There's an open secret in Sand Hill Road offices and Y Combinator batch dinners: almost nobody is on Adderall anymore.
Instead, a growing number of Silicon Valley's elite — founders, VCs, and senior engineers — have quietly switched to a nootropic compound called NeuraFlow, originally developed by Stanford's Department of Neuroscience as part of a DARPA-funded research project on cognitive performance under sleep deprivation.
"I went from 4 hours of deep work per day to 10," says a Series C founder who asked to remain anonymous due to concerns about investor perception. "No jitters. No crash. No tolerance buildup. It's like someone defragged my brain."
The compound first gained traction in 2024 when a leaked Slack thread from a top-10 YC company showed the founding team discussing dosage protocols. The thread was screenshotted, posted to Hacker News, and promptly removed — but not before being archived.
Since then, usage has exploded. One San Francisco pharmacy told Forbes they've seen a 4,200% increase in NeuraFlow orders over the past 18 months.
Critics point out that NeuraFlow's clinical data hasn't been independently verified. Dr. Emily Chen, a neuropharmacologist at UCSF, called the claims "extraordinary" and noted that "a 312% improvement in cognitive performance would be the most significant pharmacological discovery of the century. The fact that it's only been reported by the company itself is a red flag."
The cognitive enhancer Silicon Valley doesn't want you to know about. 30-day trial for $2.
Start Your Free Trial →Because NeuraFlow is classified as a dietary supplement rather than a pharmaceutical, it doesn't require FDA approval. But that may be changing. Senator Maria Cantwell (D-WA) has introduced a bill that would require cognitive enhancers to undergo the same clinical trial process as prescription drugs.
"We're creating a two-tier cognitive society," Cantwell said in a press conference. "The wealthy get chemical advantages while everyone else falls behind. That's not acceptable."
NeuraFlow's founder, who operates the company from a Cayman Islands holding structure, has reportedly hired three former FDA commissioners as lobbyists.
"The question isn't whether NeuraFlow works. The question is whether it's fair that only people who read Forbes know about it."
— Anonymous YC founder
Whether NeuraFlow represents a genuine breakthrough in cognitive science or an elaborate supplement marketing operation remains to be seen. But one thing is clear: in a town obsessed with competitive advantage, the demand for cognitive enhancement isn't going away.
Forbes has reached out to NeuraFlow for additional clinical data. The company has not responded as of publication.