Millennial entrepreneur and podcaster Dan Murray-Serter, behind a £35 million supplements startup wishes he could tell his 20-year-old self to ‘sack off NFTs’

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today luck Serial entrepreneur Dan Murray meets London-based Serter.

The 38-year-old gave up 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, users could swipe to like and then shop the latest looks from Reiss, ASOS, Topshop, and more. But by 2018, Grable had joined the 45% of small businesses that fail in their first five years.

Since becoming a founder, Murray Serter openly admits he’s had three more failed ventures and three major mental health issues — but the experience inspired him to start a health and wellness newsletter, which opened his eyes to the largely unregulated world of supplements and led to his latest venture, Heights.

35,000,000 pounds

Latest Rating for Heights

We’re approaching the dreaded five-year mark for “Backed by science“A nutritional supplement brand. However, with 30,000 monthly subscriptions, £10m in annual recurring revenue, and a recent valuation of £35m, it looks like Murray Serter and Freeman have finally found a winner.

A clip from Dan’s business podcast, Secret Leaders:

Imagine you rejected Facebook when you were 15 😱 pic.twitter.com/SYdafiuoSl

— Secret Leaders (@secretleaders1) March 7, 2023

Now, he discovers what worked for other founders — and more importantly, what didn’t — through his highly rated business podcast, Secret Leaders.

Finance

luck: What is the best investment you have ever made?

This house might be mine. It cost me £1.2m and we spent over a year (and around £500k refurbishing it) but it’s recently been worth over £2m. We rent it out for filming and other purposes so it’s a very good investment.

the worst?

How long have you been discussing NFTs?

What do your childcare arrangements look like?

We have a three-year-old daughter, and my wife and I have been exceptionally committed to being equal parents and taking on as much of the responsibility as we can. She goes to daycare five days a week—we split her pick-up and drop-off times evenly—and I do all the bathing and sleeping (probably 98% of the time over the three years) because it has been an important, healthy, and invaluable way to get me away from my job. I love doing it.

How do you commute to work?

The Heights is a hybrid place. On Mondays and Tuesdays we are based in our office in Oxford Circus, so I take the tube and walk (about 15 minutes) from Regent’s Park to help me achieve my 10,000 steps. I’m obsessed with steps and walking in general.

On Wednesdays and Thursdays I stay home or go to a local coffee shop to work.

I go to work in Shoreditch on Fridays with a bunch of other founders, and we all have a co-working space through my Foundrs community – which also means I cover East London for meetings.

Founders Community Dinner for great entrepreneurs who are also creators hosted by @AliAbdul“S” and “distinguished” @timarmo, @simonscoybe, @Donnelly CSS, @Simi Dillon_, @AlfieGWhattam And more.

♥ pic.twitter.com/Dz5q0mYxi2

-Dan (@danmoreresearcher) July 16, 2024

Where do you shop for your work wardrobe?

Arket or Massimo Dutti mostly.

“Invest in S&P 500 index funds now, buy Bitcoin, and dump NFTs. But the best investment you can ever make is in yourself…”

Where do you buy your favorite watch?

I use a Samsung S6 watch. I got really interested in Peter Attia’s longevity protocol this year, and one of the things he did was train on the Zone 2 twice a week. After doing some research, I found that this was the best watch for that, so I bought it. I’ve always been anti-smartwatch, but I really like it.

What personal financial advice would you give yourself when you were in your 20s?

Invest in S&P 500 index funds now, buy Bitcoin, and dump NFTs. But the best investment you can ever make is in yourself, so spend your money on training, take it seriously, and figure out how to turn yourself into a financial resource.

Necessities

How do you get your daily coffee dose?

I have a Sage Barista machine at home and I don’t skimp on coffee. It’s a luxury I take seriously – I drink about four cups of coffee a day, about 30 a week and spend about £30 a fortnight on beans. I’m a Pact coffee lover. When I’m out and about, in an ideal world, I’d spend £4-5 on a Monmouth. I’d rather have no coffee than a regular coffee. That and a warm beer are my biggest risks, they’re not worth it, and I’d rather be tired or sober.

What about eating on the go?

When my daughter was born I realised I couldn’t really cook and I didn’t want my mum to have to put up with all of that, so I hired a bunch of meal delivery boxes. My favourite was Gousto. It’s great food and so healthy. I really enjoy it and feel it’s a bargain. We spend about £60 a week on this and maybe £60 a week or so from our local M&S, Sainsbury’s or Tesco on other fruit and veg.

When I’m in town, my go-to places for a quick and easy lunch are either Farmer J or LEON. I go to Soho House a lot, but I’m not really sure why – it’s never good, the service is bad, the price is high and the food is average – and yet I keep going back – there must be something wrong with me!

“I simplify my life instead of buying more gadgets and things.”

How many times a week do you eat out versus cook at home?

Dinner Out – What does that mean? Realistically, since having our daughter, we try to go on date nights (although this happens much less often), and they tend to go to the theater or movies more than dinner.

I would say we cook at home six times a week and eat out once if we are lucky. Our favourite pub is The William Pub in Kensal Rise.

Rewards

Are you the proud owner of Meta Smart Glasses or any other futuristic gadget?

I have a bunch of useless stuff that might be considered futuristic but not glasses. But for now, I’m simplifying my life instead of getting more gadgets and stuff.

How do you get rid of your top job?

Since January, I’ve been working out five times a week, including two-hour Zone 2 workouts on my Peloton and lifting weights three times a week.

But to be honest, my main way to relax is with my cats Archie and Bells. I can sit with 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 on earth.

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 turn off your phone, there’s no TV or internet. I write a lot, I read a lot, I cook a lot, I walk a lot, and then I come away feeling like I can take on the world.

I’m a bit of an extreme person, so my idea of ​​relaxation is to go to Burning Man or Glastonbury every year – where I’m alone in silence with no phone or internet.

What is the best extra gift you have ever bought yourself?

I’m not really interested in material things. I spend my money on experiences that make my life a little easier.

Probably the most I’ve done lately is go away 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 two, I upgraded us to business class on those trips because I felt it was worth it. Now I have to pay for it too and don’t want to ruin it, so we all have to suffer together in economy (and I only enjoy business class when I travel without them!)

How do you take notes in a meeting?

I use the Remarkable tool and I absolutely love it. It’s a bit of an over-the-top analog tool, but that’s the charm of it and I haven’t found any other tool that really works for me. I love the idea of ​​writing everything out by hand; it looks more impactful.

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