Interested in starting your own entrepreneurial journey in health and wellness but unsure what to expect? Then read up on our interview with Ryan Smith, Co-Founder and VP of Business Development of TruDiagnostic, located in Lexington, KY, USA.
What's your business, and who are your customers?
TruDiagnostic is a state-of-the-art CLIA laboratory that specializes in DNA methylation-based biomarker testing and discovery. We offer physicians and consumers the tools and testing to read their gene expression profiles in areas such as aging diagnostics so they can quantify their aging rates.
Tell us about yourself
I am currently the founder of TruDiagnsotic. I received a BA in biochemistry from Transylvania University before heading to medical school in 2013. After passing USMLE Step 1, I decided to leave and open up a pharmacy in the United States that focused on peptide synthesis and formulations for pharmaceutical preparations. That pharmacy, Tailor Made Compounding, became the 4th fastest-growing company in healthcare in the US and grew to 80 million in revenue within three years. Through this work, I really began to see the value and impact of preventative medicine. Many of the physicians' Tailor Made served treating age as a disease and a primary outcome but needed better tools to measure this process. This was a process I believed in. So in early 2020, we sold Tailor Made Compounding to create TruDiagnostic.
TruDiagnostic is a CLIA-certified lab and health data company that specializes in understanding and reporting insights found through Epigenetic methylation data. Since starting in 2020, TruDiagnostic has created the largest private epigenetic database in the world, with over 15,000 patients tested on the EPIC850k array. From this dataset, we have created many new algorithms to interpret methylation data, including algorithms to predict inflammatory markers, disease diagnosis, telomere length, aging pace, immune cell subsets, cellular replication, and more. TruDiagnostics has also led research in the field with over 30+ clinical trials investigating the best ways to reverse these markers through diet, lifestyle, and prescription interventions. Currently, TruDiagnostic is working with collaborators from Duke, Harvard, Yale, UCSF, Ohio St., and more to uncover new insights from the methylome. I hope that we can use innovations in methylation diagnostics to shift medical approaches to more early-stage and preventative treatments.
What's your biggest accomplishment as a business owner?
From the first day we started TruDiagnostics, we wanted to be the leader in the field of DNAm based testing. Therefore the biggest accomplishment has been the completion of our two-year study creating a multi-omic informed epigenetic clock, which I believe is the best DNAm based clock ever created. We should publish this with our collaborators at Harvard in the next few weeks.
What's one of the hardest things that comes with being a business owner?
In biotechnology start-ups, I think the hardest thing is staying focused on goals while still maintaining expertise in your field. Science is changing at a rapid pace, and trying to stay in front of the competition is always a race.
What are the top tips you'd give to anyone looking to start, run and grow a business today?
Start lean, know your market, and be collaborative. In all of the businesses I have started, we have never accepted large investments. We have bootstrapped them and grown them to fit a very specific market need. That has made the difference as it keeps you attuned to what really matters and allows you to pivot according to the market needs. Collaboration is also a necessary feature when you are in a field that requires innovation. You can't learn everything or solve every problem. Collaboration allows you to learn from others and share your strengths.
Where can people find you and your business?
Website: https://trudiagnostic.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TruDiagnostic/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/trudiagnosticofficial/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/TruDiagnostic
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ryan-smith-lexington-ky/
If you like what you've read here and have your own story as a solo or small business entrepreneur that you'd like to share, then please answer these interview questions. We'd love to feature your journey on these pages.
Turn your craft into recurring revenue with Subkit. Start your subscription offering in minutes and supercharge it with growth levers. Get early access here.