Five Questions With: David Goldsmith

David Goldsmith is co-founder and president of MedMates, Rhode Island’s first health care technology network group. He also is the co-founder and director of an emerging health-tech company, Aspiera Medical. He talks about how MedMates began, and his vision going forward. MedMates also is holding an ongoing “For the Love of Entrepreneurship” workshop series; more information can be found at www.medmates.org/.

PBN: Tell me about your background, and how you got the idea for MedMates. Did it grow out of your experience founding Aspiera Medical? How long has Aspiera been in business?
GOLDSMITH:
My background is eclectic. I earned a Bachelor of Science degree in environmental sciences, joined the research staff at Brown, then left at age 29 to start my first business. I had some early success distributing internationally then moved into business development consulting. A company I collaborated with in my first business introduced me to someone in 2001 who later became my business partner, which led to forming Aidance Skincare and Aspiera Medical. We formed Aidance in 2004 and Aspiera in 2012.
The idea for MedMates emerged during the Rhode Island Foundation’s “Make It Happen RI” event in September 2013. Steve Lane and I felt a need for an organization to help foster connectivity and collaboration between all of the players in Rhode Island’s health care technology scene, including the universities, hospitals, researchers and companies.

PBN: What was the most difficult part about starting a health-tech company, and what do you wish someone told you?
GOLDSMITH:
The most difficult part of starting a health-tech company was lack of funding, compounded by regulatory constraints. From our initial research data we knew we had developed a very powerful and safe inorganic complex with significant potential for combating a variety of microbes and infection. We had lots of people telling us it was going to be a long and lonely road, but we stuck with it anyway and are now beginning to see some exciting results. Fortunately, we were able to bootstrap our business by developing and selling a small product family direct to consumers globally via the Internet, and that has funded our growth, research and patenting. If there’s anything I wished someone would have told us years ago when we were getting started, it would have been, “Here’s $10 million. Do with it whatever you believe is needed to generate the best return on investment.” But now, after 10 years, we’re thankfully getting closer to that fantasy.

PBN: How would you describe the business climate for health-tech startups in Rhode Island?
GOLDSMITH:
I think the business climate in Rhode Island for a health-tech startup is great for people with real solutions for real problems and the drive to make it through the gauntlet. It takes a lot of skills, so it’s vital to build a team with the broadest range of talents, knowledge and experience. Founders shouldn’t be afraid to trade ownership for success. It’s always better to have a small percentage ownership of something huge than a large percentage ownership of something that never gets off the ground. MedMates was formed, in part, to help startups find what they need to navigate the gauntlet, and this includes other people with whom they can collaborate.

- Advertisement -

PBN: How many members does MedMates have? Are they all Rhode Island-based? Who are some of your more well-known members?
GOLDSMITH:
When we launched MedMates last year we had around 50 members. Today we are over 500 and growing rapidly. Our members are predominantly based in Rhode Island but we are drawing a lot from nearby Massachusetts and Connecticut, with folks driving in from Cambridge and New Haven.

PBN: Where do you see MedMates in five years?
GOLDSMITH:
Within 5 years we hope MedMates will have over 300 members and be instrumentally responsible for nurturing connectivity and collaboration between all of the entities within Rhode Island’s health-tech ecosystem, evidenced by accelerated growth of member companies. We especially want to be able to point to the launch, funding and growth of new companies—primarily out of Rhode Island’s universities. Ultimately, the mission of MedMates is to greatly improve the fertility of the ecosystem in which health care technology companies can thrive. It takes a village. And if we can all spend some of our time sharing what we have learned, then we will each benefit greatly.

No posts to display