An MIT trained-engineer and hedge fund trader is trying to get men to finally take care of their skin
"We found the industry to be rather convoluted and confusing with just too many choices," Brad Yim, a MIT-trained engineer with an MBA from the Wharton School of Business.
Indeed, when you enter the skincare aisle of a local drugstore or even a shop devoted to the topic, it can be incredibly overwhelming to the newbie. What is the difference between eye cream and face lotion? What does age repair mean? Why is any of this necessary?
So Yim created Mavericks, whose aim Mavericks' is to distill a complicated process down to three simple products. It's a attempt to apply the "this is all you need" startup model of Soylent or Casper to skin care. Taking care of their skin is something not enough men are currently doing. Only about 22% of men using skincare treatments in the US, the NPD Group told Bloomberg, even though it's essential according to both dermatologists and skin care experts
Mavericks/Brad Yim
Mavericks comes as a three-product set - each one for a different purpose, all three essential. Wash is a cleanser, Rebuild is a moisturizer, and Protect is a sunscreen. They retail together for $90 in a "Face Kit" from Maverick's website. It contains enough of the products to last 90 days when used constantly, and comes with instructions for use. There's also a shaving cream, a highly moisturizing lotion activated by water.
Each one was built from the ground up by a team Yim assembled of doctors and researchers.
"We did the research, we actually spent time and money to figure out what is basically the best thing we can come up with given the scientific progress we have currently," Yim said.
Mavericks/Brad Yim
Yim said he created Mavericks because in his he was looking at prevailing societal trends - namely men investing more in their appearance - and couldn't find a company to invest in in the space in his macro-level hedge fund investments day job. So he decided to create one, admitting that developing the products to sell was "not as easy" as he first assumed.
Mavericks is going after a bite of what is estimated to be $4.2 billion dollar market for men's personal care, market analytics firm Mintel Group told Bloomberg. The fact that so few men are currently using skin care products represents a huge opportunity for growth for the company - provided Mavericks's simplicity message resonates with them.