In a recent interview with Logan Plaster of the Startup Health YouTube channel, Andrea Riposati shared his most insightful methods for growing Dante Labs into a $10 million company with a footprint that spans 97 countries worldwide.
The Benefits of a Global Perspective
“Having a global perspective has enabled Dante Labs not to have a biased approach to their customers,” says Andrea Riposati. “Many of my colleagues have already assumed who their target audience will be. They only target rare disease patients, or they only target universities, or what have you.” Riposati continues, “Or they only target people within certain countries or certain medical specialists.” According to Andrea Riposati, their approach was driven by finding out who would buy the tests and which ones they would buy.
Interestingly, Dante Labs’ first customers were from Latvia and some other Eastern European nations. “We opened our website to the entire world,” Riposati says. “We did not want to assume anything about who would most likely buy our tests. We waited to see where the customers would come from.”
Profitable Within Two Years
It’s not an elegant methodology, but it has worked for Dante Labs. The company was founded in 2016, and just two years, it became profitable. The interviewer, Logan Plaster, asked Andrea Riposati how they succeeded in casting such a broad marketing umbrella. Riposati replied, “That’s where you need to measure your marketing investments and start running experiments online and on different platforms.”
The other key move, says Riposati of Dante Labs, is to change and vary your strategies. “You need to be flexible and react to the market,” he says. “Start with a small budget and then increase your budget in the areas where you see that your marketing strategies are working well.”
Past Expertise Drives Forward Thinking
Andrea Riposati admits that much of the business direction for Dante Labs is derived from his experience at Amazon. He says, “I am the non-scientific co-founder.” He says that the global approach, measuring results, and being nimble are things he learned while working for the global online e-commerce company.
A Sophisticated Approach
In the interview, Logan Plaster notes that Andrea Riposati has a very sophisticated approach to business and marketing, as opposed to plenty of other players in the healthcare field, who might have a great idea but not such great ideas about marketing that idea.
Offline Partnerships are Important, Too
Andrea Riposati says offline partnerships fly under the radar because they don’t get the online attention that others do. But real-world partnerships certainly have contributed to the success of Dante Labs. He recommends that startups initiate as many partnerships as possible with other individuals and companies that share the same vision.
Thinking from a global perspective has certainly helped Dante Labs succeed, and the advice of Andrea Riposati is something that all startups should pay careful attention to.
Comments are closed.