Moments That Made Me - James Mishreki, Skin+Me & Life Supplies

James Mishreki is a serial entrepreneur who has built and scaled multiple businesses, from B2B software to direct-to-consumer (D2C) brands. He founded Skin + Me, a personalised skincare and teledermatology brand, before stepping into a chairman role to launch Life Supplies, a sustainable oral care company. In this conversation, he shares how an early fascination with entrepreneurship, poker, and risk-taking shaped his career, the lessons he’s learned about scaling startups, and why oral care is an overlooked billion-dollar opportunity.

Early Life & Entrepreneurial Beginnings

Q: Were there any early signs of entrepreneurship in school?

Definitely. My first real hustle was selling copied music CDs. For my birthday, I asked for a CD burner (which was cutting-edge at the time) and started taking music requests.

Another business idea came when I bought out a closing-down sale at an O’Neill board shorts factory. I managed to sell most of them, but there was one style no one wanted. To this day, my dad still hands them out in Egypt whenever he visits. That was my first lesson in stock management - sometimes, you're stuck with unsellable inventory!

University, Poker, & Taking Risks

Q: You were a professional poker player - how did that happen?

After university, I played poker professionally for a couple of years. It was an amazing way to fund my life without having to work a normal job. Plus, in the UK, poker winnings are tax-free, which was a nice bonus.

But I knew I wasn’t actually building anything meaningful. It was a game, and while I was good at it, it didn’t give me any real fulfillment. That said, poker was the perfect training ground for entrepreneurship.

• You learn how to manage risk.
• You have to stay calm under pressure, even after big losses.
• If you let emotion control your decisions, you’ll fail.

Startups are the same - you can be riding high at 11 a.m., question your entire life at 1 p.m., and go home feeling optimistic again by the evening.

Building Skin + Me

Q: What inspired you to launch Skin + Me?

I had severe acne as a teenager, bad enough that my school nickname was "Pizza Face". It crushed my confidence. At the time, getting real help was nearly impossible. GPs only get two weeks of dermatology training, and waitlists for specialists were ridiculously long.

I saw an opportunity: What if we could deliver medical-grade, personalised skincare to people’s doors, without the hassle of in-person appointments?

We figured out a way to digitise dermatology, letting people complete a quick online consultation and receive a prescription-grade treatment in the post a few days later.

Q: What were the biggest challenges in launching it?

Where do I start? Figuring out the right business model was a huge challenge. We didn’t even start with prescriptions, we originally built a site that recommended third-party skincare brands based on a quiz. That model didn’t work because generic products don’t provide real results for conditions like acne.

Another major challenge? Finding our first dermatologist. We had no credibility, and we were just two guys working out of a small office in Soho. To get experts on board, I personally wrote 250 letters to UK dermatologists. That’s how we found Ben Esdale, one of the country’s leading dermatologists, who’s still with us today.

Q: What’s the biggest risk you took?

We went against the traditional startup playbook. Instead of launching quickly and iterating, we raised £250k before even building a product. We used that money to:

1. Assemble a top-tier leadership team
2. Build the foundations for a vertically integrated in-house prescription system
3. Prepare for a major fundraise

That decision paid off. Six months later, we raised £8 million. With that funding, we could go all-in from day one, without the constant stress of early-stage fundraising.

Scaling & Hiring Lessons

Q: How did you approach hiring for Skin + Me?

One of our first hires is now the CEO, so that tells you how much emphasis we placed on quality from day one. We hired:

• Ops Lead → to handle supply chain & fulfillment
• Tech Lead → to build the digital platform
• Brand & Customer Lead → to own the customer experience

These people weren’t too senior, where they’d avoid hands-on work, but they weren’t too junior either, where they’d need constant guidance. They had startup experience, high standards, and zero ego. It wasn’t about who was right, just finding the best solution.

Q: Any hiring mistakes?

Of course. Early on, I struggled with hiring for roles I didn’t fully understand. When you’ve never done a particular job yourself, it’s tough to evaluate candidates.

Today, I study the role before hiring, so I know exactly what I need.

The Pivot to Life Supplies

Q: You stepped away from Skin + Me to launch Life Supplies. What’s the mission?

Oral care is stuck in the 1970s.

• Colgate still uses SLS, an engine degreaser, to create fake foam.
• They still use Titanium Dioxide, a whitening agent that’s being banned in food.
• And we’re still buying toothpaste in plastic tubes that never decompose.

We’re changing that. Life Supplies removes unnecessary chemicals and delivers fully compostable, refillable oral care - a world first.

Q: What was the biggest lesson from Skin + Me that you’re applying to Life Supplies?

Focus.

Life Supplies started the wrong way, as a marketplace for multiple eco-friendly personal care products. It was going well, but I realised it was destined to be a mediocre business.

So, we pivoted. Our refillable toothpaste had the strongest retention, so we went all-in on oral care.

That focus makes all the difference. Procter & Gamble doesn’t build one brand for everything, they create category leaders. That’s our plan too.

Final Reflections

Q: Any habits that keep you grounded?

• Exercise daily - gym or stretching
• Read constantly
• Play poker - I actually run a monthly poker game for founders

Q: One piece of advice for founders?

Ignore the "rules" of fundraising. Everyone told me raising £5m+ at seed was impossible. I did it anyway. Think bigger.

The takeaway? Risk over safety. Focus over spread. Conviction over consensus.

That's been James's formula, and Skin + Me's £8 million raise and Life Supplies' pivot are the proof.