Hims & Hers: building DTC healthcare into a public company

The founding and the original product

Hims was founded in 2017 by Andrew Dudum, Jack Abraham (founder of Atomic, the startup studio that incubated Hims), and Hilary Coles.^[1] The founding insight was clinical-and-marketing rather than purely product: men weren't going to doctors about hair loss, erectile dysfunction, or anxiety even when affordable, effective generic prescriptions (finasteride for hair loss, sildenafil for ED, generic SSRIs for mental health) existed. A DTC brand with a clean visual identity, embarrassment-reducing direct shipping, and telehealth-licensed prescribing could remove the friction that kept men out of the doctor's office.

The original product was hair loss treatment — finasteride and minoxidil shipped monthly with a telehealth consultation. The visual brand identity was deliberately distinct from medical advertising: soft pastels, minimalist typography, conversational copy. The packaging looked like a consumer product, not a pharmaceutical. The first 12-18 months focused entirely on this one product and category.^[2]

The paid acquisition playbook

Hims scaled rapidly on Facebook and Instagram DR through 2017-2020, becoming one of the largest single advertisers in the men's health and personal care category. The creative playbook leaned into the brand-as-anti-pharma positioning — product photography that looked editorial rather than medical, copy that used humor and direct language about embarrassing problems, ads optimized for subscription conversion rather than one-time purchase.^[3]

The DTC-into-subscription model produced unusually favorable unit economics: the subscription captured LTV over multiple months while the acquisition cost was spread across that revenue stream. Hims reportedly achieved CAC payback under 6 months for the hair-loss vertical in its scaling years — strong economics that funded reinvestment in additional verticals and brand-building.

The vertical expansion playbook

Starting in 2018-2019, Hims aggressively expanded into adjacent men's health verticals: skin care, anxiety/depression, sleep, primary care. The Hers brand launched in 2018 covering women's-specific concerns (birth control, dermatology, sexual wellness, fertility, mental health). Each vertical leveraged the same DTC + telehealth + subscription model that worked for hair-loss.^[4]

By 2020 the company had filed to go public via SPAC merger with Oaktree Acquisition Corp., closing in January 2021 at approximately $1.6B valuation. Post-IPO Hims & Hers continued vertical expansion: weight loss (compounded GLP-1 products in 2024 became a major growth driver), mental health, dermatology, primary care.^[5]

GLP-1 and the 2024 acceleration

In 2024, Hims & Hers added a compounded GLP-1 weight loss product to its catalog — capitalizing on the Ozempic/Wegovy shortage and the broader market interest in GLP-1 medications. The product was a compounded version (legally distinct from the branded GLP-1s) that became one of the company's fastest-growing lines, driving meaningful revenue acceleration through 2024 and into 2025.^[6]

The GLP-1 vertical demonstrated the leverage of the existing DTC + telehealth infrastructure — a new clinical category became revenue-meaningful within months because the acquisition, licensing, and fulfillment infrastructure was already in place. Revenue in 2024 grew 47% YoY to $1.48B, with the company guiding to continued strong growth in 2025.^[7]

What the Hims & Hers playbook teaches

Hims & Hers is a case study in how DTC + telehealth + subscription creates structural advantages over both traditional pharma marketing and standard DTC. The infrastructure investments (multi-state telehealth licensing, pharmacy fulfillment, subscription operations) take 18-36 months to build but compound across every vertical. Brands that try to enter healthcare DTC without that infrastructure typically fail.

• Telehealth + DTC + subscription is structurally advantageous — the infrastructure investments compound across verticals.
• Brand-as-anti-medical wins — Hims' visual identity broke category convention and removed friction from a stigmatized purchase decision.
• Vertical expansion reuses the engine — each new category leveraged existing acquisition, licensing, and fulfillment infrastructure.
• Subscription unit economics fund growth — CAC payback under 6 months in scaling verticals funded reinvestment in new categories.
• Regulatory positioning is part of the moat — compounded GLP-1 access required navigating a complex regulatory environment that smaller competitors couldn't replicate quickly.

Related concepts and channels

For the broader DTC healthcare playbook this case study connects to, see our healthcare marketing playbook and DTC ecommerce playbook. For the subscription unit economics that made this work, see subscription pricing models and CAC payback and LTV. For the paid social DR engine, see Meta Ads overview. For the lifecycle work that compounded retention, see lifecycle marketing.