The Terminal engineering power behind Hims: One of the fastest growing consumer companies ever

Hims is a pioneering San Francisco-based multi-specialty telehealth platform that combines convivial customer service and quality products to revolutionize how men ages 20-55 think about their health. Hims not only shines a spotlight on the sensitive topics that have plagued men for years such as ED and hair loss, but the company also introduced a revolutionary medical subscription process that provides a digital solution to in-person doctor visits. Since launching in November of 2017, Hims has quickly become one of the largest men’s health providers in the world.

Fulfillment to millions of customers isn’t simple – it requires a healthy mix of systems and people to scale with the demand. In order to meet this need, Hims enlisted Terminal to build an engineering team that could create and own its e-commerce backend. Hims also enlisted Terminal to support a variety of remote operational employees, taking care of all logistics so that the Hims team could stay focused on fueling their growth trajectory.

Terminal’s Immediate Business Impact

Before its official launch, the Hims team spent over 18 months to refine their product/market fit and develop their brand.

“We knew we had an incredible market opportunity and a critical need for the technology and resources to achieve it.” said COO & Head of Technology, Melissa Baird.

Hims realized that to capitalize on this market opportunity, they had to rapidly stand up a comprehensive e-commerce platform as well as the backend architecture necessary to tackle the myriad of data generated from the system.

To do all of this required assembling a talented technical team and all of the surrounding day-to-day operational and cultural elements. Like many companies at this early stage, Hims did not have all of the dedicated personnel or internal resources to hire the team or to quickly integrate these new team members with the rest of the business. Moreover, they also couldn’t risk a time-to-market delay by absorbing these responsibilities within their leadership ranks.

“Each member of our leadership team owns several essential projects,” Baird said. “So if our VP of Technology or another team member has to set aside what they are doing to recruit, hire, and train new team members then we’d be months behind schedule. We needed a partner that could deliver and integrate a team so we could remain focused on execution and growth.”

“To bring Hims to new heights, we know we are going to need more happy, invested team members – and we’ll continue to look to Terminal to find and support them.”

Melissa Baird
COO & Head of Technology, Hims

Hims turned to Terminal for their unique approach to assembling teams and successful track record in addressing their specific areas of need. In less than six weeks after kicking off, Hims had 3 new team members on board through Terminal. This momentum did not slow down; in a matter of a few months, Terminal had helped to expand this initial Hims team to more than 15 in total – spread across engineering, analytics, and customer experience.

Because Hims’ focus was on quickly getting the right person in the right role, Terminal sourced and activated the newly assembled geographically diverse remote teams. To proactively address the challenges of having a dispersed team, Terminal Culture Partners aligned with Hims to ensure their remote team felt like part of Hims’ unique culture. Terminal focused on everything necessary to successfully set up and support this new Hims team – from supplying equipment to resources like HR, payroll, legal, and personal development.

Each of these individuals was fully integrated and focused on executing the Hims technical roadmap in less than 30 days after the initial skill set requirements were identified.

This incredibly fast time to value for Hims was made possible by Terminal’s integrated approach, which focuses on the success of everyone involved – partnering closely with Hims and future team members on scoping, onboarding, culture, and ongoing support.

With Terminal, Hims was able to meet its time-to-market goals, keep team members focused on their core competencies, and scale with significant demand.