HEALTHCARE,
IN A SNAP.

PROJECT OVERVIEW

The non-technical Founders of SnapMD came to us with two things: a name, and an idea that could revolutionize the patient-doctor relationship. The specific problem they wanted to solve was for parents. As a parent with a jam-packed schedule, it's difficult to find time for in-person doctor's visits when your child gets sick or needs a regular check-up. The Founders identified that as many as 35% of potential appointments with pediatricians are missed or not booked because of this friction for parents.

For some context, at the time the words "telemedicine" and "telehealth" were barely in the public lexicon. And there was good reason.

There were many obstacles that John Driscoll (Naked CEO | Co-founder) and Jason Martinez (Naked CPO | Co-founder) identified for the client up front:

1) Video and text communication must pass HIPPA compliance 2) A go-to-market strategy would require a B2B selling motion to sign up hospitals (not consumers) 3) It would be a complex, new technology to build without much precedence to go off of 4) Building this app would be relatively expensive, and the Founders weren't fully funded for development

However, the Founders had a few things going for them. Both had some prior B2B sales/marketing experience, and both had strong conviction. They clearly weren't afraid to take a risk on something they believed in.

From a business perspective, John and Jason also saw that the value was clear on both sides of this marketplace. Parents wanted easier access to pediatricians and more time, and hospitals wouldn't sneeze at 35% more bookings (revenue). So John advised that although they were early in this budding market, he believed they had a good chance to raise investment and ultimately succeed if positioned correctly.

So, we approved the project and got to work creating the foundation and UI/UX Design for SnapMD's web and mobile apps. We implemented these assets into the Founder's pitch deck, and along with John's coaching on crafting their narrative to investors, helped these clients raise a $600k Seed Round to give them enough runway for several years.

It was already a success story, and would become the inception for our Design Accelerator program. But there was far more success to come for these Founders.

We got kicked off for Development, which took a massive amount of creative problem solving and new approaches to execute both technically and legally. However with Jason at the helm, we got it launched within 1 year.

To the Founders immense credit, during that year they got to work pitching hospitals on SnapMD for a beta launch. Using a similar narrative to the one they used to raise their Seed round, they parlayed that into converting 12 hospitals to sign up. What we found as they were prospecting, was the rural hospitals found the most value in this platform. The reason was that they didn't have as much technological investment or resources as bigger regional hospitals, or hospitals owned by massive conglomerates. 

During this beta period, we continued to partner with SnapMD to improve the UX, and derive strategic insights from their user data/customer feedback. Now close to 2 years in, word was starting to spread, and things really started to take off. 

Fast forward a bit, and they raised $16M in additional fundraising to hire their own teams in-house and continue to expand the business (although bitter sweet, the goal is for all of our clients to graduate from Naked eventually).

As the cherry on top to this courageous success story, in 2019, the Founders were approached by VirTrial to be part of a larger acquisition medtech giant Signant Health for an estimated $200M+. Not bad for a 6 year run.

This case study has several lessons for new app Founders:

1) You don't need to be technical or spend resources on a CTO to make your first app. If you pay the premium to work with an established agency like Naked, then leverage that relationship by focusing on what matters. Being the CEO and growing your business.

2) You don't need to be fully funded and have all the answers to get started. If your idea is solving a clear problem, and you have a compelling strategy and narrative on how you'll solve it, investors will take notice. Invest in your own idea first, take the first steps, and you'll be surprised at the opportunities you attract.

3) Starting an app company is high risk/high reward. The only way to have certainty that the market wants your product is by building it, shipping it, then working at it over the course of many years.

4) Always leverage your strengths and fill the gaps in your experience by partnering well.