Brand of the Month: How HIMS Went From $872M to $1.5B in One Year

Hey, it's Arik.

It's that time again: Brand of the Month.

This is where I dive deep into a company that's doing something remarkable and extract the lessons that actually matter for the rest of us building businesses.

This month, I want to talk about a company that perfectly illustrates what happens when you combine perfect timing, smart positioning, and flawless execution. I'm talking about HIMS & HERS.

If you haven't been paying attention to what they've accomplished, the numbers alone will blow your mind. They went from $872 million in revenue in 2023 to $1.5 billion in 2024. That's 69% growth in a single year.

In fact, 2024 was actually their first profitable year, with $126 million in net income.

What makes their story so fascinating is how they built a business that fundamentally changed how people access healthcare while riding multiple massive trends at exactly the right time.

Let me break down what they did and why it matters for anyone building a business today.


The Foundation: Solving Real Problems
HIMS launched in 2017 with a simple but powerful insight: there are health issues that people desperately want to address, but the traditional healthcare system makes it embarrassing, expensive, and inconvenient to get help.

Hair loss, erectile dysfunction, skincare issues, these aren't life-threatening conditions, but they significantly impact quality of life. The traditional approach required awkward conversations with doctors, multiple appointments, and often judgmental experiences that kept people from seeking treatment.

HIMS said, "What if we could make this simple, private, and affordable?" They built a telehealth platform that made doctors more accessible and the entire experience more convenient. Licensed healthcare professionals still make all the medical decisions, HIMS just removed the barriers that prevented people from accessing them.


The Expansion Strategy
Starting with men's health was smart, but the real genius was how they expanded. In 2018, they launched HERS, targeting women's health with the same approach. Same platform, same convenience, different audience.

Then they moved into mental health, offering online therapy and psychiatry services. Again, same core value proposition: make healthcare more accessible and less intimidating.

But the move that really accelerated their growth was getting into weight management. And this is where their timing became absolutely perfect.

When GLP-1 medications like Ozempic and Wegovy exploded in popularity but became nearly impossible to get due to shortages and high costs, HIMS stepped in with compounded alternatives. They offered semaglutide and tirzepatide at a fraction of the cost of brand-name versions, with the same convenient telehealth approach.


The Business Model
What I love about HIMS is how they built a business model that gets stronger over time. Most of their treatments are ongoing: hair loss, weight management, skincare. This creates a subscription-like revenue stream where customers stay engaged for months or years.

Their 2.2 million subscribers are people who need ongoing treatment and have found a solution that works better than the alternatives. This creates incredibly predictable revenue and high customer lifetime value.

Once someone starts treatment and sees results, they're likely to continue. The cost of acquiring a customer gets amortized over months or years of subscription revenue.

As they've added more treatment options, existing customers often add additional services. Someone who started with hair loss treatment might add skincare, then weight management, then mental health support.


What Makes This Sustainable
The question with any high-growth company is whether the growth is sustainable or just a temporary spike. With HIMS, several factors suggest this is sustainable growth:

‣ Network effects: As they add more providers and treatment options, the platform becomes more valuable to customers. Someone can get multiple health needs addressed in one place.

‣ Regulatory moats: Operating in healthcare requires navigating complex regulations. HIMS has built compliance systems and provider networks that are difficult for new entrants to replicate quickly.

‣ Brand trust: In healthcare, trust is everything. HIMS has built a reputation for quality, discretion, and reliability that creates customer loyalty.

‣ Technology advantage: Their telehealth platform and customer experience continue to improve, creating operational efficiencies and better outcomes.


The Bottom Line
HIMS proves that even in heavily regulated industries like healthcare, there are massive opportunities for companies that can identify friction points and solve them elegantly.

Their growth from $872 million to $1.5 billion happened because they built a business model that could capitalize on multiple trends simultaneously.

The Lessons for Your Business
Whether you're building a healthcare company or any other business, there are several key lessons from HIMS's success:

Timing matters, but preparation matters more. 
HIMS didn't just get lucky with the GLP-1 trend—they had built the infrastructure to capitalize on it. When opportunities emerge in your industry, will you be ready to move quickly?

Remove friction, don't reinvent everything. 
HIMS didn't try to replace the entire healthcare system. They identified the biggest friction points and solved those specifically. What friction points exist in your industry that you could eliminate?

Subscription models create compound value. 
When you can turn one-time buyers into ongoing subscribers, your business model becomes much more predictable and valuable. How can you create ongoing value that justifies recurring revenue?

Brand positioning is everything. 
HIMS succeeded partly because they positioned themselves correctly, not as a replacement for healthcare, but as a better way to access it. How you position your solution determines who sees it as valuable.

Digital-first creates advantages.
By building a digital-native experience, HIMS could move faster and serve customers better than traditional providers. In your industry, what advantages come from being digital-first?

See you next Thursday,
Arik