little fasted, so I’ll ride that for a while.

I’m not a total monk about any of this. I don’t do a full keto diet or deprive myself of calories; I don’t even think it’s ideal. But I’ll generally follow a few practices:

I backload my carb intake, so I’ll have stuff like bread at dinnertime.
I eat one or two meals per day: often a lighter lunch and bigger dinner.
I do enjoy compressing the eating window, like if those meals blend together naturally.

I do this because I’m trying to remain as focused as possible throughout the day.

I’ve found meals, especially when carbs are involved, can throw my focus off and just make me groggy. That post-lunch spike and crash that I’ve observed on my glucose monitor — it takes me out.

On hacking your biology.

I first got into biohacking with my friend and eventual co-founder Geoff maybe six or seven years ago, while we were both at Stanford.

We got our genetic profiles done, tracked our biomarkers, measured blood ketone levels, and did weekly 36-hour fasts.

We even tried a weeklong fast and went, “Well, we didn’t die.” Around that time, I also got super into marathon running. These days, I run a six-minute mile.

Essentially, I applied my engineering hat to biohacking.

Later on, the two of us got deeper into nutrition and started H.V.M.N. as a CPG brand, bridging our tech backgrounds with the biology.

On building H.V.M.N. for everyone.

Around 2017, Geoff and I gained a ton of press around the nootropics subscription service we were working on — and the keto diet was simultaneously beginning to trend.

We were unsure what edge we could bring to the idea until we figured out we could productize it to create a drinkable ketone.

The best part is ketones are what’s called a nutritional primitive. You could compare it to how elements like CBD and collagen have entered everyone’s radar in the last decade.

Everyone can utilize and benefit from Ketone-IQ™ in their own way, whether you’re:

Someone trying to lose 10 pounds
An everyday individual looking for a pick-me-up
A researcher aiding Alzheimer’s or traumatic brain injury patients
Or one of the Tour de France riders or military personnel we work closely with

Ultimately, we are still in the first inning of ketones. We have our drinkable product, but this is only the tip of what will definitely be a ton of surface area.

On his philosophy of work.

I truly believe hard work is good work. And I think perhaps we’ve lost sight of that.

Maybe it’s because everyone grew up watching Fight Club, so the consensus has become, “Screw my boss. Work just sucks.”

Of course, I’m not a productivity addict for the sake of clicking buttons all day. And I know everyone has their own philosophy for a life well-lived.

But I believe there is still something beautiful about making a positive mark on this world, alongside smart people who share your mission.

Maybe I could find inner peace by meditating and journaling every morning. But the calmest I feel is after forcing myself to gun it on a 14-mile run. There’s simply no up without the down.

And I want folks to never apologize for loving their work. If you want to stay home on a Friday night and put in the hours to build something cool, I think that’s awesome.

On his wind-down routine.

Once we hit dinnertime, that’s a great excuse to just put down everything work-related.

Entrepreneurs are so good at creating more work. The whole mission is basically staring into the abyss and trying to create value out of it.

So, of course, the to-do list is unending.

The only thing you can really do is kindly limit yourself.

If you’ve already done your 10 key tasks for the day, don’t sacrifice your sleep or well-being to do an 11th or 12th or whatever. Personally, I unplug around 8 PM and might make exceptions for high-priority items once or twice a week at most.

Then I’ll read, hang out with my wife, and maybe call a friend to avoid any more screen time. I’m big on paperback books — the current great read is Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson.

I’m in bed by 10 or 10:30 PM. I try my absolute best to sleep like a baby every night. I’m always checking up on my sleep score through my Oura Ring.

Michael Brandt, CEO at H.V.M.N.

Michael is the Co-Founder and CEO of H.V.M.N., the part-wellness, part-F&B brand helping consumers maximize their metabolic health through drinkable ketones.

On his morning routine.

I’m awake by 6 or 6:30 AM. Actually, I’m usually up before that. If my alarm is waking me up, I take it as a sign that I’m unfortunately not well-rested enough.

I’ll make coffee in a thermos — half for before my run and half for after I get back. Then I’ll take a shot of our ketones, and I’ve also gotten hooked on Athletic Greens lately.

My standard morning run is eight miles, give or take. I have a light protein drink as soon as I get back — no major meals early on.

Finally, I start work. My first couple hours of the day are more focused and quiet: little-to-no meetings, more so just writing and thinking through things.

On reliable food habits.

I’ll often have another shot of ketones right before lunch. I love that razor’s edge feeling of being a little fasted, so I’ll ride that for a while.

I’m not a total monk about any of this. I don’t do a full keto diet or deprive myself of calories; I don’t even think it’s ideal. But I’ll generally follow a few practices:

I backload my carb intake, so I’ll have stuff like bread at dinnertime.

I eat one or two meals per day: often a lighter lunch and bigger dinner.

I do enjoy compressing the eating window, like if those meals blend together naturally.

I do this because I’m trying to remain as focused as possible throughout the day.

I’ve found meals, especially when carbs are involved, can throw my focus off and just make me groggy. That post-lunch spike and crash that I’ve observed on my glucose monitor — it takes me out.

On hacking your biology.

I first got into biohacking with my friend and eventual co-founder Geoff maybe six or seven years ago, while we were both at Stanford.

We got our genetic profiles done, tracked our biomarkers, measured blood ketone levels, and did weekly 36-hour fasts.

We even tried a weeklong fast and went, “Well, we didn’t die.” Around that time, I also got super into marathon running. These days, I run a six-minute mile.

Essentially, I applied my engineering hat to biohacking.

Later on, the two of us got deeper into nutrition and started H.V.M.N. as a CPG brand, bridging our tech backgrounds with the biology.

On building H.V.M.N. for everyone.

Around 2017, Geoff and I gained a ton of press around the nootropics subscription service we were working on — and the keto diet was simultaneously beginning to trend.

We were unsure what edge we could bring to the idea until we figured out we could productize it to create a drinkable ketone.

The best part is ketones are what’s called a nutritional primitive. You could compare it to how elements like CBD and collagen have entered everyone’s radar in the last decade.

Everyone can utilize and benefit from Ketone-IQ™ in their own way, whether you’re:

Someone trying to lose 10 pounds

An everyday individual looking for a pick-me-up

A researcher aiding Alzheimer’s or traumatic brain injury patients

Or one of the Tour de France riders or military personnel we work closely with

Ultimately, we are still in the first inning of ketones. We have our drinkable product, but this is only the tip of what will definitely be a ton of surface area.

On his philosophy of work.

I truly believe hard work is good work. And I think perhaps we’ve lost sight of that.

Maybe it’s because everyone grew up watching Fight Club, so the consensus has become, “Screw my boss. Work just sucks.”

Of course, I’m not a productivity addict for the sake of clicking buttons all day. And I know everyone has their own philosophy for a life well-lived.

But I believe there is still something beautiful about making a positive mark on this world, alongside smart people who share your mission.

Maybe I could find inner peace by meditating and journaling every morning. But the calmest I feel is after forcing myself to gun it on a 14-mile run. There’s simply no up without the down.

And I want folks to never apologize for loving their work. If you want to stay home on a Friday night and put in the hours to build something cool, I think that’s awesome.

On his wind-down routine.

Once we hit dinnertime, that’s a great excuse to just put down everything work-related.

Entrepreneurs are so good at creating more work. The whole mission is basically staring into the abyss and trying to create value out of it.

So, of course, the to-do list is unending.

The only thing you can really do is kindly limit yourself.

If you’ve already done your 10 key tasks for the day, don’t sacrifice your sleep or well-being to do an 11th or 12th or whatever. Personally, I unplug around 8 PM and might make exceptions for high-priority items once or twice a week at most.

Then I’ll read, hang out with my wife, and maybe call a friend to avoid any more screen time. I’m big on paperback books — the current great read is Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson.

I’m in bed by 10 or 10:30 PM. I try my absolute best to sleep like a baby every night. I’m always checking up on my sleep score through my Oura Ring.