Biohack Miami hosted its first-ever wellness event in San Francisco on April 11th.
Tess Martinelli
Biohacking is a rapidly growing trend that mixes technology and wellness to promote longevity.
Silicon Valley is home to many of the newest biohacking technologies and remedies.
I visited a wellness event in San Francisco to learn the biohacking tips tech founders swear by.
I first heard about biohacking on social media about a year ago, after coming across Bryan Johnson, a famous biohacker who spends $2 million a year to stay alive as long as possible. His Instagram bio ambitiously reads, "We may be the first generation who won't die."
It's fair to say I was intrigued.
Biohackers optimize their bodies and minds to live longer and better. So, when I walked into Shack15, a members-only social club in San Francisco, for a biohacking event, I expected to see a bunch of Bryan Johnson dopplegangers — people in matching smartwatches, obsessively tracking their bodies and chasing immortality. Instead, I found something much more typical.
Despite biohacking often being framed as a way to live longer, at this event, most people weren't chasing immortality. They just wanted to feel better now, whether they live long or not.
I attended the event to understand how Silicon Valley's wellness, work, and tech cultures collide, and to hopefully steal some tips ultra-productive founders use to feel their best. But while the technology was innovative, the biggest biohacks were much less extreme than I expected and cost nothing.
Tickets ranged from $79 to $229
Tess Martinelli
One ticket cost $79 for general admission, though I was granted free access with a media pass. The most expensive tickets were $229.
The five-hour event, a partnership between wellness event brands BayDreaming and Biohack Miami, featured a full calendar across multiple rooms, including yoga, DJ sets, brunch, and speakers on longevity.
There was always something to be doing, but my interest was drawn to the main hub where wellness companies promoted their products or services, often offering free trials.
Call me a guinea pig, because if it's a free trial, I'll try anything.
I tried out B12 shots, audio tactile beds, and red light therapy
Tess Martinelli
I signed my life away on a waiver before jumping right in with a B12 injection, which the doctor told me would give me an energy boost. I took the shot in my right arm, but throughout the day, I didn't notice any change.
Then, I tested out an audio-tactile bed that vibrates to music — and I swear it felt like my body was sinking into the ground in the most relaxing way.
A red-light vest was less convincing. It's supposed to reduce pain and inflammation wherever the light touches, but the vendor told me it likely wouldn't work well through my clothes. This ruined any hope of the placebo effect, since I had to keep our clothes on.
Some other treatments I didn't get an opportunity to try were hydrogen therapy and an IV drip.
Some treatments cost thousands of dollars
Tess Martinelli
While testing the products was free, most companies were selling products or services that cost hundreds or even thousands of dollars.
The audio-tactile bed for relaxation starts at $2,600, and a wearable bra insert designed to track women's health data costs $200.
Maybe I'm just salty because these items are out of my budget, but the prices made me question, "Are the health benefits really worth the cost?"
There was a surprisingly diverse population
Tess Martinelli
I expected a room full of wealthy founders in luxury gear. When I scanned the space for expensive sneakers or watches, I only found myself burning holes into people's generic-brand workout clothes with my gaze. I looked down at my Target leggings and beat-up running shoes with a sigh of relief.
Surprisingly, I even noticed age and body diversity among the people there.
I naively expected anyone who'd adorn the title "biohacker" to be a young person harrowingly obsessed with physical appearance, with little to no room for diversity, but I was happily wrong.
People were skeptical of the technology
Tess Martinelli
When I talked to some of the patrons, a lot of them were hesitant to try the technologies. They wondered about the potential side effects of an IV drip or questioned the efficacy of some of the sound therapies.
"I don't really believe in that," 26-year-old startup founder, Pouya Rezvani, said about brain-mapping.
While these patrons paid money to attend the event, it seems they have their hesitancies when it comes to using new technology that hasn't been proven or regulated.
Even though the biohacking community is "living in the future" in some regard, it appeared to me that human skepticism has yet to catch up.
Many of the wellness remedies offered were expensive and pretty big-time commitments
Tess Martinelli
I was surprised to see that many of the people I spoke with didn't find expensive and time-consuming remedies worth it.
Aleks Chojnacki, a 31-year-old head of partnerships in AI technology, says, "I'm rushing from thing to thing. So if it's too much of an additional weight into my day and my schedule, I know I'm probably not going to maintain it."
Thirty-two-year-old founder of Etho wellness club, Mikey Margolin, agrees. "I come from a mindset that wellness does not have to be expensive. I think that this culture of biohacking and wellness is amazing in the sense of optimizing you as a human being, but we are given all those tools on this planet to optimize ourselves without having to spend any money. And that can be as simple as getting sunlight."
Most wellness participants just wanted to focus on the basics: food, sleep, and friends
Tess Martinelli
When I asked people about their longevity routines, almost no one mentioned high-tech treatments. Instead, they kept coming back to the basics.
Barry McCabe, a 34-year-old who runs a sports performance technology company, told me, "It's cool to see all the new ideas and new innovation and new waves of trends coming on the market. But for me, it's the basics: sleep, mental well-being, and good food."
Many of the day's activities, from yoga to guided breathwork, were just about reducing stress and boosting well-being. Project manager, Maike Kleier, says, "I just want to feel good now, and if that increases my lifetime, that's great."