NFTs
Millennial entrepreneur behind £35m supplements startup Heights wishes he could tell his 20-year-old self to ‘ditch the NFTs’
What would you do if you had a six-figure salary? Maybe you’d never cook another meal again, or indulge in a monthly Thai massage and a Soho House membership to unwind from the stresses that come with being on your A-game.
Here at The Good Life you no longer have to imagine what life at the top is like: get real inspiration on how the most successful live their lives.
Today, Fortune meets London-based serial entrepreneur Dan Murray-Serter.
The 38-year-old left a promising career in account management to found Grabble in 2013 with his longtime friend (and current co-founder), Joel Freeman.
The mobile shopping app took off, and Murray-Serter was on the fast track to success. Like Tinder for shopping, users could swipe to “like” and then shop the latest looks from Reiss, ASOS, Topshop and more. But in 2018, Grabble joined the 45 percent of small businesses that failed within the first five years of launch.
Since becoming founder, Murray-Serter openly admits he’s endured three more failed ventures and three major mental health struggles, but the experience inspired him to start a wellness newsletter, which opened his eyes to the largely unregulated world of supplements and led to his latest venture, Heights.
£35,000,000
Recent Heights Review
The dreaded five-year mark is approaching for the “supported by sciencesupplement brand. However, with a reported 30,000 monthly subscriptions, £10 million in annual recurring revenue and a recent valuation of £35 million, it seems Murray-Serter and Freeman have finally found a winner.
A clip from Dan’s business podcast, Secret Leaders:
Now, he’s uncovering what worked for other founders — and, more importantly, what didn’t — on his top-rated business podcast, Secret Leaders.
The finances
Fortune: What was the best investment you ever bought?
Probably my house. It cost £1.2 million and we spent over a year (and about £500,000 renovating it) but it was recently valued at over £2 million. We rent it out for filming and all sorts of things, so it was a very good investment.
Worse?
How long have you been talking about NFTs?
Dan with his wife and daughter.
What are your childcare arrangements like?
We have a daughter who is turning 3, and my wife and I are exceptionally committed to being equal parents and taking on as much of everything as humanly possible. She goes to daycare five days a week—we split pick-ups and drop-offs equally, and I do all the bathtime and bedtime (probably 98% of all of them over the three years) because it’s been a really important, healthy, and valuable way to get away from my work. I love doing it.
How do you commute to work?
Heights is a hybrid. Monday and Tuesday are at our office in Oxford Circus, so I catch the tube and walk (about 15 minutes) from Regents Park to help me get my 10k steps in. I’m obsessed with steps and walking in general.
On Wednesdays and Thursdays I either stay home or go to a local cafe to work.
On Fridays, I head to Shoreditch to work with a bunch of other founders. We have a shared office, all together, through my Foundrs community. This also means I have East London covered for meetings.
Where do you buy your work wardrobe?
Arket or Massimo Dutti mainly.
“Invest in S&P 500 index funds now, buy Bitcoin and loot NFTs. But the best investment you will ever make is in yourself…”
Where is your favorite watch from?
I use the Samsung S6 Watch. I’ve been really getting into a Peter Attia longevity protocol this year and one of the things I do is Zone 2 training twice a week. After doing some research, I found that this is the best watch for that, so I bought it. I’ve always been pretty anti-smartwatch, but I really like it.
What personal finance advice would you give your 20-year-old self?
Invest in S&P 500 index funds now, buy Bitcoin, and cash in on NFTs. But the best investment you’ll ever make is in yourself, so spend money on training, take this seriously, and figure out how to turn yourself into a financial asset.
The necessities
How do you take your daily coffee?
I have a proper Sage Barista machine at home and I don’t skimp on coffee. It’s a luxury I take seriously – I drink about 4 cups of coffee a day, nearly 30 a week and spend about £30 a fortnight on beans. I’m a fan of Pact Coffee. When I’m out, in an ideal world, I’d spend £4-£5 on Monmouth Coffee. I’d rather have no coffee than a regular coffee. That and warm beer are my big red flags, it’s not worth it, I’d rather be tired or sober.
A Sage The Oracle coffee machine, taken on May 12, 2017. (Photo by Joseph Branston/T3 Magazine/Future via Getty Images)
How about eating on the street?
When my daughter was born I realised I couldn’t cook and I didn’t want it to be just mum’s job so I bought a bunch of meal delivery boxes. My favourite was Gousto. Great food, super healthy. I really like it and it seems like a bargain. We spend about £60 a week on this and probably £60 a week or more from M&S, Sainsbury’s or our local Tesco on other fruit and veg.
People eat lunch at a window seat at a branch of the Farmer J restaurant chain on February 5, 2024 in London, United Kingdom. (Photo by Mike Kemp/In Pictures via Getty Images)
When I’m in town, my go-to places for a quick and easy lunch are Farmer J or LEON. I go to Soho House a lot, but I don’t really know why — it’s never that good, the service is terrible, the prices are high, and the food is average — and yet I still go back — there must be something wrong with me!
“I’m simplifying my life instead of buying more gadgets and stuff.”
How often per week do you eat out or cook at home?
Dining out — what’s that? Realistically, since having our daughter, we’ve tried to have a date night (although much less), and we tend to go to the theater or movies more often than we go to dinner.
I’d say we cook at home six times a week and eat out once if we’re lucky. Our favourite is The William Pub in Kensal Rise.
The treats
Are you the proud owner of Meta smart glasses or any other futuristic gadget?
I have a lot of useless crap that could be considered futuristic, but not the glasses. For now, though, I’m simplifying my life instead of buying more gadgets and stuff.
How do you relax from your most important work?
Since January, I’ve been working out five times a week, including two one-hour Zone 2 workouts on my Peloton and weight training three times a week.
But to be honest, my main way of relaxing is with my two cats Archie and Bells. I can sit and cuddle them for hours listening to an audiobook, watching TV or playing music and the time just flies by. I find it the most relaxing thing in the world.
DALY CITY, CALIFORNIA – MAY 08: A Peloton bike is displayed at a Dick’s Sporting Goods store on May 08, 2024 in Daly City, California. Several private equity firms are considering a takeover of struggling fitness company Peloton a week after CEO Barry McCarthy announced he would step down and the company planned to cut 15% of its workforce following a poor earnings report. The company has had 13 consecutive quarters of financial losses. (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)
Every six months, I also book a solo trip to a cabin in the woods for three days, where I sit alone in silence. You lock your phone and there’s no TV or internet. I just write a lot, read a lot, cook a lot, hike a lot, come and feel like I can take on the world.
I’m a pretty extreme person, so my ideas of relaxation include going to Burning Man or Glastonbury every year, being alone in silence, without a phone or internet.
What’s the best bonus you’ve ever bought for yourself?
I’m not really a material things guy. I spend money on experiences and making my life a little easier.
Cape Town
Probably the most exciting thing I do lately is travel once a year for a month to work remotely in January to avoid the rain. We’ve been to Portugal, California, Bali, and last year, Cape Town. When my daughter was under 2, I upgraded to business class for these flights because it seemed like a better value. Now I have to pay for her too and I don’t want her to be spoiled, so we all have to suffer together in economy (and I only indulge in business class when I fly without them!)
How do you record your notes in a meeting?
I use a Remarkable and I absolutely love it. It’s a little too analog, but that’s its charm and nothing else really works for me. I love the idea of everything being handwritten; it feels more impactful.
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This story was originally featured in Fortune.com