James Misrecki started out as a professional poker player before turning to health technology.
James Misrecki suffered from acne as a teenager growing up in Northumberland. A period of weakness that undermined his confidence, he was nicknamed ‘Pizza Face’ for a year as he underwent NHS treatments. It then returned in her 20s and led to another round of medication.
When it came to the entrepreneurial co-founding dermatology service Skin + Me in 2018, Misrecki knew “how badly people wanted to get rid of acne.” In four years, the British firm, which offers prescription-grade skin treatments to subscriptions, has amassed £40m in revenue since launching in 2020.
“I became fascinated with the skincare industry, this £140bn industry with 55% customer dissatisfaction,” he says. “I knew what it was like to go on an acne journey and not be able to talk to your dermatologist regularly.”
Read more: We made 25 jars at a time – now our business boasts the best marmalade in the world
We first talk about Misrecki’s early career, which included two years playing poker professionally after completing marketing management studies at Northumbria University in 2008.
After tinkering with a few web-based startups, co-founding retail intelligence organization Competitive Monitor forced him to leave poker full-time to join the growing e-commerce sector.
An idea was hatched on scraping websites that could index and package customers, including John Lewis, which would use its information software to keep tabs on competitors’ pricing.
The Skin + Me co-founder has a unique philosophy on ‘rejection training’.
For a long time Misrecki paid himself £500 a month, but as one of the first movers the company could not double down on being the first venture or raising private equity. “We competed with bedroom operators in Russia and were being cut in price,” he admits.
After successfully exiting in 2018, Misrecki teamed up with co-founder Philip Wilkinson to set up a personalized skincare recommendation service called Mr. & Mrs. Oliver, primarily to test what consumers value and want.
Misreki went to Space NK and Debenhams where he would chat with skincare consultants and ask if they wanted to make more money working on their startup.
Consumers were sent a treatment box for their skin goals and the founders realized that people placed a high value on trusted experts consulting reviews and making recommendations.
Misreki admits the business model is “flawed.” When shipping third party skincare products, consumers will find cheaper brands elsewhere. However, the goal of the founders to create a personal regime was born, which proved to be a complex operation to establish.
The company only uses real Skin + Me community members in its marketing.
Skin + Me had to build a regulatory-approved pharmacy, set up personalization technology for prescriptions and create a brand that “people love and trust.” Meanwhile, the founders began searching for qualified consultants by sending over 200 handwritten letters to a third of UK dermatologists.
Misreki also has a unique take on what he refers to as ‘rejection training’ when trying to get investment.
Read more: ‘Our women’s hiking trousers saved our business – we sold over 50,000’
“Rejection is a good thing to be an entrepreneur,” he says. “The sooner you get more rejections under your belt, the sooner you stop caring and ironically the more rejections you get, the less you get.”
After an exhausting search for investors knocking on doors, the founders changed strategy after originally seeking a £50,000 investment. They now sought to raise meaningful capital to build scale from the get go and they quickly secured an £8m seed investment.
“Everything goes wrong all the time. If I say no, it’s an opportunity to learn and get better. If I get a ‘yes,’ it’s a bonus.”
“The market doesn’t care about your feelings. It’s been very stressful building this company but I’m very proud. The UK population is very good at having access to this service.”
James Misrecki took Skin+Me to £37m over five years.
London-based Skin + Me went to market with 20 employees. There are now more than 150 employees, including an office in Paddington and an operations team based in a sprawling factory in Acton. The business is reportedly valued at £160m.
“I think we’ve materially leveled expectations when it comes to personalization,” emphasizes Misrecki.
“First, it meant quizzes and product recommendations on the website. In our care we are literally creating content and tearing up green pieces of paper. [traditional prescription] and custom bottling and using a laser to engrave the prescription bottle each time. We’ve always challenged ourselves on how to make it a dramatically better customer experience.
Read more: ‘We all grew up with radiators – underfloor heating is a no-brainer’
Hailed as one of the UK’s fastest-growing consumer health brands, Misrecki has moved from CEO to chairman and continues as Skin + Me’s main shareholder. He has since turned his attention to another startup, Life Supplies, a refillable oral care brand a few years ago that quickly generated multi-million pound revenue.
“Either you stick with entrepreneurship and you expect things to go wrong for many years or you hang up your boots. I chose earlier,” he says.
leadership
Everything boils down to the bar you set on day zero. It’s important to get those key early hires right and not delay your business launch to get those people right.
We have now set the bar for expectations and personalization when it comes to comparing what you get in a pharmacy and the lack of interaction you get through the NHS, because they don’t have the capacity.
The Startup Mindset
You have to work seven days a week to build a startup and that’s what I did. There is a lot to do. If you’re working 9-5 five days a week, you’re probably going to run out of money or beat you to a competitor.
What keeps you up at night?
Former Intel CEO Andy Grove wrote Only the Paranoid Survive about a company that never thought it would lose the top spot. But it was in jeopardy at one point and then pivoted the whole business. The message is always crazy and I’m always wondering what we can do to be better to improve the customer experience.
The threat of AI
What people really value is talking to people. We use AI to make business more efficient but the thought of it replacing what people really value seems far-fetched.
Read more:
Download the Yahoo Finance app available for Apple and Android
