I’M FIRING MYSELF
Or, Why The Future of Men’s Skincare Depends on Women’s Leadership
After a fruitful career in the world of bitcoin and blockchain technology, I decided in late 2018 to do something radical: start a men’s skincare business, MadeMan.
To say that I miscalculated the challenge of launching a successful direct-to-consumer, e-commerce men’s cosmetic brand would be a serious understatement. Selling skincare to men is the hardest thing I’ve ever done. But the reason I am announcing today that I am firing myself as CEO of MadeMan is not due to personal adversity.
I am removing myself as CEO because it has become clear that all my “competition” and I have developed our businesses entirely wrong. Frankly, it wouldn’t be a stretch to suggest that every men’s skincare CEO should be fired.
Allow me to lay out my case why my peers should at least resign… if they don’t want to be as dramatic as me:
Men today broadly lack confidence and are falling behind across the spectrum. Their self-care, in terms of mental and physical health, is deeply lacking. Contemporary masculinity is fragile, and men yearn for confidence — with women, at work, socially, and beyond.
I started MadeMan because I think enabling men to quite literally be comfortable in their own skin can begin to address all these issues. I know other founders in the space believe the same thing.
As the saying goes, “Give a man a spa treatment, and he will feel great for a day. Teach a man a skincare routine, and he will feel great for a lifetime.” Or something like that.
That said, men (myself included) are dumb, and everything you think you (and I thought I) know about the growing popularity of men’s skincare is a lie.
Based on my experience and diligently studying other brands, it’s become clear that every men’s skincare startup is burning through cash to grow sales and completely failing to retain customers or shape new habits. The power of word-of-mouth referrals, education, and enthusiastic reviews common in women’s beauty are rare beyond finite male demographics. Furthermore, internal research has shown that most men who do have a regular skincare regimen do so because of a woman in their life.
A proactive skincare regimen shows real results over the years, not hours or days. Thus, the average Joe is about as likely to pick a five-to-seven-step skincare regimen on his own as he is to go to therapy (he’s not). And this is where me firing myself comes in (even though I’m very proud that our solution is only two steps).
When I launched MadeMan in late 2020, I suspected that women could be instrumental to our success and we teamed up with many female “ambassadors.” However, I felt incapable of empowering these women to successfully promote and sell our products while I stayed in control of our messaging. My critical mistake then was that I failed to understand that women are the only people who should control our message.
On their own, men will develop skincare habits as fast as they learn to put down the toilet seat. MadeMan seeks to encourage humility — a value I must now embody as I fire myself from my own company to make room for a Boss Lady to lift the toilet lid off the stigma of men’s self-care.
Brilliant, enterprising, and inspiring women have surrounded me throughout my life and career. Now, I could not be more excited to find such a woman, enthused by this message, to take the helm of this ship and create the first name brand in this space.
I only wish I had realized sooner that a man has no role in overseeing a non-niche skincare business, even for men, until guys more widely give a damn about their skin. Ignoring women’s role in men’s self-care is a fatal error perpetrated by every one of my competitors and why meaningful men’s skincare adoption hasn’t occurred.
I will posit that even the best male entrepreneurs of our day, Bezos, Musk, and Zuck, couldn’t sell skincare to the average guy more successfully than his girlfriend, wife, sister, mother, etc.
With this understanding, how could I be the one to lead MadeMan? I can’t be. If men have any hope of embracing self-care meaningfully, and if MadeMan is going to have any sort of role in this shift, our appropriately-named “better halves” will greatly expedite the process. Thus, I eagerly accept that I need a woman in charge.
As the recent overturning of Roe v. Wade makes clear, this country (and the world) needs more compassionate, caring men. The first step, for me, is to lead by example. Next, through MadeMan (which I will remain fully involved with) is to teach men self-care. Then, inspired by our female leadership, women can and should be a part of MadeMan’s drive to normalize skincare by getting them invested in men’s self-care. How that is fostered is up to our next CEO!
I will continue to provide the resources, connections, and opportunities to make MadeMan a hugely impactful company. However, we require far more than “a woman’s touch.” We need feminine energy and understanding to reposition our messaging and catalyze men. For MadeMan to truly reach its potential, it is overdue that women are acknowledged and empowered as guiding lights in men’s self-care journeys.
If this self-immolation or opportunity excited or interested you (or pissed you off!), please share on Twitter, Instagram, or email me — whatsnext @ getmademan. com, and I will do my best to get back to you!
Sincerely,
Jeremy Gardner
Ex-CEO, MadeMan Inc.
