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Hi HN! Athelas cofounder Tanay here. Happy to share any more stories/answer questions about the post.

by ttandon 10y ago

mifeng 10y ago
From the website, it looks like you're taking a direct-to-consumer approach by selling a $250 device and a $15 monthly subscription service (Uber for blood testing!?). Can you explain why you chose that go-to-market strategy? I don't know much about this market, but it seems non-traditional, to put it gently.
- ttandon 10y ago
  There are a lot of people we've started working with (elderly populations, old age homes) for whom a monthly test is really useful (at-risk for a lot of WBC screenable conditions), but who don't want to buy an entire device/learn to use with app and related software. The monthly screen came as an offshoot of this population's use case. While the front-facing website is a direct to consumer device, the majority of our deployed devices will be partnerships formed with clinics - this just enables anyone who wants to use the tech to be able to without the long email, custom quote, phone call, partnership process.
  - mifeng 10y ago
    Just like in engineering, the initial investment into a go-to-market strategy is only the tip of the iceberg; it's the maintenance and support required to make it successful that kills you. At both my former and current company, I've experienced firsthand how distracting splitting your focus on multiple customer segments can be. I would advise you to recognize upfront that the consumer and clinic partnership channels entail vastly different motions for acquiring and supporting customers. If you're investing resources into pursuing both channels simultaneously, make sure that you are measuring ROI for each one. Hopefully you're getting good go-to-market advice from YC and your investors. If not, consider applying to StartX, where there's a solid community of AI-for-med startups (caveat: I'm an alumnus).
neeleshs 10y ago
If I buy a device now, can I upgrade it as you add more tests?

Hi HN! Athelas cofounder Tanay here. Happy to share any more stories/answer questions about the post.

by ttandon 10y ago

Hi HN! Athelas cofounder Tanay here. Happy to share any more stories/answer questions about the post.

From the website, it looks like you're taking a direct-to-consumer approach by selling a $250 device and a $15 monthly subscription service (Uber for blood testing!?). Can you explain why you chose that go-to-market strategy? I don't know much about this market, but it seems non-traditional, to put it gently.

ttandon 10y ago
There are a lot of people we've started working with (elderly populations, old age homes) for whom a monthly test is really useful (at-risk for a lot of WBC screenable conditions), but who don't want to buy an entire device/learn to use with app and related software. The monthly screen came as an offshoot of this population's use case. While the front-facing website is a direct to consumer device, the majority of our deployed devices will be partnerships formed with clinics - this just enables anyone who wants to use the tech to be able to without the long email, custom quote, phone call, partnership process.
- mifeng 10y ago
  Just like in engineering, the initial investment into a go-to-market strategy is only the tip of the iceberg; it's the maintenance and support required to make it successful that kills you. At both my former and current company, I've experienced firsthand how distracting splitting your focus on multiple customer segments can be. I would advise you to recognize upfront that the consumer and clinic partnership channels entail vastly different motions for acquiring and supporting customers. If you're investing resources into pursuing both channels simultaneously, make sure that you are measuring ROI for each one. Hopefully you're getting good go-to-market advice from YC and your investors. If not, consider applying to StartX, where there's a solid community of AI-for-med startups (caveat: I'm an alumnus).

neeleshs 10y ago

If I buy a device now, can I upgrade it as you add more tests?