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RealSelf
Type of businessPrivate
Type of site
Review Site
Founded2006 (2006)
HeadquartersSeattle, Washington
CEOMinou Clark
Key people
  • Executive Chairman: Tom Seery
  • Board Members: Barney Harford, Andrew Hunt, Judy Verses, Mike Slade, José Luis Ferrer
  • CFO: Jim Nida
IndustryBeauty
ServicesHealth information services
Employees140 (November 2020)
URLwww.realself.com
RegistrationOptional
Current statusActive

RealSelf is a healthcare marketplace where consumers research aesthetic treatments and connect with physicians. The website primarily targets plastic surgery, dermatology and minimally-invasive treatments. There are 30,000 registered doctors and practices. The site has more than 2 million reviews and had 94 million visitors in 2017.[1] RealSelf’s website has been compared in the media to Yelp,[2] Avvo,[3] and Trip Advisor[4] due to its emphasis on user-generated content and connecting consumers to businesses through its marketplace.[5]

History

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RealSelf was founded in 2006 by Tom Seery, a former executive at Expedia. Seery told Geekwire he noticed a gap in the market where consumers could find quality information about travel-related businesses but minimal, “one-sided marketing” about expensive medical procedures.[6]

RealSelf was initially self-funded by Seery. In 2008, the company raised close to $2 million in funding from angel investors, including Rich Barton.[7] RealSelf was one of Inc. 500's fastest growing private companies from 2012–2015, peaking at #306.[8] Traffic rose 270% from 2013 to 2019.[9]

In 2018, the company raised $40 million in Series C funding from Elephant.[10][11]

Site content

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RealSelf.com is a website where viewers can review treatments and find a plastic surgeon or an aesthetics physician to perform procedures.[12] RealSelf also covers topics in dermatology, dentistry, and even LASIK. The site features reviews, real patient before & after photos, forums, editorial content, consumer questions, and answers. Treatments are rated “Worth It”, “Not Worth It”, with an option to talk about their experience.

Audience

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Consumers

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Consumers post reviews, photos, and questions in a discussion format, and also post questions to providers. RealSelf also hosts a directory of doctors organized by specialty, the treatment offered, and location. Consumers can contact doctors through the site, who sometimes have special offers available. RealSelf also has an iOS app.

The site has over 2 million reviews of doctors and treatments.[13]

Doctors

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RealSelf operates on a commercial model and allows any doctor with a medical license to have a profile. This means physicians that have not trained in plastic surgery can claim a RealSelf profile.

The American Board of Medical Specialties and its member boards are the agencies that award board certification once a doctor has completed a residency for a specialty or fellowship for a sub-specialty.[14] Board certification does not mean the doctor has completed any plastic surgery training.[15]

Doctors publicize their services through their profile, where user- and doctor-generated content is aggregated. Doctors can pay for targeted exposure through ads.[16]

Doctors have access to free dispute resolution when they think a review violates the site guidelines. Doctors cannot pay to alter or remove consumer reviews.[17]

Organization

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In September 2024, RealSelf announced the hiring of its first female CEO, Minou Clark, who will oversee its global operations.

RealSelf's founder, Tom Seery, still serves as Executive Chairman. Seery is a frequent speaker at conferences, including meetings of the Aesthetic and Anti-aging Medicine World Congress,[18] the American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery, IMCAS World Congress[19] and the American Society of Plastic Surgeons.[20] He is also on the advisory board of Buerck Center for Entrepreneurship at the University of Washington.[21]

Board members include Andrew Hunt, founder of Warby Parker and Elephant; and Mike Slade of Second Avenue Partners, Judy Verses of Wiley & Sons, Lizette Williams of Facebook.[22]

Business model

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RealSelf is a two-sided marketplace that is free for consumers. Registration is required to submit content. Medical professionals are only required to have a medical license to claim a free profile and can self-verify their qualifications and experience. Profiles can be upgraded via a paid membership. Medical professionals cannot achieve "Verified" status without prior payment to RealSelf.com. They may also buy advertising that appears on the site. All professionals on RealSelf must meet participation guidelines before they can be listed.[23] They can only buy ads and post content in specialties where they hold qualifications.[24] RealSelf refer to their doctors as "cosmetic doctors" as they may only have a medical license and are not recognized as plastic surgeons or any type of board-certified surgeon.

All reviews, questions and forums undergo moderation before they are posted. RealSelf does not allow doctors to remove consumer reviews.[25] RealSelf does not publicize their moderation algorithm.[26] Other review websites, such as Yelp and TripAdvisor, also do not publish their moderation algorithm, with Yelp stating to the Irish Times that "we don't disclose precise details about the recommendation software to prevent people from gaming the system."[27]

Awards

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RealSelf is accredited by the Better Business Bureau.[28] The company has won workplace awards from Entrepreneur,[29] Glassdoor,[30] Puget Sound Business Journal,[31] Geekwire and Seattle Business Magazine.[32]

RealSelf releases a yearly “Most Worth It” list of procedures, RealSelf Hall of Fame, RealSelf 100 and RealSelf 500 awards for doctors.[33] The awards are free and are based on ratings from consumers.

Charity

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RealSelf sponsors medical relief to Dehradun, India as part of their “Beyond Scars” partnership with ReSurge International.[34] The trips primarily work to provide plastic and reconstructive work to burn patients, which affect 6-7M people in India annually.[35] RealSelf employees have also volunteered at Camp Karma in India.

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Soper, Taylor (8 March 2019). "RealSelf CTO and product leader to depart, following earlier layoffs in January". Geekwire. Geekwire, LLC. Retrieved 31 May 2019.
  2. ^ Moss, Caroline. "'RealSelf' Is Like A Social Network For People Who Want Cosmetic Surgery". Business Insider. Pedestrian Group. Retrieved 31 May 2019.
  3. ^ Lerman, Rachel (19 April 2018). "RealSelf raises $40 million for online plastic surgery review site". The Seattle Times. Retrieved 31 May 2019.
  4. ^ Wischhover, Cheryl (3 May 2018). "The TripAdvisor of Boob Jobs and Botox Landed $40 Million in Funding". Racked. Vox Media, Inc. Retrieved 31 May 2019.
  5. ^ Lerman, Rachel (19 April 2018). "RealSelf raises $40 million for online plastic surgery review site". Seattle Times. Retrieved 31 May 2019.
  6. ^ Stiffler, Lisa (3 January 2019). "Working Geek: To botox or not to botox? RealSelf's Tom Seery helps consumers find their answer". Geekwire. Geekwire, LLC. Retrieved 31 May 2019.
  7. ^ Lerman, Rachel (19 April 2018). "RealSelf raises $40 million for online plastic surgery review site". Seattle Times. Retrieved 31 May 2019.
  8. ^ "RealSelf". Inc. Manuseto Ventures. Retrieved 31 May 2019.
  9. ^ Rao, Priya (30 October 2018). "How brands are using editorial content to take the stigma out of beauty procedures". Glossy. Digiday Media. Retrieved 31 May 2019.
  10. ^ Soper, Taylor (19 April 2018). "After 10 years, RealSelf raises $40M to 'hit the gas' and take cosmetic treatment review platform global". Geekwire. Geekwire, LLC. Retrieved 31 May 2019.
  11. ^ "RealSelf". PitchBook. PitchBook Data. Retrieved 31 May 2019.
  12. ^ Griffith, Erin. "Meet RealSelf: the profitable, under-the-radar pla". Pando.com.
  13. ^ Soper, Taylor (8 March 2019). "RealSelf CTO and product leader to depart, following earlier layoffs in January". Geekwire. Geekwire, LLC. Retrieved 31 May 2019.
  14. ^ url=https://www.abms.org/board-certification/ What is ABMS Board Certification?
  15. ^ https://www.abms.org/member-boards/specialty-subspecialty-certificates/ Specialty and Subspecialty Certificates
  16. ^ Soper, Taylor (22 January 2019). "RealSelf cuts 14% of staff, blames Google search algorithm change for slowing traffic". Geekwire. Geekwire, LLC. Retrieved 31 May 2019.
  17. ^ "Does RealSelf Moderate Content?". RealSelf Support. RealSelf, Inc. Retrieved 31 May 2019.
  18. ^ Berman, Nat (26 April 2018). "10 Things You Didn't Know About RealSelf CEO Tom Seery". Money, Inc. Retrieved 31 May 2019.
  19. ^ "IMCAS World Congress Speaker List". IMCAS. International Master Course on Aging Science. Retrieved 31 May 2019.
  20. ^ "WPS Enrichment Retreat 2017". American Society of Plastic Surgeons. Retrieved 31 May 2019.
  21. ^ Berman, Nat (26 April 2018). "10 Things You Didn't Know About RealSelf CEO Tom Seery". Money, Inc. Retrieved 31 May 2019.
  22. ^ "RealSelf". KITE. Retrieved 31 May 2019.
  23. ^ "Healthcare Professional Listing Criteria". RealSelf. RealSelf, Inc. Retrieved 31 May 2019.
  24. ^ "RealSelf Standards for Doctors & Other Providers". RealSelf. RealSelf, Inc. Retrieved 31 May 2019.
  25. ^ "Making Smart Choices". RealSelf. RealSelf, Inc. Retrieved 31 May 2019.
  26. ^ "Does RealSelf Moderate Content?". RealSelf Support. RealSelf, Inc. Retrieved 31 May 2019.
  27. ^ Boran, Marie. "Online reviews: what you read isn't always what you get". Irish Times. Retrieved 31 May 2019.
  28. ^ "RealSelf, Inc". Better Business Bureau. BBB Institute for Marketplace Trust, Inc. Retrieved 31 May 2019.
  29. ^ "Large-Sized Companies: The Best Company Cultures in 2017". Entrepreneur. Retrieved 31 May 2019.
  30. ^ "Best Small and Medium Companies to Work For 2017". Glassdoor. Glassdoor, Inc. Retrieved 31 May 2019.
  31. ^ Monk, Becky. "Washington's Best Workplaces with 250-plus workers make culture a priority". Puget Sound Business Journal. American City Business Journals. Retrieved 31 May 2019.
  32. ^ Lind, Treva (23 June 2016). "100 Best Companies to Work For Snapshot: RealSelf". Seattle Business. Tiger Oak Media. Retrieved 31 May 2019.
  33. ^ "The RealSelf 100 & 500 Hall of Fame". RealSelf. RealSelf, Inc. Retrieved 31 May 2019.
  34. ^ "RealSelf to launch Beyond Scars to address India's burn epidemic". Cosmedic India. Retrieved 31 May 2019.
  35. ^ Gupta, J.L. (2010). "National programme for prevention of burn injuries". Indian Journal of Plastic Surgery. 43 (Suppl): S6–S10. doi:10.4103/0970-0358.70716. PMC 3038407. PMID 21321659.
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