From the CEO: Why the Real A314 Had to Be Brought Back

Most people thought it was gone for good.

The formula had changed. The results felt off. The brand, once trusted by discreet professionals who didn’t advertise what they used, had lost its edge.

I understood why people walked away. I almost did too.

But something told me the core was still there. Buried under chaotic newsletters and a neglected shop site, the original intent hadn’t died. Something else happened. I had to figure it out.

What Went Wrong with A314

A314 was created by Michael Harris, a brilliant formulator and a kind human being. An interesting character. I met him at a seminar in the 00s. He brought a pelican case filled with odd bottles and instruments and sprayed me with some sort of secret formula he was working on. The results from that weekend were crazy, interesting, and unforgettable. I was hooked on this.

He was eccentric and brilliant. Cambridge-educated and obsessively precise, Michael never chased hype. He was relentless. He focused on thoughtful experimentation and quality of materials. He created formulas optimized for signal, presence, and quality.

The company he co-founded, Androtics, discovered and popularized social pheromones. They began with the flagship product A314, and branched out to dozens of consumer products and thousands of experimental putative pheromones and formula blends. They built an empire on it. At its peak they had 200,000 active participants in the Great Pheromone Experiment and supplied numerous prestige perfume houses and private label brands.

Later, Androtics was licensed to a mid-tier private equity firm. That’s when the problems began. They tweaked formulas, gutted the inventory, cut corners, and fired the wrong people. Nothing was available. The original team was gone. The soul of the product hollowed out.

Then things unraveled further. Not just the product, but Michael himself.

Behind the scenes, he began slipping into cognitive decline. At first, the signs were subtle. But soon it became clear: erratic communications, key formula tweaks, sensory calibrations, undocumented insights, and the feel of how everything was supposed to work were vanishing with him. Before everything could be decoded, the trail went cold.

Why I Brought It Back

That’s when I stepped in.

The firm was eager to unload what they had turned into a failing asset. After a quick negotiation, I was handed a set of keys to a dusty office and a mess to sort out.

I had been an A314 user since 2006. It had served me well in business and life. I didn’t want to reinvent it, just simply restore it. Faithfully. I have a personal motto: If it works, don’t change it.

I went back to the source and found the original co-formulator. The person who had worked side by side with Michael during the early years. Reserved. Private. Thankfully, still razor-sharp. This was literally the person who had compounded all the formulas and had an outsized say in the design and composition aspects.

I found Michael Harris’s secret weapon and hired them on the spot.

How We Rebuilt the Original Formula

What followed took two years.

It was difficult, but it had to be right.

We dug through old hard drives, notebooks, even scribbled, faded post-it notes. We tested ratios against memory, field feedback, and feel. I knew what we were after and it had to be right.

In the end, we didn’t create something new. We didn’t need to. 

We brought back something that should never have been lost in the first place. 

What This Means for You

This is the original Classic A314, reconstructed from the most successful version of the formula.

Not “optimized”. Not “rebranded”.

Just returned to glory.

This site exists for people like me who always knew the difference.

It won’t stop here. I’m only at the beginning. 

—Greg