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The Stradivarius Problem
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By Jeremy Amos
Published: Monday, Dec 1, 2025
Antonio Stradivari made about 1,100 violins in his lifetime.
Roughly 650 survive today. They're worth millions. A decent Stradivarius will run you $2 million. A great one? Try $15 million. In 2011, a Stradivarius called "Lady Blunt" sold for $15.9 million to raise money for tsunami relief in Japan.
Scientists have been studying these violins for decades, trying to figure out what makes them special. They've analyzed the wood. (Alpine spruce from the "Little Ice Age" when trees grew slower, creating denser wood.) They've studied the varnish. (Some mineral compound Stradivari used that nobody's quite replicated.) They've measured the dimensions, the arching, the f-holes, the bass bar placement.
They can tell you everything about a Stradivarius. Except how to make one that sounds like one.
Because knowing the components isn't the same as understanding the formula.
Title
Why Custom?
I think about this a lot when brands come to us wanting custom formulation. Not "custom" like picking a flavor and a cannabinoid ratio from a dropdown menu. Actually custom. Something built specifically for what they're trying to achieve that doesn't exist anywhere else.
The first question is always: "Why custom? Why not just use what everyone else is using?" And the answer is the same reason a violinist would pay $15 million for a Stradivarius when you can buy a perfectly functional violin for $500.
Because 'functional' isn't the same as 'exceptional.'
And right now, in this moment when everything is shifting and brands are rethinking their product lines, "functional" won't cut it.
Generic formulations produce generic products. Generic products disappear into the noise.
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The Process
Let's talk about what actually happens when we formulate something custom.
First, there's the conversation.
Not "how many milligrams do you want?" But: What are you actually trying to create? What experience? What outcome? Who's it for?
A sleep product for someone who can't fall asleep is different than one for someone who can't stay asleep. A focus product for a 25-year-old gamer is different than one for a 55-year-old executive.
Same category. Completely different formulations.
Most brands skip this part. They start with "we want a CBD gummy" instead of "we want to help people who wake up at 3am and can't get back to sleep."
That's backwards. You start with the purpose. The formulation follows.
Second, there's the science.
This is where it gets interesting. Because cannabinoids don't work alone. They work with terpenes, with other cannabinoids, with the delivery system, with timing.
You've got CBG that's more targeted than CBD. CBN that works differently at different concentrations. CBC that might enhance the others through the entourage effect. Terpenes like myrcene or linalool or beta-caryophyllene that shift the profile.
Then there's bioavailability. Water-soluble hits faster but shorter. Oil-based slower but sustained. Nano-emulsified somewhere in between.
You're not just picking ingredients. You're composing them. Like Stradivari choosing wood and varnish and dimensions that would work together in a way that transcends the individual components.
Third, there are the iterations.
This is the part nobody talks about because it's not sexy. But custom formulation means testing versions that don't work.
Too much CBN and it's sedating, not relaxing. Wrong terpene profile and it tastes like pine tar. Bioavailability off and the timing's wrong—kicks in too fast or too slow for the intended use.
You adjust. Test again. Adjust again. Sometimes you land it on version three. Sometimes it takes eight tries.
The difference between good formulation and great formulation is the willingness to reject version seven because it's not quite right.
Finally, there's the moment when it works.
You test it and everything clicks. The cannabinoid profile is right. The timing is right. The experience matches the intention.
That's not a generic formulation. That's your formulation. Built for your specific purpose.
And here's the thing: someone could analyze it, figure out the ratios, copy the ingredients. But they can't copy why those specific components at those specific ratios create that specific result for that specific use case.
Just like you can analyze a Stradivarius but you can't make one that sounds the same.
The formula is more than the components.
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True Custom is Special
There's a chef in Copenhagen named René Redzepi who runs a restaurant called Noma. It's been named the world's best restaurant five times. You can't get a reservation. The waitlist is months long. People fly from other continents to eat there.
Here's what's interesting: Redzepi publishes his recipes. You can buy the cookbook. You can see exactly what he makes and how he makes it.
Does that mean you could make the same food? Technically, yes. You have the recipe. But the formula—understanding why those ingredients work together, how to source them, how to time everything, how to compose a menu that creates a specific experience—that's not in the cookbook.
That's the difference between copying a recipe and understanding the formula.
Custom cannabinoid formulation is the same way.
Title
Don't Take the Easy Path
Right now, a lot of brands are pivoting. Products that worked last month don't work this month. Categories that were wide open are now complicated. Everyone's rethinking their product lines.
And the temptation—the easy path—is to look at what everyone else is doing and do some version of that.
CBD gummies. CBD tinctures. CBD this, CBD that. Same ratios everyone else uses. Same delivery mechanisms. Same everything. That's the $500 violin approach. It works. It's functional. It's also completely forgettable.
If you're going to rebuild, why rebuild the same thing everyone else is building? Why not build something that's actually yours?
Something formulated specifically for the outcome you're trying to create. For the people you're trying to serve. For the experience that only your brand can deliver.
Not because it's trendy. Not because it's a clever workaround. But because the formulation itself is designed around a specific, defensible purpose. Something you truly believe in. Something you are passionate about.
That's what survives. That's what builds brands people remember.
Title
The Three Bears
Here's what custom formulation actually looks like at OBX:
We sit down and talk about what you're really trying to create. Not product specs. Purpose. Then our team starts composing. CBG for this. CBN at this ratio. This terpene profile. This delivery mechanism. This timing.
We test it. It doesn't work. We adjust. Test again. Adjust again. Version four is pretty good. Version five is close. Version six is right.
Now you have something that's yours. Not a generic formulation with your label on it. An actual custom formulation built around your specific purpose.
Could someone copy it? Maybe. Could they copy why it works for your specific use case? That's harder. Much harder.
That's the Stradivarius problem. The formula is more than the components.
Title
Build Something Special
I'm not saying every product needs to be custom-formulated from scratch. Sometimes the standard formulation is exactly what you need. CBD isolate at X milligrams in Y delivery format. Done. Ship it.
But if you're pivoting right now—if you're rethinking your entire product line—this is your moment to build something actually differentiated. Not "our CBD gummy is slightly different from their CBD gummy." But "our formulation is built specifically for this outcome in a way nobody else is doing."
That takes more time. More investment. More iteration. It also creates something worth building.
Because when the dust settles and everyone's competing on the same generic formulations, the brands that built something genuinely distinct will be the ones that last.
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Build Your Own Special
Antonio Stradivari died in 1737. We're still trying to figure out how he made his violins sound the way they do. 288 years later, nobody's replicated it. Nobody's even gotten close.
Not because the components are secret. We know what he used. Because the formula—the understanding of how those components work together to create something exceptional—that died with him.
Your custom formulation should be like that.
Not something someone can copy from a spec sheet. But something built with such specific intention for such specific purpose that replicating it would require understanding what you were trying to achieve in the first place.
That's not just differentiation. That's defensibility.
And in a market where everyone's rebuilding, that's everything.
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