This article originally appeared in the March/April issue of Startups Magazine. Click here to subscribe

At the age of 18, Myles founded Haze – a company that can transform existing credit or debit card into metal using fun, personalised skins. Quite simply, once you’ve picked your design, you freeze your card, send it over to Haze who then remove the chip and pin and scan all the data straight onto your new metallic card.

Since launching in September 2021 to Myles’s appearance in the Den, the company had generated over £124,000 in revenue, with a gross profit of £56,000 and a net profit of £32,000.

So, where did it all begin for this young entrepreneur?

THE JOURNEY

Myles always knew he wanted to start his own business. “When I was younger, I was buying and selling things on eBay and then I thought I’d take it a step further and started Haze at university,” he notes. It was actually with his eBay profits that Myles was able to put £5,000 into starting Haze.

After his A Levels, Myles went on to university to study finance, investment and risk management but dropped out after a year.

“I wasn’t enjoying [university] that much and my career’s advisor said that university will always be there so I left knowing that I could have completed the first year and that … even if the business didn’t work out, I can always go back [and complete the degree],” he said.

So, Myles moved back home to focus on his business. He bought a bunch of metal and a laser engraver from China using his student loan and started experimenting with credit cards.

“Lots of failed bank cards later, it worked!” he said. 

"We had no money, I didn’t hire any ‘experts’ and I learnt to create content, edit photos, web design and many more skills. Forced to learn these skills to grow my business has allowed me to widen my skillset.”

Myles notes that he learnt “absolutely nothing” during his one-year stint at university. But since he dropped out, he has learnt so much – from coding all the way to manufacturing.

TACKLING THE DRAGONS

Securing the investment from Steven Bartlett on Dragons’ Den was a huge achievement for Myles: “That was an amazing feeling, and I knew that all the hard work had paid off. After all those risks of dropping out of university, getting that was an amazing achievement.”

And it certainly was no small feat as Myles became the youngest solo pitcher to ever appear on the programme.

Referencing his age, Myles noted that: “I always say with the right kind of people it’s an advantage. So, the people I’m around now [are] associated with Steven [Bartlett] and his team’s quite young.

“If I was to go to another team where the average age is like 55, I may struggle, and I have seen a slight [case] of that.

“But people really want to help young people.”

He was complimented on his short and snappy presentation by Deborah Meaden and the rest of the judges were very impressed with his business acumen and how far he had come in such a short space of time.

But it was Steven Bartlett who finally won him over with a £35K investment for a 35% stake in the business.

On a LinkedIn post, Steven Bartlett said: “Myles pretty much blew me away in every aspect that he could. He's got an incredibly exciting future ahead of him and I'm honoured to be part of his journey."

Sara Davies said Myles must have “entrepreneurialism in [his] bones”, which is kind of true as it was revealed that his grandfather was none other than David Dickenson, best known for Dickinson’s Real Deal!

THE FUTURE

One of Myles’s biggest challenges was getting his family and friends to understand the path that he’d chosen.

“It’s quite difficult for the people around you to understand,” he said. “My mum never went to university, so her dream was for me to go [to university] but I saw a different way.”

Now, Myles is focused on pivoting his business away from credit cards. “The aim is to … go down the customisation, corporate route,” he notes.

With the investment from Steven Bartlett, the Haze team is growing – particularly in areas such as technology development and R&D.

Now firmly rooted in the entrepreneurial world, Myles has also gone on to co-found Blatant Skin with fellow entrepreneur Johnny Lye.

He has said that bringing his business onto Dragons’ Den as well as being the youngest person to ever go on alone “wasn’t easy” but “I hope me going on the show inspires more young entrepreneurs to start their own businesses.”