Short kings everywhere are being given a psychological, as well as a physical, lift by former Dragons’ Den entrepreneur Ryan O’Rorke’s bold new height insole venture, launched at the same time as Tinder’s height filter.
The Edinburgh entrepreneur has said that since the dating app introduced the feature in early June, sales of his Heightsole product – a discreet, comfort-engineered lift that adds up to three inches of height for anyone who places them in their shoes – have soared.
Tinder’s controversial move has seen social media explode over the last month. TikTok trends, Reddit threads, and tabloid headlines have flooded the internet with short king memes, backlash, and stories of male anxiety. While some defended the feature as a tool for “intentional dating,” others called it a new form of discrimination – the gamification of heightism.
On the back of it all, Heightsole has seen a rapid influx of orders come in from across the UK and far beyond, with sales made in more than 20 countries including Ireland, Germany, and the USA. Ryan’s initial run of 1,500 units sold out in days – he has now placed an order for 15,000 more to meet surging demand and is projecting orders will rise to more than 25,000 by December.
Ryan, owner of the fast-growing startup, said: “We launched Heightsole just before the height filter was added to Tinder. Once we were set up the response was incredible – the orders, comments, feedback, all of it had been amazing. But it’s gone stratospheric after the app added the new feature. As soon as the news hit we saw a massive uptick in sales. We’ve 10xed our inventory order within days and are highly confident they will sell out again in no time. This isn’t niche – it’s a global pain point millions of men silently carry every day.”
Numerous studies have shown just how much of an insecurity height can be for men – socially, romantically, and professionally. More than 80% of women say they are more attracted to men taller than them, 64% of employers have been shown to favour taller hires, and even in the US presidential race the loftier candidate has tended to win.
Yet, official statistics suggest 75% of men in the UK are under six feet tall, rising to 86% in the USA. That may explain why 72% of men wish they were taller and some are going as far as height enhancement surgery, a complex procedure that involves cutting and lengthening leg bones, to boost their stature.
Tinder’s height filter has only amplified the issue. What was once a silent insecurity for millions of men is now being openly filtered, ranked, and rejected in the public eye. By turning height into a swipe-able metric, Tinder hasn’t just reflected societal bias – it’s poured fuel on it. Suddenly, what many men kept to themselves is now a front-and-centre disqualifier. And that shift has struck a nerve across dating culture, social media, and beyond.
The 36-year-old Ryan said: “There has been zero product innovation in this market for years. You can buy clunky elevator shoes, which everyone can see, or you spend thousands of pounds on going through complicated surgery.
“The alternative is simple. Heightsoles are completely invisible, you can wear them with any shoe, and they are made from the same material as high-end running trainers to provide all-day comfort and orthopaedic support. After designing the product for six months, I tried the first few prototypes with my friends and they all said they felt taller and, as a result, way more confident. Since they officially went on sale, I’ve had so many positive emails from men who are using them daily and even videos telling us how great they feel using them.”
Ryan O’Rorke first shot to fame after appearing on Dragon’s Den in 2015. After starting his previous business, Flavourly, and scaling it from his grandmother’s garage to the UK’s largest craft alcohol marketplace with over £35 million in sales. He infamously knocked back offers from no less than four of the Dragons, before accepting a £75,000 deal from Peter Jones and Piers Linney.
However, Ryan subsequently also rejected their investment after filming ended, opting instead to secure more than £500,000 through a live and public crowdfunding campaign the same night the BBC aired his episode. The move led many in the media to dub him the ‘dragon slayer’ and he later featured in the 2017 Forbes ‘30 under 30’ list for Europe.
Ryan added: “I wanted back into the e-commerce space after selling Flavourly – but, this time, it had to be something with a bigger purpose and a stronger consumer-focused mission. After months of market research, one insight kept coming up: male height insecurity is a far bigger issue than most people realise. It affects confidence, dating, careers – yet, no one was tackling it in the right way. That’s when Heightsole was born.
“Our ultimate aim is to make one million men more confident in themselves with our products, starting with Heightsole and expanding into a range of products to tie in with that. I’m 5’7’ and can’t say it’s ever been an insecurity for me, so I didn’t realise it was such a deep-rooted issue for millions of men. But it’s inspired me to explore different ways of helping men to feel more confident mentally, socially, physically and build a global brand in the confidence category.”
For more information, visit: HeightSole™ Height-Increasing Mens Insoles | Discreet Shoe Lifts
