Personalised Wellness at Scale: The Future of Health Tech - with Melissa Snover

23:03But I think what you just mentioned is a great example. Hospitality and human experience will not be one. And if they over-AI that, it will ruin it. And it will be the places that go back to basics, the more old-fashioned hospitality approach that will be able to captivate consumer buy-in, I think.

23:26Brave Bold Brilliant Hosts:Yeah, well, I mean, even when we were together at the Festival of Entrepreneurs at the NEC, it was great to be in the room, have real conversations, live conversations, meet someone, shake their hand, look into their eye, talk about how you might be able to do some cool stuff together. You know, you can't replace that, I don't believe. And so that human, and I think we crave it more, actually, as we get more into tech. So it's an interesting time for us, for sure. And Melissa, you know, you were talking about scaling up the team there, you know, going from four to 45 to, you know, 200 plus people on the team in a very short space of time.

24:02Brave Bold Brilliant Hosts:And as someone that's a business leader, the founder, the CEO, you know, your baby that you created originally, how did you personally navigate that sort of journey of almost removing yourself from being the blocker to growth, which can happen when it's your own business, to actually, you know, being able to delegate effectively, step away, accept that things might not be perfectly done, but you've got to trust in the team, put the foundations in. And how did you personally navigate through that? Because I think a lot of founders do struggle with that scale up piece because they've been so close to doing everything themselves in the early days.

24:42I think it definitely is challenging. I think you have to do it at the pace that you feel comfortable. I think one of the best things that I did was I started to delegate the things I hated doing first. That was the easiest. Right. Like there's certain every founder is different. You'll have your wheelhouse of things you love doing. Like I love the tech and I love actually also the product development. I love it. I'm in the MPD love every day. And I love doing that part. And I don't I still to this day don't delegate the management of those two things too much because I actually really enjoy doing them.

25:18But there are other parts of and aspects to the business which absolutely are important, need to be done, need to be done well. but I do not enjoy doing them. And so I focused on delegating them first, which made it easier because I was like, yay, I'm so happy. I don't have to do that anymore. But I think as well, what you have to do is you have to delegate and then test and learn and find people that you can trust. And it is very difficult to trust people. People will make mistakes. People will not do things exactly as you would do them. But it's not about doing it exactly like me. It's about, did you do it well enough?

25:59Did you do it on the time scale I asked? And can I now believe that when I ask you to do something, you will do it and I can mark it off my list and take it off my mental load. And those people, I'm very lucky that many of the team members I have now in my C-suite have not only worked for me in this business, but in my previous company as well. And after we We moved on from that business. We took, they came with me. So my CEO, my chief of staff and my CTO, we've been working together for over 10 years. I mean, they are literally my pseudo family. We know each other well. I went to both their weddings that, you know, we are very close and I can trust them.

26:35And I understand them also very well as human beings. And so I think that that has made a humongous difference. And then the other thing I think, which is really key is when you're hiring, we hire, of course, if there is a very specific job function that requires a certain level of experience or education, that is a must to have. But when we get down to the shortlist, we hire for culture fit only, quite frankly, because at the end of the day, you can hire someone who is qualified to the wazoo, but if they're not personality type fit for your culture, it will be a mess. It will send mixed signals to the rest of the team.

27:14They will jar with the rest of the team. And I love our culture. I think the culture that we built is probably the thing I'm the most proud of in my entire career. It is such a positive, supportive, innovation-led place where everyone is working together towards the same goal. There's no back chat. It's just such a positive place. And I love it. And I will defend it with my life. And now, because we have such a strong team, they defend it on my behalf, which I think is a testament to it working. Yeah.

27:44Brave Bold Brilliant Hosts:Yeah, no, there's some really great advice in there. You're right. You know, identify the things that you're really good at and that you love doing and, you know, focus in on there. But then hire really smart people that are going to fit and carry your DNA and the values, etc. Because you're right, when you come to the shortness, the final two or three, all of them should technically be able to do the job anyway. And then it absolutely is about fit and are they going to kind of continue to build the culture that you've so preciously created, really, through all of that. So that's great advice.

28:18Brave Bold Brilliant Hosts:And Melissa, I want to talk a little bit about, you know, raising money, right? Because you come across as a very together, confident businesswoman. You know, you've had a huge amount of success and I know it won't have been easy along the way. You'll have had some lots of highs and highs and lows through the journey as well. So we'll cover that in a minute. But in terms of sort of raising finance, you raise what that one of the largest funds, didn't you, or capital for the business, one of your earlier business. And again, at quite a young age. So, you know, when you're walking into a meeting like that where you're trying to raise finance and investment, investment.

28:58Brave Bold Brilliant Hosts:What mindset do you need to go into with that for you, given how much you need the money to a certain degree, right? But also you want to be working with the right people, you know, having the right level of investment and some kind of partnership with an investor as well. So what's the mindset that you go into in those kind of meetings, Melissa? Oh, I think, yeah, that's a great question. I think this company, Remedy Health, is the first business that I've ever had where I raised venture capital funding. My previous businesses, I had, you know, basically what would be called a friends and family rounds, right?

29:35So it was not the same. And so when I started working on Remedy and I realized, you know, we want to build manufacturing, we have high CapEx, we need a decent amount of money to get started. I had to basically learn everything there is to know about venture capital. So I read every book, I started subscribing to every newsletter. I went to tons of meetups. I listened to loads of podcasts about it. And then every single time I met an investor and I pitched, I learned and I improved. And I think, yeah, I raised the highest ever female founder seed round in UK history in 2019, which was not a lot of money.

30:13And I want record to be taken off me immediately, but it hasn't been, which is so disappointing, but that is the truth. And since then, we've raised close to$20 million for a remedy as a whole. So, you know, how do I approach it now? I approach it now with a ton of experience, but certainly at the very beginning, I did not have that. And I think I approached it like a sales meeting. In effect, what you're doing is you are trying to sell at the very beginning an idea, your capability to execute on it and the value of the idea. and you're trying to inspire passion and excitement and confidence. And so having my previous company where I had to pitch retail buyers from all over the world, I leaned on a lot of that experience.

31:00And it's not that different. You can't go in there acting desperate, no matter how desperate you actually are. You cannot do that. You cannot act desperate. But I think when it comes down to it, you have to remember you're giving the investor a great opportunity to make money from your idea, right? And so going into it like a beggar is totally the wrong energy. You need to go into it like, this is a great idea. We are looking for good investors that are going to support us. This is a tryout for you just as much as it is for me. And let's see if we have a match. It's a bit like a recruitment process.

31:37You know, the recruitment process is not one-sided. Both the employee and the employer have to be on the same page and ask to work for both parties. And then the only other thing I would just mention, which is something I see a ton of younger entrepreneurs, not in years, but younger in experience of being an entrepreneur make is anybody can raise money. Anybody. If you really, really are willing to give up enough of your business, your operating control, et cetera, you will be able to find money. So the getting the money is not should not be the number one focus. It should be getting the money at the right price for the right deal.

32:13and reading the term sheet and not signing a really bad term sheet in your seed round or your series A will haunt you for the rest of your life. And I know you need the money desperately right now, but you need to try and put yourself in a, in a fast forward mindset of what that will mean for you in the future and, and get the best legal advice you can afford. It's kind of like jeans, you know, you can wear cheap tops and, you know, but buy, buy the best denim you can afford by the get the best legal advice you can afford. We have had Cooley as our retained advisors since my seed round. And I cannot I cannot sing their praises enough.

32:54They are been instrumental in me navigating all of these things. And I I'm very grateful that I have them on my side.

33:03Brave Bold Brilliant Hosts:Yeah. Well, I mean, listen, 20 million raised. That's a huge number. I mean, congratulations on that, Melissa. It's great. And I think one of the things you were saying as you were talking that resonated for me was around, you know, don't be going in desperate to have confidence in what you're actually putting to that investor. As you say, it's an opportunity for them to make money ultimately. And I guess if and surround yourself with experts, people that are, you know, have deep knowledge in this area to support you and grow because you can't possibly know everything about every aspect of business.

33:38Brave Bold Brilliant Hosts:And actually, it's smart to surround yourself with the right people, isn't it? Whether it's legal, whether it's tax, whether it's finance, whatever it might be, because it can be an absolute minefield. And I agree with you. I've seen deals where people have got in bed with the wrong partner. There's been a massive number on the table that has been great from a capital point of view. But actually, they've lived to regret it, as you said, because the fit wasn't there. You know, they weren't aligned on the values. And then it ended up with a very messy divorce. which was painful all round. So probably better to have a no than to go ahead with someone that's wrong.

34:16Brave Bold Brilliant Hosts:Better to wait and find the right partner, I think is what I'm hearing from you, Melissa, as well, right? Absolutely. And it's fine. As long as you orchestrate your deal mechanics correctly, then you maybe can still even sign up people who are not a good fit in the long run. But if you sign them up and you give them like unbalanced rights, then you are in a really bad situation. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And I mean, given given away equity, I see a lot of smaller, smaller businesses give away too much equity too soon and then regret it later. And voting rights, of course, like you say, it's not just about equity, but, you know, when it comes to the ultimately who's going to make the call on the direction of the business and the big decisions.

35:00Brave Bold Brilliant Hosts:Actually, that that is important as well, isn't it? Voting rights. 100%. Yeah, voting rights are important. Weird things like ROFA's, preference shares, you know, a lot of people don't understand preference shares. If you give preference to your investors, that is, you know, more than one X, which never do, it could mean that your business could be sold for a huge amount of money and you and your team will get almost nothing. So, you know, you need to be really careful. And again, this is where the legal advice comes in hand. Depending on where your listeners are listening from, there's an amazing, totally free set of webinars and online resources from Seedlegals that you can get a ton of access to.

35:43What does a good term sheet look like? What to watch out for? You can do practice pitches with real investors. They have lots of meet and greets in mostly London, but they're, yeah. And I think that all those are, all those services are completely free and really, really good starting point where you don't have to pay any money and you can get a decent amount of understanding.

36:05Brave Bold Brilliant Hosts:Yeah, yeah, absolutely. And, you know, from your perspective, you've covered a lot of kind of watch outs there. But, you know, you've been around around a business for quite a long time now, Melissa, as well, even though you're a lot younger than me. So I'm very jealous. But when you when you look at other businesses and the networking you do and the world that you that you occupy, What do you think is the biggest leadership mistake that you see founders make when they are scaling up? I have seen a huge number of people be irresponsible with money and with humans. And I will not name any names.

36:41But like in general, there was a time not too long ago, probably five or six years ago, where there was so much capital available. Raising venture capital was considerably, well, people would tell you it was easier. I don't think it was that much easier, but it was easier. and certainly valuations were higher and there was lots of different mechanics at play. And so a lot of founders that started in and around the early 2020s kind of had this mentality that they could spend without consequence, that growth was more important than profitability and that they would have access to a never ending well of money.

37:21and they made calls on that basis and it ended up with them having to fire half their staff or more. And I just think, I really, really think being an employer is a humongous responsibility and I take it really seriously. And I think if you are going to hire a lot of people, you better be darn sure that you can offer them the opportunity that you promise. and if you can't then you should have agency and consultancy in the meantime that's my view yeah

37:54Brave Bold Brilliant Hosts:yeah no I think I think that's a really good a really good point of view and yeah it's about responsible leadership isn't it you know because like you say when you're building an organization you know you are it's not just the people that are working with you it's the the ripple effect you've dropped a pebble in the pond and it you know affects their families you know so there is a big responsibility you know and I think you're right actually you know I think also people can get very excited about the deal, you know, deal fever, and don't always think about post-deal world. What does this mean for a post-deal integration?

38:26Brave Bold Brilliant Hosts:Or what does it mean for, you know, actually once you've sold your business, what happens on the other side? So I see a lot of that, Melissa. I don't know if you'd agree that deal fever often takes over what happens on the other side of the deal. Yeah, I think that's true. And I think, yeah, we are not even thinking about selling this company yet. I sold one of my earlier businesses way too early and I do not need to learn that lesson twice. But I think one of the things that I did when we first set this business up, which I think has been a huge differentiator for us and has really helped us across all of the challenges we've had is that we give EMI shares to absolutely every employee in the business.

39:11Once you pass probation, you get EMI shares. And so everyone from manual labor operatives in the factory to the C-suite have shares in the business. And it changes the conversation from a we need you to to a we need to, you know. And it's such a big difference in perspective, in dynamic, in the energy of the entire business. And so, yeah, when we think about the deals that will potentially come at the end or in a secondary opportunity, who knows? I'm constantly thinking about how we can deliver life-changing outcomes for our team, because those are the people I want to deliver outcomes for. Those are the people that built this business from ground up and they deserve it.

39:58Brave Bold Brilliant Hosts:Yeah, well, that's great. I mean, and it's about the culture as well that, you know, you've created this culture and family and sense of all being in it together and on the journey, on the ride together as a team. And I really love that. I think that's so important. So, Melissa, if you were, you know, if you were going to be starting again and you've started again multiple times, you've reinvented yourself, although you never truly start again because you bring all of that knowledge and experience with you. Right. So whatever you do in terms of the next phase and, you know, obviously you've got an exciting roadmap for remedy.

40:32Brave Bold Brilliant Hosts:So, you know, as you say, the best is yet to come, I think, for the business. But if you were going to start again and you had to start again with, you know, with no reputation in the sector that you were literally going into, would you do anything differently? What would you do differently if you were starting another business, do you think? If I was to sell this company and start another business now at this time in the world, I would probably focus on doing something which was less heavy lifting. because I'm not old yet, but I'm also not super young anymore. And I think there is a huge number of opportunities, which I think exist, where you can design solutions, would require very little capex, very little risk, and would be really fun to run and would be less heavy lifting.

41:29But I think it's also really important to say, I wouldn't change a single thing. I'm not one of those people that has a single regret. I don't. I think everything that happened allowed me to either win or learn. All of it has resulted in where we are today. I wouldn't change anything that we did, despite it being really tough a lot of the time. But by going through those tough experiences, we learned lessons that we never have to learn again. And yeah, that gives us a little bit of superpower as we go to the next stage.

42:01Brave Bold Brilliant Hosts:Yeah, 100 percent. And that's it, you know, because people might look at your career in life and go, oh, it's amazing. Melissa, everything she touches turns to gold and, you know, it's wonderful. But as you say, you know, I'm sure you've had lots of challenging times. What would you say was the most difficult time for you or situation that you faced? Yeah, I think creating the newest technology was really, really tough. I think when you create any technology, it's tough. but this technology was so big and was such a humongous investment. And we're developing not just something that's like one step change better, something that's completely different than everything else that currently exists.

42:44So there is no case study that you can read. There is no expert you can call to help you. You literally have to go through it yourself to learn it. And I think it was a humongous undertaking. undertaking we did not and that's always healthy I think we did not realize the size of the undertaking when we started because I think you wouldn't start if you knew and while we were going through it there was times many times when you know of course I never shared this with my team but it was like oh my god what if this does not actually work what if we cannot get it to work and I really truly believe that you will always be able to get it to work if you can keep going long enough that you can try enough options to find the solution but what if we run out of money before we get this to work.

43:30And my job, I became, my newest hat became psychologist for my entire team. And I constantly had to be like, it's okay. We've eliminated, you know, while on the inside, I'm freaking out. And I think that was really, really tough, but we came through it. And I could not be more proud of the team, of what we've achieved and the solution that we created and what it will do and what it is already doing for our business, but also just the wider field in which we work and generally global health. So yeah, anything worth doing is hard, I think, right? So yeah.

44:09Brave Bold Brilliant Hosts:100%. And you know, I mean, listen, you've created a scale business in a sector that has been quite traditionally ran for a long, in a certain way for a long time with perceptions, etc. And you've created a really unique, differentiated, disruptive solution that's actually making people's lives better. I mean, that's one hell of a legacy and one hell of an impact to have on the world, isn't it? You know, this is not a small thing that you've achieved with the team and the business. So you should feel incredibly proud, Melissa, of what you've done. And, you know, all the challenges have been worth it, I think, from what you've said, right?

44:44Absolutely. I am so proud of the team. And I think we all see it as an honor, but also a responsibility, right? When you are developing technology that has the potential to have a a shockwave style impact on global health it's like it's you feel a sense of responsibility to do it and I think the whole team have every right to be very proud and I yeah we just had our Christmas party and I did a whole speech about how proud they should feel um and yeah I yeah I am I am very proud I it is hard to take time out to think about it you know because you're in it all the time but when I do take a step back it's yeah it's amazing I'm so proud of the team yeah well

45:23Brave Bold Brilliant Hosts:It's a good time of year, isn't it? Sometimes just, you know, reflect and then, you know, come back, come back feeling with renewed energy, et cetera. So, Melissa, I'm going to come to the last few questions, if I may. But before I do before I do that, you know, obviously, when you've had the highs, you've had the lows, you've had all that pressure, you know, starting a business, raising the finance, you know, a lot on your shoulders. And you're in that you're in the health field. Right. You're in the in the global well-being world, shall we say. how do you keep yourself in the best sort of mental physical shape to be able to lead the business in the best way possible you know be the best that you can be for your loved ones as well on a personal basis because it is a lot of pressure as a ceo when you're you're doing you know big things like you are so how do you keep yourself kind of in check and in the best shape possible so um i'm obviously a massive massive proponent of supplements i've been using supplements since I was in university.

46:19And so I have my nourish stack every day. That's really important. And that does help me. It helps my immune system, helps my energy levels, helps me get key vital nutrients that I might not get when I'm really busy and I'm not eating like, you know, the full square meals that you need on a daily basis. Helps me with jet lag. I mean, honestly, I don't know what I would do without it. So that's, you know, I am a user of my own product. I think that that's always very good when you are part of your target market. I also prioritize sleep. I never used to do this, but I do it now. And it is really important.

46:52And I'm very, very strict about my bedtime. I get up at 4.30 in the morning, but I go to bed at like nine o 'clock every night. And I am like, and some people are like, you're so lame. I'm like, I don't care. I love, I think going to bed early is like the largest luxury that you could have. And then I spend, I try and spend at least one hour in nature on a daily basis. That is from what I've learned about Japanese forest bathing, phytogens in the air. It makes a massive difference to my mental health, but it also has less evident impacts on my overall physical well-being on a physiological level.

47:29Brave Bold Brilliant Hosts:Yeah, great. I'm the same. I used to be very dismissive of sleep, whereas now I'm like, oh, is it too early to put my pajamas on? I've got a lot of sleep. Yeah, it's great. And I'm also a morning person. I wouldn't say I'm 4.30. I'm probably more like 5 or 6 a.m. But I like that feeling of being up before the rest of the world has kind of got busy. Just that real quiet, quiet time. I fiercely protect my mornings the first hour and a half of the day. So, no, that's wonderful. So when you look back at the great career you've had, the fabulous life journey that you've been on as well, Melissa. Any standout advice that has held you in really good stead over these years?

48:11Yeah, I think my mom said to me when I was younger, when I was struggling with the decision that I was trying to make personally, and it stuck with me, and I think about it a lot when I have, because I'm making so many decisions on a daily basis, and it goes the easy way and the right way are never the same way. Unfortunately, inconvenient truth, but it is true. And it has helped me to make the right decisions in a lot of situations where I have been at a crossroads. So I think about that a lot.

48:43Brave Bold Brilliant Hosts:Great. Your mum's been fabulous, hasn't she? She is a legend. What's your mum's name, Melissa? Cathy. Cathy. Cathy, everyone needs a Cathy in their life. And you're sharing Cathy's wisdom here so we can all benefit from wonderful Cathy. Well, I love that. That's great. And Melissa, you know, obviously, you've got a lot going on. If you could describe this year in one word, I know it's tough, one word, but what would that word be and why? transformational so the business went from last year which was very very tough bringing the new technology and this year we have exceeded every target that we had for the team i'm so proud of them and yeah it's transformational excellent great word i'll be interested to see what next year's word is melissa right i'll loop back around and see what next year's word is um great and we have our brave bold brilliant playlist on spotify where we put all the favourite tracks of our wonderful guests that we have on the show.

49:45Brave Bold Brilliant Hosts:What would be a standout song and artist for you, Melissa? I think this is so hard because I love so many different kinds of music. So I was sent to Kate, I was like, I can't pick one song. But I did. Hollow Scene by Bonnie Bear. Ooh, we've not had that. It's so good. If you don't know who Bonnie Bear is, you need to find out. I found him very late in life. is unbelievable. And yeah, you're all welcome because he's absolutely wonderful. Enjoy. Excellent. Thank you. What a great addition. And last question, Melissa, for you. Brave, bold, brilliant. What does that mean to you? It really encapsulates the mindset of a good leader, strong entrepreneur.

50:31Specifically, I think that's the way that female business leaders need to behave. And that's the energy that we want to see in our female leaders going forward.

50:41Brave Bold Brilliant Hosts:Wonderful. Honestly, Melissa, I've really enjoyed our conversation. I'm so excited for you for the future as well. And yeah, congratulations on all your huge success. And yeah, let's see what the next stage of the journey looks like. But thank you so much for coming on. Honestly, you've been amazing. It's been such a pleasure. Thank you so much for having me. And yeah, we'll definitely catch up. And hopefully I have a better word for next year too. I really hope you've enjoyed this episode of Brave Bold Brilliant. Remember, check out our new website, www.brave-bold-brilliant.com. You're going to find loads of resources on there that's going to help you with your leadership journey and with the businesses that you're trying to scale up and grow.

51:20Brave Bold Brilliant Hosts:So take care, everyone. And remember, there are no limits to your growth, but it is by being brave and bold that you're going to unlock your brilliance.