RealSelf Files for IPO: The 'Yelp for Aesthetic Medicine' Sets Sights on Global Expansion

With the continuous development of the internet industry and the enhancement of industry connectivity, "checking reviews before making a purchase" has almost become a common shopping pattern for modern people.

Imagine the following scenarios: Unsure where to go for a dinner gathering with colleagues? Take out your smartphone, open “Dianping,” and search for highly rated restaurants nearby. After reading a few user reviews, you may have already decided what dishes to order. Not sure which movie to watch on a date with your boyfriend? Take out your smartphone and open any online ticketing app. You can not only check screening schedules at nearby cinemas but also browse reviews written by other users about the films or cinema facilities, allowing you to select the cinema and movie based on a comprehensive assessment of various factors. Unsure where to travel during the holidays? Take out your smartphone, choose any travel app, enter your destination, and browse photos and spending information posted by other users about the attractions. This will likely give you a clear idea of whether it is the place you want to visit.

So here’s the question: You want to confidently slip into a bikini when summer arrives, desire a fresh and beautiful appearance and physique, and wish you didn’t have to deliberately tug at your shirt to conceal belly fat after sitting down. You’re considering cosmetic body-contouring surgery—what do you open up?

Tom Seery would say: “What you need is RealSelf.”

Sounds unfamiliar? No problem. Let’s first take a look at what RealSelf does.

VCBeat has learned that RealSelf, founded in 2006 by Tom Seery and headquartered in Seattle, USA, is a medical aesthetics community platform. The website features content such as introductions to various procedures ranked by user popularity, in-depth patient reviews, profiles and recommendations of specialists across different fields, and educational resources on fundamental medical aesthetics knowledge.

After creating an account on RealSelf, users can write detailed reviews of their cosmetic procedure experiences (optionally attaching before-and-after photos) and publish them, covering various aspects such as surgical technical details, the facility, the operating surgeon, costs, outcomes, and side effects. Users with concerns can also ask questions to doctors or directly contact physicians they are interested in. The prominent U.S. tech blog Business Insider has likened it to a hybrid of Yelp (Author’s Note: the largest review website in the United States) and Facebook.

RealSelf Website Interface

Tom believes that the healthcare sector is a typical example of an industry plagued by “information asymmetry,” particularly in terms of user experience, where consumers have virtually no access to patient feedback when making healthcare-related decisions. Procedures such as rhinoplasty, breast augmentation, and liposuction are not minor surgeries and often come with high price tags; therefore, rash or blind decisions should not be made in the absence of adequate information.

In this sector, the average consumer decision-making cycle spans one to two years. Prospective consumers seek to engage with individuals who have had similar experiences, while those who have already undergone such procedures are generally willing to share their medical aesthetics journeys. RealSelf provides a platform that connects prospective consumers, existing consumers, and healthcare providers.

VCBeat has learned that RealSelf offers the following features: Users interested in a specific medical aesthetic procedure can log on to the RealSelf website, browse popular procedure types, read detailed reviews and view authentic before-and-after photos posted by other users, ask questions and await responses, identify and select preferred physicians, and then visit those physicians’ personal websites for further consultation and communication. In addition to common medical aesthetic procedures, RealSelf covers other specialties, including dermatology, dentistry, and laser vision correction surgery (LASIK).

Tom Seery is the founder and CEO of RealSelf. He earned his bachelor’s degree from Connecticut College and master’s degrees from the University of Washington and Drexel University, respectively. Tom has nearly a decade of experience in online sales within the consumer goods sector. Prior to founding RealSelf, he worked at Expedia (Note: the world’s largest online travel company).

During that period, Tom spearheaded the launch of a series of consumer-centric extended services and products. Prior to joining Expedia, Tom launched the affiliate marketing program for VacationSpot.com (an online vacation rental search engine) and served as project manager for several large-scale projects at Unisys Corporation (a global technology and information company based in Pennsylvania, USA).

Tom Seery, Founder & CEO of RealSelf

Speaking of the inspiration behind the founding of RealSelf, it all traces back to a brochure. Several years ago, Tom’s wife brought home a brochure about laser surgery after returning from a spa. She had intended to choose a reputable medical aesthetics provider for a minor laser procedure but found there were few channels available for obtaining information and consultation. This scene struck Tom as familiar: before the emergence of Expedia, people faced similar uncertainties when making travel choices, often hesitating due to insufficient information.

“In terms of online information acquisition channels and sharing platforms, the travel industry has Expedia, the real estate industry has Zillow, and the healthcare industry has Castlight Health. I have encountered the issue of information opacity in the medical aesthetics field more than once and have been searching for an entry point to address it. I believe I have found it this time,” Tom stated in an interview.

At that time, Tom was working at Expedia, where he learned the importance of user contributions to website growth. With a preliminary concept in mind, he decided to combine this idea with his professional experience. He spoke highly of TripAdvisor’s development model (Author’s note: TripAdvisor has been acquired by Expedia).

Tom believes that this is an excellent website operation model with content as its pillar. What attracts him most is that the contributors of these contents are not professional editors, but a network community composed of ordinary people. Compared to Facebook and LinkedIn, which are more familiar to domestic audiences, he actually prefers the development model of TripAdvisor, because the latter's model design centers on consumer sharing while integrating financial transactions.

In 2006, Tom finally introduced this model to the medical aesthetics sector. He personally invested $100,000 to develop a prototype, which was officially launched one year later. His initial research indicated that 41% of the U.S. population used online searches to obtain medical-related information. This figure has since risen to over 61%. 

RealSelf’s Funding Status. In April 2007, it raised $750,000 in angel funding; in June 2008, it secured $1.2 million in Series A funding.

A classic adage in the startup world states: “Target an industry that profits from information asymmetry and make it transparent. That is where the opportunity for startups lies.” The founding of RealSelf clearly aligns with this timeless principle.

According to publicly available data from RealSelf, the company’s annual revenue reached $19.9 million in 2015, representing a cumulative three-year growth of 333%. As of November 2016, RealSelf employed a total of 135 staff members. The company plans to expand its workforce by an additional 33% in 2017, with new hires primarily allocated to the physician support and product development teams. This initiative aims to help users quickly access the information needed for decision-making, thereby reducing the average time users spend making decisions.

In the early days of its founding, RealSelf’s primary promotional channel was Google AdSense (Author’s note: an internet advertising service launched by Google). Today, Google Search remains the main source of new users for RealSelf. Although RealSelf once invested heavily in SEO (Author’s note: search engine optimization), it ultimately decided to focus on providing website content.

According to Tom, this adjustment was made primarily because when internet users search for medical aesthetics information on Google, authentic, useful, and highly relevant content appears before static articles and unengaging blog posts. Therefore, VCBeat has observed that whenever RealSelf users or partner physicians post valuable information on the RealSelf platform, the frequency of RealSelf content appearing in Google’s relevant search results increases accordingly. On RealSelf, thousands of such pieces of information are added daily.

Below, we use “Rhinoplasty” as an example to demonstrate the user experience journey on RealSelf.

RealSelf’s “Top Procedures” Page

First, navigate to the "Rhinoplasty" community by clicking on it within the "Popular Procedures" section on the website's homepage. Upon entry, you will find categorized information on rhinoplasty, including: user reviews, before-and-after photos, Q&A, videos, forums, public educational resources, and pricing. This page also features a "Find Nearby Doctors" module.

RealSelf Website “Rhinoplasty” Community

In the "User Long Reviews" module, you can view experience shares and comprehensive evaluations of surgical procedures posted by other users. Posters will specify details such as surgery costs and geographic location, and RealSelf will provide contact information for the attending surgeon. Surgeons do not have the authority to remove user long reviews. Posters reserve the right to request the website to remove their own long reviews. If other users question the authenticity of a particular long review, they may also submit a verification request to the website administrators.

RealSelf Website “User Long Reviews” Feature Module

When browsing photos in the “Pre- and Post-Operative Photos” module, you can set filtering criteria such as gender, age, and surgical goals to refine the displayed results and quickly find the most relevant photo information.

RealSelf Website's "Before and After Photos" Feature Module

Particularly noteworthy is the “Public Education” module. Users can browse educational posts on “rhinoplasty” in this module to dispel common misconceptions, gain comprehensive information, and ensure informed decision-making regarding medical aesthetic procedures.

RealSelf Website “Public Education” Feature Module

While empowering users, RealSelf also provides comprehensive safety advice and guidance, including how to protect privacy, handle photos, conceal sensitive personal information, the optimal browsing sequence and usage tips for various functional modules of the website, as well as self-assessment and coping strategies for psychological issues, thereby ensuring a safe and high-quality user experience.

To boost user engagement and reward high-quality, active contributors, RealSelf selects the most outstanding individuals from among those who generously share their personal experiences and enthusiastically assist other community members, designating them as “RealFriends” as a token of appreciation. Currently, the RealFriends rewards program is being piloted in only five RealSelf communities, and eligibility is limited to U.S. residents.

RealFriends Introduction Page on the RealSelf Website

RealFriends’ complimentary benefits include:

1. Awarded one RF Medal;

2. Received a gift from RealSelf;

3. Gain early access to new website features and provide feedback on your trial experience. The website development team will refer to this feedback when debugging the product, making corresponding adjustments and modifications to the relevant functional designs;

4. Opportunity to share your journey of regained confidence on the RealSelf official blog;

5. Opportunity to be invited to social media events organized by RealSelf.

RF Medal

Before introducing the physician promotion products offered by RealSelf, please first review the latest traffic data from the RealSelf website:

1. The number of visitors reached 60 million last year;

2. RealSelf drives 1.8 million visitors to physician profiles annually;

3. The cumulative number of answers provided by professional physicians and experts on the website has reached 1 million;

4. 400,000 new patient consultations annually;

5. According to a survey, two out of every three consumers book a consultation or surgery within 28 days of contacting a physician through RealSelf.

The above data indicates that RealSelf is a promotional platform well worth trying for medical aesthetic practitioners.

RealSelf’s Latest Data

In addition to offering free accounts to physicians, RealSelf also provides a variety of physician promotional products and services to help partner doctors optimize their profile visibility, increase exposure and traffic, attract potential patients, and expand their professional influence and economic returns.

In terms of physician promotion intensity and recommendation priority, RealSelf’s physician accounts are divided into the following three tiers:

Basic: Free Account.

Intermediate: PRO.

Senior: Dr. Spotlight.

Services corresponding to different account levels are shown in the table below:

According to several partner physicians on RealSelf, the platform’s word-of-mouth effect generates a patient volume that cannot be achieved through their personal websites or other forms of online advertising alone. Furthermore, patients referred by RealSelf typically conduct extensive research before contacting physicians. They often arrive well-prepared, with a solid understanding of relevant medical knowledge and industry dynamics. Many physicians report that working with these patients, who come with a certain level of health literacy and trust in the provider, is a more rewarding experience.

RealSelf Partner Physician Peter Capizzi: Investment and Return on RealSelf. Investment: Dr. Spotlight Level 5 + answering two questions daily + posting two photos monthly. Return: Every $500 spent yields an average return of $16,000. 85% of users referred by RealSelf converted into surgical procedure patients.

RealSelf can be said to have achieved “transparent pricing,” with all information made open and accessible. This means that consumers of medical aesthetics already possess a wealth of information before “shopping,” enabling them, in theory, to easily compare offerings from multiple providers and maintain the upper hand. This aligns precisely with RealSelf’s philosophy and objective: empowering consumers.

RealSelf’s user reviews are not entirely positive. In certain cases, reviewers even explicitly advise other community members against undergoing specific procedures or choosing particular clinics. RealSelf tends to position itself as a media company, a self-perception that largely reflects the firm’s operational philosophy and core functionality.

To honor outstanding physicians whose values align with RealSelf’s mission and who demonstrate excellence in patient engagement and professional standards, RealSelf annually selects a group of RealSelf Top Doctors.

These physicians remain consistently dedicated and actively respond to patient inquiries. They encourage patients to post fair and unbiased reviews and opinions, free from external influence or prejudice, even if such feedback is negative. This rating is based on physician engagement; no application is required, as eligible candidates are automatically included in the evaluation process. Promotional products such as Dr. Spotlight do not influence the selection of Top Doctors. Overall, the award rate for RealSelf Top Doctors does not exceed 10%.

Based on varying levels of engagement and professional performance, RealSelf physician accounts are categorized into the following four tiers:

1. Regular Member

A RealSelf physician personal account is activated automatically after answering one user question on the RealSelf Q&A forum, granting standard membership status.

2. Premium Membership

Many RealSelf users have written detailed reviews giving positive feedback to this doctor; he/she has established a certain level of professional credibility and personal brand; and has answered more than 50 user questions.

3. RealSelf Top Doctor

Eligibility Criteria:

Answered more than 75 user queries;

Add 10 (or more) new answers every three months;

3 positive long-form user reviews;

The number of likes received for answered questions exceeds 1;

4、RealSelf 100

Top Member of the RealSelf Doctor Community. Recipients of this award are regarded as industry benchmarks in terms of focus, engagement, dedication, the quality and thoroughness of their responses to user inquiries, and user feedback.

2016 RealSelf 100 Award Recipients. This title is awarded to no more than 1% of physicians.

As RealSelf has expanded, it has continuously explored and developed new services and features. In October 2016, the company launched a new feature that enables partner physicians and medical institutions to create their own profiles on the RealSelf website, thereby increasing the amount of information available to consumers, fostering a more transparent information environment, and helping users make informed decisions.

Furthermore, while focusing on enhancing user experience, RealSelf remains committed to actively fulfilling its social responsibilities. To help people in underdeveloped regions access high-quality medical resources, the company established the RealSelf Fellowship, a fund that supports physicians who voluntarily provide reconstructive surgeries—such as those for burns and cleft lip and palate—and rehabilitation training to underserved populations in medically disadvantaged areas.

RealSelf’s Charitable Mission: Join RealSelf and Bring Confidence to the World

The RealSelf Fellowship provides grants of $7,500 each, with the selection process launching annually in December. To date, the company has disbursed a total of $250,000 for this public assistance program.

Dr. Matheson A. Harris, from Salt Lake City, Utah, USA, one of the 2017 RealSelf Fellowship recipients, will travel to Les Cayes, Haiti, on August 27, 2017, with the charitable organizations Charity Vision and LDS Charities to participate in humanitarian aid efforts.

RealSelf University is one of the many services RealSelf offers to its partner physicians. To enhance the user experience for physician members, expand their professional brands, and help them gain insights into consumer behavior and industry trends, RealSelf periodically hosts online thematic courses and webinars that interested physicians can register for and attend. Physicians may also subscribe to email notifications for new course offerings from RealSelf University to stay informed about upcoming sessions and other relevant information.

RealSelf University: Upcoming Online Courses and Webinars – Schedule Preview

Currently, the RealSelf app is only available for iOS. In addition to featuring the same functionality as the website, the RealSelf app also supports:

1. Personalized Configuration. Users can customize their selections and settings on the RealSelf app based on personal interests and needs to obtain a tailored user experience;

2. Save preferred surgical procedures, products, and physician resources;

3. Timely access to updates on surgical topics related to saved content;

4. Notepad Feature. Save viewed photos, user reviews, and other content for easy re-access.

RealSelf App Interface

Compared with other similar websites, a major feature of RealSelf is its unique evaluation system, which labels each user’s detailed review as “Worth It” or “Not Worth It.” This reflects the extent to which surgical outcomes meet expectations and serves as an important reference for users when making decisions. For example, if 65% of users rate Botox injections as “Worth It,” while the approval rate for lip augmentation is only 49%, individuals considering lip augmentation may hesitate and carefully reconsider whether it is a wise choice.

According to Tom, compared with other similar websites, consumers actually have two types of needs when choosing medical aesthetic procedures: efficacy and emotional satisfaction. Other similar platforms tend to focus on addressing the “efficacy” aspect from a clinical and professional perspective, often by directly presenting solutions, which frequently results in neglecting consumers’ emotional needs.

In fact, many of the vast pool of potential consumers for aesthetic medical procedures are seeking validation and reassurance; they need to know that their various needs and concerns are entirely reasonable. Tom believes that this is precisely what sets RealSelf apart from other similar platforms, as RealSelf addresses not only the demand for “results” but also users’ emotional needs. This lies at the very core of RealSelf.

To enhance its influence and competitiveness, RealSelf has established partnerships with many major U.S. medical institutions, such as the American Society of Plastic Surgeons, the American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery, and the American Society for Dermatologic Surgery.

Regarding the importance of establishing partnerships, Tom explained: “We list the professional certification bodies of our partner physicians in their profiles; in turn, these organizations are keen to recommend RealSelf to their members as a trusted source for patient referrals. This approach enhances the physicians’ visibility and brand recognition across digital platforms such as social media, thereby strengthening their competitiveness in attracting patients.”

RealSelf is widely recognized by major authoritative aesthetic medicine institutions in the United States.

As an adventurer who “has had an entrepreneurial spirit since childhood, having tried launching a lawn-mowing business, selling homemade lemonade at a roadside stand, and peddling ‘collectibles’—baseball cards—door-to-door,” Tom offers several pieces of advice for startups, which he shares here with everyone.

1. Before starting a business, ask yourself the following questions:

Can your work solve practical problems for users? Can your flagship product or service fill existing gaps or deficiencies in a particular market? Do you have a sustainable profit model? Do you have an actionable business plan?

2. After finding the answers to these questions, you need to:

(1) Test and validate the above hypotheses. Build a model and run it for one year. Do not focus on profitability at the outset.

(2) Make full use of capital. Every startup requires a launch phase. Take a long-term view and avoid limiting planning to monthly or quarterly horizons.

(3) Acknowledge and accept the constraints that bind you. Understand that constraints are often opportunities in disguise. Unleash your creativity to strive for solutions. Think prudently. Clarify what is important and what is not. Recognize that not every obstacle can be resolved with money.

(4) Exercise caution when selecting talent for the initial team. Expand the team gradually rather than attempting to achieve everything at once. Begin with a lean, highly capable, motivated, and passionate core team that shares your vision and ambitions. Ensure that every member clearly understands their respective responsibilities and role within the team. As a leader, you must also have a clear understanding of each individual’s division of labor.

(5) Seek funding from investors who believe in your vision and perspective (not just your operational capabilities). Those eager to make quick profits often undermine the company early on.

Turning back to RealSelf, Tom stated that the company’s next goal is to “break into the global market,” particularly China and Brazil, where the aesthetic medicine market holds immense potential.