FIELD NOTES NUM. 01
ALTAE
The Earth. Recorded. Verified per lot.
Drop 001: Altai shilajit as the first demonstration
SLIDE 02
PROBLEM
- Shilajit, sold as a premium supplement at $25 to $130 per jar in the US, has documented heavy metal contamination including lead, cadmium, arsenic, mercury, and thallium
- ConsumerLab's 2024 round on the category found wide variation in active content (fulvic acid) across all eight tested brands; no incumbent leads with verifiable per-lot assay receipts
- Origin claims default to 'Himalayan' on every label without lot, harvester, altitude, or harvest season disclosed
- Communities at origin rarely share in upside
The Trust Gap
SLIDE 03
INSIGHT
- 01
Trust becomes structural when proof is public, specific, and permanent
A claim is marketing. A public lot record is infrastructure.
- 02
Most supplement brands publish a test. ALTAE publishes a record
Lot, methods, limits, custody, retain sample - linked, not loose.
- 03
Connection is continuity from origin to unit
Each jar resolves to its lot, and that lot resolves to its evidence.
- 04
A repeatable disclosure standard scales beyond shilajit
Shilajit is the entry point. The system applies across origins and categories.
Drop rule: No result, no drop.
LEDGER ANATOMY
UNIT
QR on jar
Lot ID on label
LOT PAGE
altae.earth/ledger/LOT A001
Status: Pending, Verified...
EVIDENCE PACK
COA PDF
Methods summary
Limits and pass fail
Sampling note
TRACE
Chain of custody log
Handling steps
Retain sample record
INTEGRITY
File fingerprint for COA
Version history
Timestamped update log
RELEASE GATE
Evidence required
SLIDE 04
SOLUTION
A technical record of proof plus an atlas of origin.
01 VERIFICATION
ICP-MS heavy metals per EPA Method 6020B (LOD 0.08 ppb, NIST SRM 2711a-validated). HPLC-UV fulvic acid quantification per ICH Q2(R2) (RSD ≤2.0%, PDA spectral overlay, forced degradation). Per-lot uncertainty budgets per ISO/IEC 17025:2017 Clause 7.6.3. Mass-balance modelling per dose.
02 DOCUMENTATION
Origin is not a claim. It is documented with consent through local partners, field notes, and recorded context tied to the lot record.
03 RECIPROCITY
Connection returns to the buyer and the community. Buyers can see what is real, and can vote on where a portion of each drop returns through community selected projects.
04 REPEATABILITY
This is a repeatable system across the world. Shilajit is Drop 001. The product is the standard and the record.
Bottom line:
Release rule: No result, no drop.
ATLAS OF ORIGIN
Public Record by Drop
DROP 001 MONGOLIA ALTAI
PUBLIC LOT RECORD
LOT A001
- COA PDF
- METHODS AND LIMITS
- CHAIN OF CUSTODY NOTES
- RETURN RECEIPT
DROP 002 CENTRAL ASIA
DROP 003 HIMALAYAN FOOTHILLS
DROP 004 ANDES HIGHLANDS
DROP 005 ATLAS RANGE
DROP 006 SAHARA OASIS
SLIDE 05
THE ALTAE ENGINE
A repeatable system for origin based drops. Proof gates release. Each drop strengthens the standard.
01
Inputs
Origin partner, consent, context, raw material, custody artifacts.
02
Proof Gate
Independent testing per lot. Identity plus contaminants. No pass, no release.
03
Public Record
Lot page, COA, methods, limits, custody, retain sample.
04
Drop Mechanics
Limited batch release. Waitlist allocation. Price integrity through scarcity plus proof.
05
Return Loop
Value flows back. Receipt published. Standard updated.
Shilajit is the entry point. The system scales across origins and categories.
INPUTS
- Origin partner
- Consent and context
- Raw material
- Traceability artifacts
- Retain sample
PROOF GATE
RELEASE RULE
No result, no drop
ENGINE OUTPUT PER DROP
Lot page + COA + trace artifacts
OUTPUTS
- Public COA
- Lot page and ledger
- QR to evidence
- Limited drop release
RETURN LOOP
PROOF BUNDLE (IMMUTABLE)
SLIDE 06
WHY DROP 001 IS SHILAJIT
- 01Customer discovery (n=15 amateur athletes and Function Health users at a New York run club) confirms a clear buyer profile: the biohacker reader who treats third-party CoA testing as their primary supplement evaluation criterion
- 02The buyer splits two ways. Aware of shilajit with heavy-metal concerns. Unaware of the category but willing to try if testing is verifiable
- 03The category has rising interest (US shilajit market $32M today, $50M projected by 2030 at 9.3% CAGR per Grand View Research) and no premium incumbent leads with verifiable assay receipts
- 04Once the engine exists, adding new drops has lower marginal cost
LOCATION
Bayan-Ölgii Province, Western Mongolia
SLIDE 06.5
WHO BUYS
The biohacker reader, in two sub-segments.
- 01
Aware buyer
Already takes shilajit. Has heavy-metal concerns. Reads ConsumerLab, Examine.com, Oasis Health-style purity scanners. Buys Cymbiotika, Pure Himalayan, Pürblack today and switches to whoever has the cleanest receipts.
- 02
Unaware buyer
Does not currently take shilajit but trusts the testing-first frame. Reads Huberman Lab, Peter Attia (Outlive), Bryan Johnson's Blueprint protocol. Already on Function Health or InsideTracker. Will try a new category if verification is published.
- 03
Both share a trust mechanism
Third-party CoA, named labs, public assay data. They use the same filter to evaluate every supplement they take. ALTAE's Ledger page is built for that filter.
- 04
Common-mode demographics
Men 30-50, urban or suburban US, household income $80K+, already on 5-15 supplements, references the same authority set.
SLIDE 07
PRODUCT EXPERIENCE
- 01Landing page with brand story and transparency positioning
- 02Ledger index with all published lots
- 03Lot page with COA, chain log, and origin documentation
- 04Story page with origin films and narrative
- 05Waitlist and drop access flow
The product is the public record plus the drop
Lot Detail Page
Ledger Index
Origin Story
Artifacts & Lab Panels
SLIDE 08
MARKET
Shilajit alone is not a venture-scale business. Shilajit is the wedge that earns altae the right to attempt the platform.
01 WEDGE CATEGORY (US SHILAJIT)
$50M
Source: Grand View Research, US Shilajit Market Outlook 2025-2030.
02 ADJACENT CATEGORIES (PROOF-LED EXPANSION)
$2-4B
Source: Triangulated from Grand View, Mordor Intelligence, ConsumerLab category reports.
03 PLATFORM CEILING
$24.9B
Source: IBISWorld, Online Vitamin & Supplement Sales in the US.
SIZING LOGIC
TAM: Wellness is a broad spend category with recurring purchase behavior.
SAM: US online vitamins & supplements—the DTC channel we can reach efficiently.
SOM: US shilajit base × online share × premium share × target penetration.
Share assumptions flagged as internal and testable via early CAC + conversion data.
SLIDE 09
COMPETITION
Premium incumbents lead on aesthetic. Budget incumbents lead on dose-precision. No US shilajit brand pairs metrology completeness with documented harvest. ALTAE sits in the unowned quadrant.
- 01
What the map measures
X axis: Proof transparency (private or vague COAs at left, public lot-level COA at right). Y axis: Origin documentation (generic sourcing at bottom, traceable place plus context at top).
- 02
Premium / lifestyle (top-left)
Cymbiotika. $130 per 200 servings. Aesthetic-led. CoA in policy pages, not on product surface.
- 03
Mid-tier proof leader (top-right, alongside ALTAE)
Pure Himalayan Shilajit. Publishes ICP-MS chromatograms with calibration logs and NIST SRM 2711a comparability. Retail-scale proof, but no per-lot uncertainty budgets and no harvest specificity.
- 04
Budget / standardised extract (bottom)
Nootropics Depot PrimaVie. $0.19 per dose. Patented extract with disclosed actives, no provenance.
- 05
ALTAE wedge
Per-lot uncertainty budgets, GPS-stamped harvest, diaspora cultural translation, drop mechanic. Pure Himalayan publishes proof at retail scale; altae publishes proof with metrology completeness Pure Himalayan does not yet match.
SLIDE 10
BUSINESS MODEL
01 DROPS MODEL
$89
15g resin jar, DTC, domestic shipping included
Limited batch releases with public lot proof
Shilajit is the entry point; the repeatable system is the product
02 VARIABLE COST (ex testing)
$21
Resin, Packaging, Fulfillment, Processing, Ledger/Ops
Product + pack = $11.20; remainder is fulfillment + payments + ledger ops
Resin $8.00 + Pack $3.20 = $11.20; Fulfillment $6.00 + Processing $2.10 + Ledger/ops $1.70 = $9.80
03 TESTING (Alkemist)
$2,000
Per lot. Lot size 1,000 jars. Amortized $2.00 per jar
04 MARGIN
76%
Contribution profit $68 per jar (ex testing)
Including testing amortization: $66.00 per jar, 74%
SLIDE 11
REVENUE
Drops are the revenue unit. Each Drop is one tested lot with one public record.
ASSUMPTIONS
- Price per unit$69
- Variable unit cost$21
- Testing per lot (Alkemist)$2,000
- Contribution profit (after testing) = Units × (Price − Variable cost) − Testing per lot
Testing is fixed per lot and improves unit economics as lots scale.
Testing amortization: $2.00 → $0.80 per unit as lots scale (Drops 1–4).
DROP 001
1,000 units
Revenue
$69,000
Contribution Profit (After Testing)
$46,000
DROP 002
1,500 units
Revenue
$103,500
Contribution Profit (After Testing)
$70,000
DROP 003
2,000 units
Revenue
$138,000
Contribution Profit (After Testing)
$94,000
DROP 004
2,500 units
Revenue
$172,500
Contribution Profit (After Testing)
$118,000
12 MONTH
7,000 units
Total Revenue
$483,000
Total Contribution (After Testing)
$328,000
~68% margin
CUMULATIVE BY DROP
Contribution profit = Revenue - Variable cost ($21) - Testing ($2,000/lot). Excludes paid marketing, returns, chargebacks.
SLIDE 12
TRACTION
Signal captured. Proof gated. Deposit next.
WAITLIST
898
3 months, organic and referral
VERIFIED COMMITMENTS
567
Email confirmed, COA contingent
DEPOSIT VALIDATION
NEXT
Small deposit hold to validate paid demand
PROOF STATUS
Sample received and retain sample logged
Alkemist testing underway
Origin partner and consent secured
Media edits complete and ready to publish
Ledger and waitlist live at altae.earth
INTENT SIGNAL
63%
Metrics as of Jan 2026
SLIDE 13
FOUNDERS
Haamid Adam
FOUNDING PARTNER
haamid@altae.earth
- •Chartered Engineer and MIT Sloan MBA
- •Built Roomeru.com, a student first housing platform
- •Co founding Thermolytic Materials, an MIT MechE lab spinout
- •Built trust and compliance systems in regulated global supply chains across Japan, Korea, Taiwan, and the UK with SIEMENS.
- •Cultural ties to South Asia and the Middle East
- •Leads ALTAE's proof system, ledger, supply chain controls, and media direction
- •Worked in the West Coast VC ecosystem with DCVC, bringing a systems approach to trust, provenance, and quality
PLACEHOLDER
Quentin Millette
COFOUNDER
Qm1@umd.edu
- •PhD candidate at the University of Maryland [PLACEHOLDER: discipline]
- •Authored the April 2026 shilajit category research that informs ALTAE's positioning, market sizing, and buyer profile
- •[PLACEHOLDER: prior research, publications, or ventures]
- •[PLACEHOLDER: domain remit at ALTAE - e.g. research, scientific advisory, supply chain]
- •[PLACEHOLDER: personal angle - cultural ties, lived experience, motivation]
SLIDE 14
ROADMAP & USE OF FUNDS
MILESTONES
USE OF FUNDS
APPENDIX A1
WHAT THE LEDGER PROVES IN PLAIN ENGLISH
The ledger makes integrity failures visible and therefore costly.
NO CHERRY PICKING
These artifacts belong to this lot.
Cross lot reuse fails verification
- •The manifest binds COA, panels, custody notes, and origin assets to one lot ID
- •Reusing best looking files across lots breaks verification
NO SILENT CHANGES
Evidence cannot be quietly swapped.
Any swap changes the fingerprint
- •Every file has a fingerprint. Change the file and the fingerprint changes
- •Any mismatch is visible to anyone verifying, not only ALTAE
NO HISTORY REWRITES
You cannot rewrite the record after publishing.
Once anchored, history cannot be rewritten
- •Publish time is recorded and receipts are signed at publication
- •Chain anchoring later makes the publish time externally immutable
ALTAE does not ask for trust. It makes trust checkable.
APPENDIX A2
HOW THE PHYSICAL WORLD TOUCHES THE LEDGER
Hashes prove file integrity. Controls link the tested sample to the lot shipped.
PHYSICAL
LEDGER
LOT ID AND SEAL
Lot ID applied to containers plus tamper seal on every unit
Lot created event plus unit level lot ID recorded
SAMPLE DRAW
Sample pulled from the lot, sealed, labeled, photographed
Sample draw record plus seal photo added as artifacts
SHIP TO LAB
Tracked shipment to lab with tamper intact packaging
Lab shipped event plus tracking number and timestamp
LAB INTAKE AND COA
Lab assigns intake ID and returns COA for the received sample
Lab intake recorded plus COA PDF fingerprint published
PUBLISH AND RETAIN
Retain sample archived for challenge retest
Bundle created, receipt signed, publish event, retain log artifact
Ledger integrity plus physical controls closes the gap between evidence and inventory.
APPENDIX A3
WHAT WE MEAN BY 'IT MAKES FALSIFICATION EXPENSIVE'
The system raises the cost of cheating by raising the probability of detection.
DETECTION
- •Swapped PDFs and images create fingerprint mismatches
- •Cross lot reuse becomes visible in the manifest structure
- •Verification is independent and repeatable
ACCOUNTABILITY
- •Append only events create a public timeline per lot
- •Signed receipts show what existed and when
- •Updates must be explicit rather than silent replacements
CONSEQUENCE
- •Mismatch is a public integrity signal
- •Trust failure becomes measurable rather than arguable
- •Brands cannot rely on ambiguity
This is a proof system, not a branding claim.
APPENDIX A3.1
THE TRUST TAX
When proof is checkable, ambiguity becomes a measurable operating cost.
COST OF AMBIGUITY
01 TRUST DISCOUNT
Claims you cannot check get discounted. Conversion drops or price must drop.
02 CAC INFLATION
Without proof, marketing must fund persuasion: education, reassurance, testimonials, discounting.
03 PUBLIC FAILURE MODE
When evidence is checkable, a mismatch becomes a visible integrity event, not an argument.
Proof reduces the spend required to overcome skepticism.
CAC PER ORDER UNDER "PROOF EXPECTED" CONDITIONS
Illustrative model using ALTAE unit economics. Not measured.
$25
ALTAE PROOFED
Contribution after CAC
$23
TRUST TAX
+$20
$45
NO PROOF BRAND
Contribution after CAC
$3
Contribution before CAC = $69 − $21 = $48. Trust tax is modeled as CAC inflation from persuasion and discounting.
APPENDIX C1
EVIDENCE BASE
Three sources triangulate. None alone is definitive; together they constrain the wedge.
TRIANGULATION
Three sources constrain the wedge.
None alone is definitive.
PRIMARY MARKET RESEARCH
n=15 in-person interviews, NYC run club, Q1 2026
- •Cohort: amateur athletes and Function Health users
- •Recorded; willingness-to-pay and trigger-to-purchase questions asked directly
- •Buyer profile identified: biohacker reader who treats third-party CoA testing as primary supplement evaluation criterion
- •Two sub-segments emerged: aware shilajit buyers with heavy-metal concerns, unaware buyers who would try if testing was verifiable
AGENT-BASED SCENARIO MODELLING
27 archetypal agents, dual-platform, 213 rounds, Q2 2026
- •Reality seed grounded in published market data plus the n=15 PMR; structured prior, not primary research
- •Agents include 6 buyer sub-segments, 5 named brands as active actors, 12 media channels and trust authorities
- •Output: PMR directionally confirmed; wedge sharpened from 'transparency' to 'metrology compliance'; on-chain framing flagged as repellent to primary buyer
- •Highest-engagement entity in the run was the PMC11743217 thallium study, not any altae post
PUBLISHED MARKET DATA
Third-party reports cross-referenced
- •US shilajit category $32M today, $50M by 2030 at 9.3% CAGR (Grand View Research)
- •ConsumerLab 2024 round on 8 brands found wide variation in fulvic acid concentration; no incumbent reports per-lot quantification on product surface
- •PMC11743217 (2024): 65 heavy metals across commercial shilajit samples; thallium exceeding WHO guidance in 37% of tested batches
APPENDIX C2
WHO BUYS - SUB-SEGMENTS WITH EVIDENCE
Conversion mechanism differs by buyer; one-size-fits-all positioning fails.
BUYER QUADRANT
Dot size = priority for Drop 001-002.
BIOHACKER (DOMINANT)
- •Trusts third-party CoA, named labs, Huberman Lab, Peter Attia, Function Health, Oasis Health
- •Decision driver: reproducible metrology
- •Repels on-chain framing as headline; accepts it as container
- •Repels brand voice; rewards methodology language
- •Price-band: $80-$120 jar
DIASPORA AYURVEDIC
- •Initially repelled by digital provenance ('Real provenance isn't hashed')
- •Converts on cultural artifacts: Nepali audio harvester notes, harvester-signed affidavits, GPS-verified collection zones, 'rasayana as relationship'
- •Decision driver: cultural alignment plus quality
- •Currently underserved by altae's brand world
- •High repeat-purchase rate once converted
PROVENANCE CONSUMER
- •Origin specificity, harvest narrative, the maker's story
- •Reads FT Weekend, Air Mail, Monocle, niche craft Substacks
- •Accepts dual-layer model: technical record plus origin documentation
- •Decision driver: story plus place
- •Brand-loyal once converted
GENERAL WELLNESS (UNCOVERABLE 2026)
- •Sensory familiarity, brand recognition, retail availability
- •$29.99 (Pure Himalayan) is the price anchor; $89 is rejected without taste familiarity
- •Whole Foods / Amazon presence is trust proxy
- •Drop 003 / 004 segment once altae has retail incumbency, not Drop 001
altae's brand build is correctly aimed at the biohacker buyer. The diaspora sub-segment is convertible but requires cultural translation altae does not yet produce.
APPENDIX C3
THE COMPLIANCE STACK
Specific standards altae conforms to, by panel.
ALTAE COMPLIANCE STACK
5 PANELS
ICP-MS HEAVY METALS
HPLC-UV FULVIC ACID
GPS-STAMPED HARVEST
MASS-BALANCE MODELLING
MICROBIAL PANEL
PHYSICAL WORLD
v1.4 CoA in production; v1.4.1 (RSD ≤2.0%, GPS expanded uncertainty) targeted by May 18.
APPENDIX C4
DIASPORA CONVERSION PATH
How a sub-segment that initially rejects altae's brand world is won over.
CONVERSION JOURNEY
Initial rejection
'Real provenance isn't hashed - it's handed down. Show me the family who harvested it, not the smart contract.' (Diaspora persona, scenario modelling, April 2026)
Conversion mechanism #1 - Nepali audio harvester logs
Recorded field notes from Kumaon and Altai harvesters, Nepali language with English transcript toggle, timestamped and IPFS-pinned, embedded above the fold on the product page
Conversion mechanism #2 - Harvester-signed affidavits
Physical document signed by the named harvester per lot, photographed and linked to the lot's Ledger page, alongside GPS-verified collection zones mapped against traditional land-use boundaries
Conversion mechanism #3 - Cultural framing
'Rasayana as relationship: between body, land, lab, and lineage' - the dual-layer narrative that holds technical rigor and cultural continuity together rather than substituting one for the other
Resulting disposition shift
Post-conversion, the dual-layer model resolves the 'hygiene vs. hype' tension that initially rejected the brand
INITIAL REJECTION
CULTURAL ARTIFACTS BUILD TRUST
DUAL-LAYER RESOLVES TENSION
These artifacts are not yet produced. Drop 002 budget should fund their production (~$500-1,500).
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