Should you buy that equipment?

Production that doesn't pencil?

A formula with twenty variables?

Need a model for your custom reactor?

Margin disappearing at scale?

I'm not academic.

I'm not vibes.

I'm the practical one.

Try a free calculator → Book a 20-min call

Biochemical engineering math, run by someone who stops when the answer is clear.
Three free calculators below — $850 to tune one to your problem.

track_record.sh — bash
$ ./track_record --summary
→ projects_shipped 200+
→ direct_contracts $1.5M
→ client_value_generated $10M
$ ready

The pattern I keep seeing

Founders make capital decisions on spreadsheets someone else built. By the time the real numbers show up at commercial scale, $30K to $100K is already gone.

It's almost always the same three or four mistakes: equipment sized wrong, ingredient cost curve missed, channel margin compressed, scale-up math too optimistic.

Case study

David at Mora Cué needed to pick equipment for a chia protein line. He left with a real business model.

He came with an equipment-selection question: what does the extraction line need to look like, and which configuration makes sense? Once we started running the numbers on extraction yield and protein recovery, the bigger question came into focus. Was this even a business?

Three weeks later, with three product directions and three production scales modeled against real ingredient costs, channel margins, and capacity constraints, the answer was specific: protein concentrate at mid-scale, 41% gross margin. They built it. It works.

Chia, soy, corn, anything else: the methodology is the same. The right answer is always specific to the founder.

Free library · 03 tools

See if you have the problem first.

Three calculators you can run right now. Built for the most common questions founders bring me. Recognize your own situation, see what the numbers do, find the limit of what a generic tool can answer.

Calc · 01
Stabilizer system
xanthan0.18%
guar0.05%
LBG0.05%

Popsicle Formulator

Stabilizer, sugar, and base-liquid balance for water-based, creamy, and hybrid ice pops. Predicts hardness, ice-crystal size, and freezer-cabinet stability. Every range cited to literature.

Open the formulator →
Calc · 02
Protein source
▾ Whey isolate
cost/serving$0.42
claim feasible✓

Protein Beverage Formulator

Whey, casein, pea, soy, hydrolysates. Sweetener choice, bitterness profile, per-serving cost, and label-claim feasibility on one screen.

Open the formulator →
Calc · 03
Mid-scale extraction
yield68.4%
COGS / kg$4.82
breakeven812 kg
margin41%

Protein Isolate TEM

Extraction yield, protein recovery, COGS per kilo, breakeven across production scales. Used by clients across the agro-extraction industry to size processing lines before committing capital.

Open the model →

Two more calculators landing this week.

When a free calculator gets you 80% of the way there but the last 20% needs your real numbers — that's where $850 starts.

What founders say

Operators who've used the work, in their own words.

“Andres is very knowledgeable with great ideas and outstanding organizational skills.”
Cecilia Shepherd CEO, Sound Science Nutrition
“Andres was extremely helpful. I had a recipe emergency which he solved same day — I could go back to production with minimal disruption. Definitely will work again with him.”
Ismar Toromanovic CEO, 3D Desserts
“Congratulations on building this tool. It's really useful.”
David Olson CEO, Mora Cué Alimentos
“Andres is an outstanding chemist. I often cross-verify our models with his fundamental knowledge. I strongly recommend anyone looking for chemistry tutoring or overseeing complex calculations.”
Vishy Karri CEO, Expert 365

The offer · One price

$850

The Tuned Engagement

A custom calculator built around your problem. A diagnosis you can act on. Yours forever.

Delivered in 5 business days
What's in the package 07 deliverables
  1. 01

    Three hours of working consultation

    Real screen-share, slider tweaks, scenario tests. Not a discovery call — we move the numbers around together until the answer is clear.

  2. 02

    A written assessment of your current state

    The shape of the problem before we touch a calculator. What you have, what's working, what isn't, what's hiding under the assumptions.

  3. 03

    The numeric analysis

    Your real inputs against the model. Yield curves, cost sensitivities, breakeven points, freezer-cabinet stability windows — whatever the question demands.

  4. 04

    A written diagnosis with recommendations

    What the numbers actually say. What I'd do if I were sitting in your chair. Three to five pages. No padding, no consultant theater.

  5. 05

    A reactive HTML calculator, tuned to your inputs

    Browser-based, like the three free ones — but built around your ingredient, your line, your scale. Runs without me, without internet, without a license fee. Save it. Share it. Fork it.

  6. 06

    The Excel back-end behind the calculator

    Every formula visible. Every assumption labeled. Plug it into your workflow, audit my math, hand it to your CFO. The reactive tool is the face — this is the engine.

  7. 07

    Implementation documentation

    How to use the calculator in your business. What to update monthly. What to ignore. What to come back to in six months when your inputs shift.

Book a 20-min call →

If the scope is bigger

I'll tell you in the first ten minutes — and we'll scope it.

Past custom engagements have run $1,700 to $10,000, with most landing in the $3,000–$5,000 range depending on the size of the decision and how many moving parts there are. No price on this page for custom work — that's a conversation, not a checkout.

Who this is for

An honest filter, both ways.

A fit if you're…

  • A CPG, supplement, or nootropics founder at $1M+ revenue or capital.
  • Making a real decision in the next 60–90 days — co-man trial, SKU launch, new ingredient bet.
  • Tired of vibes-based pricing and want numbers you can defend.
  • Previously burned by a co-man quote, MOQ surprise, or a launch that didn't pencil out.
  • Willing to share real data so the model means something.

Probably not, if…

  • You're pre-revenue with a generic business plan and no operator experience.
  • You're shopping for the cheapest spreadsheet on the market.
  • You want a model to validate a decision you've already made emotionally.
  • You can't share supplier quotes, channel margins, or volume estimates.
  • You need a formulator, not a strategist. (I can refer you to good ones.)
About The person behind the calculator
Portrait of Andrés Arrocha

Biochemical engineer by training. Operator by necessity. Calculator-builder by habit.

Ten years as a free agent and 200+ projects across supplements, nootropics, cosmetics, food, beverages, ingredient extraction, and frozen desserts. Before that, six years in academia — MSc in Biochemistry and published research — which is how I know the difference between math that decides and math that impresses.

I also run a small herbal business myself, which means I've felt every margin squeeze, MOQ surprise, and ingredient-quote shock that founders bring to me. The calculators I build aren't academic. They're shaped by what actually goes wrong on a real production line.

The day-to-day looks like a fractional Chief Science Officer: evaluating formulators, gut-checking claims, vetting ingredients, modeling decisions. The calculators are the artifacts that hold all of that judgment in one place — so you can decide instead of guess.

MSc Biochemistry · 6 years in academia · 10 years as a free agent · CPG operator

Next step

Tell me the decision you're making. I'll tell you if a model would help.

Twenty minutes. No pitch. If it's not a fit, I'll say so on the call.

Book a 20-min call

Currently taking on 2–3 new founders per month.