Subsequent-gen well being and wellness is an apt description of MNLY. Luke Hartelust launched the platform in 2021, announcing it “manly,” after which pivoted twice whereas remaining centered on fashionable look after males.
The present model combines AI with home-based testing, diagnoses, and diet. Clients pay an upfront payment and a month-to-month subscription afterward.
In our current dialog, Luke shared the corporate’s origins, development, errors, and extra. The whole audio of that dialogue is embedded beneath. The transcript is condensed and edited for readability.
Eric Bandholz: Inform us about your work.
Luke Hartelust: I’m the founder and CEO of MNLY, a males’s well being and wellness platform. We use at-home diagnostics, AI, and superior tech to create customized complement, life-style, and diet options.
My background is in health franchising. I led a number of places throughout Southern California and labored carefully with male entrepreneurs and executives. That have revealed gaps in males’s healthcare, significantly within the lack of proactive, preventative approaches.
Telehealth has improved entry to care, however the mannequin has flaws. Most suppliers have lengthy waitlists — typically as much as 90 days for lab outcomes and remedy plans because of backlogged consultations.
At MNLY, we streamlined the method. We eliminated the practitioner bottleneck and constructed a scientific advisory board to coach a fancy AI mannequin. The result’s an automatic evaluation and fast, customized well being suggestions, going from signup to actionable outcomes a lot sooner than conventional telehealth suppliers.
Bandholz: Stroll me by means of the client journey.
Hartelust: Clients begin by buying our at-home blood pattern equipment — a easy finger prick utilizing dried blood spot sampling, eliminating the friction of in-person visits. As soon as acquired, our companion lab processes samples inside hours.
Whereas awaiting outcomes, customers full an 86-question well being evaluation. It focuses on seven areas: focus, confidence, stamina, temper, sleep, libido, and restoration.
We mix lab and evaluation knowledge — roughly 100 knowledge factors per person — to generate a clear, easy-to-understand well being dashboard. It explains outcomes and gives reference ranges, visuals, and comparability metrics. An general well being rating benchmarks the information.
Subsequent, our AI builds a customized well being plan, together with diet options based mostly on biomarkers and life-style hacks equivalent to breathwork and even testicular cooling for hormone assist.
Lastly, we formulate a customized dietary complement. Primarily based on the person’s knowledge, our AI prescribes particular vitamins and doses. We then manufacture the complement and ship each 30 days. It’s absolutely automated.
Bandholz: What does it value prospects?
Hartelust: The preliminary lab equipment is $199. Dietary supplements are $249 per 30 days.
We suggest retesting with new blood samples each three to 5 months. Every time new bloodwork is submitted, our system updates all biomarkers, adjusts complement dosages, and revises the well being plan. Customers expertise clear visible progress, together with modifications to their general well being rating.
We’ve simply accomplished our first yr in enterprise. It’s our third iteration below the MNLY model. We launched in 2021 as a dietary subscription field supplier, with two makes an attempt.
A yr in the past, with this model, we didn’t prioritize retention. Our small group centered on product growth, and we lacked an automatic buyer journey to information and remind customers about retesting. We began these reminders 90 days in the past.
From an ecommerce perspective, not constructing that journey sooner was one in all our greatest missteps. Many purchasers skilled robust ends in the primary six weeks — improved libido, temper, sleep, restoration, and focus — however when these results plateaued, some dropped off across the five- or six-month mark. Despite the fact that organic enhancements continued, customers weren’t at all times conscious with out up to date knowledge. That’s why constant testing and communication are actually central to our retention technique.
Bandholz: What’s your development technique?
Hartelust: As a startup elevating capital in a tricky market, I wanted a strategic companion to develop our attain. I secured a deal final yr with Hyrox, an indoor health competitors, as its unique U.S. males’s well being companion. I landed the cope with only a minimal viable product and a pitch deck, proper earlier than Hydrox’s U.S. enlargement took off.
The corporate’s occasions grew in a yr from 2,000 athletes to 14,000, and its viewers — 50,000 social followers, 30,000 electronic mail subscribers, and 200 health club companions — aligned completely with our model. We paid for the sponsorship, nevertheless it gave us large publicity, credibility, and direct entry to our core demographic.
We may have taken out, say, $100,000 in Meta Advertisements. That very same $100,000 in a strategic Hyrox sponsorship will get us model fairness, athletes, traders, and a a lot decrease acquisition value — round $200 per buyer, much better than we may obtain with advertisements alone.
Bandholz: How do you change Hyrox athletes?
Hartelust: A presence on-site on the competitions is our simplest technique. We just lately wrapped an eight-month nationwide tour the place we arrange our model set up inside every venue. Our core management group was there to carry deep product information, ardour, and actual connection.
The sponsorship supplied us with entry to electronic mail lists and social media audiences. Earlier than the competitors, we emailed attendees with provides, a reduction code, and sales space particulars. We reminded them of the promotion throughout the occasion and shared recaps after. We inspired the individuals to point out the code on the sales space for a decrease price.
Bandholz: How did you elevate the capital to fund such a fancy launch?
Hartelust: I spent the primary six years of my profession constructing wellness and health studios and nurturing strategic relationships. After we offered the corporate in 2021 for a number of million {dollars}, I reinvested some capital to begin MNLY. However, once more, earlier than our present mannequin, MNLY failed twice as a subscription field idea. I misplaced rather a lot on these early variations earlier than pivoting to what now we have now.
Launching this mannequin required extra than simply private funds, so I started elevating a real pre-seed spherical about 18 months in the past. I had raised capital earlier than, however by no means for a startup. I tapped each attainable connection — pals, household, purchasers — and employed a digital assistant for chilly outreach. One in every of our enterprise capital companions shared a priceless investor database. I ended up doing roughly 250 pitches and raised slightly below $800,000.
This spherical centered on micro angels slightly than conventional VCs. Many manufacturers rely closely on Meta advertisements and lack an actual connection. We leveraged our Hyrox group and provided fairness to athlete ambassadors, which supplied us with extra operational capital. That mix of model, relationships, and group has fueled our development.
Bandholz: The place can individuals assist you?
Hartelust: Our web site is getMNLY.com. We’re @getMNLY on Instagram and Fb. I’m on LinkedIn.
