Although some students may take EN 90: "Managerial Decision Making" to lighten their course load, the class transformed one former international relations concentrator, Simon Salgado '07, into a serial entrepreneur. After taking a year off to develop a tech company, Salgado is back at Brown and embarking on a new venture - vests.
Salgado is the chief executive officer of DigiTRx, a company designing software that will monitor and interpret the vital signs of patients who have suffered heart attacks. DigiTRx's software will analyze blood pressure, heart rate and electrocardiogram readings, allowing doctors to monitor patients wearing a medical vest from a remote location. The vest, which monitors over 40 vital signs, has already been developed by a California company, VivoMetrics, but Salgado's group is tailoring it to patients recovering from heart attacks.
The company formed as part of EN 194, Sec. 7: "Entrepreneurship II" this semester and is now one of six semifinalists in the Rhode Island Business Plan Competition, even though it is not yet incorporated. Getting this far in the competition was "a big benchmark," Salgado said. He added that DigiTRx also hopes to win the Entrepreneurship Program Business Plan Competition on April 30. The company was one of five winners of EP's Elevator Pitch Competition last semester.
"It's very exciting, especially now having a visible product," Salgado said. "The culmination will be whether or not we win Rhode Island or Brown EP, but along the way it's been lots of smaller benchmarks."
At the beginning of last semester in EN 193: "Entrepreneurship I," class members were divided into groups and presented with either a specific technology or a problem in a certain industry to develop into a viable business idea. Salgado's group, which includes Alex Leyzer '06 and Vivian Fong '06 as co-directors of marketing, Kimberly King '06 as chief financial officer and Chipalo Street '06 and Mike Shim '07 as the software engineering team, was approached by Peter Tilkemeier, associate professor of medicine and director of cardiac rehabilitation at Miriam Hospital. Tilkemeier explained that exercise programs intended to monitor patients recovering from heart attacks are often inaccessible or inconvenient, making cardiac rehabilitation challenging. Salgado's group began searching for a solution to Miriam Hospital's problem.
The group decided the best approach would be for doctors to monitor patients remotely. Group member David Gal '06, who is no longer involved with the project, had interned with VivoMetrics the previous summer and knew about the vest that company had developed. With this existing Food and Drug Administration-approved hardware, members of Salgado's group decided to focus on developing software for the vest. A working prototype will be ready by the end of the academic year.
Tilkemeier has served as a mentor to DigiTRx and said he sees a great future for the company. He said it is especially important that the group has developed "a solution that could be individualized to the patient's own lifestyle."
"Simon has led a very talented group of individuals to a solution that looks very promising," Tilkemeier said. "They have a good business model for something that's needed in the clinical market, and I think they have a strong chance of success."
DigiTRx also has the considerable advantage of a clear prospective customer base, said Adjunct Lecturer in Engineering Steven Petteruti, who consults DigiTRx.
"Simon has done a good job with some of the investor pitches," Petteruti said. "He has shown a good amount of enthusiasm and passion, which these investors want to see. Overall, I like the group."
The next step for any startup, including DigiTRx, is fundraising. Salgado said the company hopes to raise $200,000 by September, though at least $2 million would be needed to make DigiTRx a viable business. He hopes the company will reach that stage by the time he graduates in 2007.
An entrepreneurial background
Salgado said his previous business experience has helped make DigiTRx a promising venture. After writing a business plan for an information technology assistance company in EN 90, Salgado incorporated the company as Technology Service Group in April 2004 with a friend from his hometown of Washington, D.C. The two started work over the summer and by the season's end had secured a contract to set up an extensive wireless network for Sidwell Friends School, Salgado's high school.
"I was like, 'Wow, this is kind of big-time,'" Salgado said. "I decided I was going to take a year off and try to build up the company as much as I possibly could."
Salgado spent the next year helping to run what he called "a pretty rag-tag operation," working out of his friend's basement but building up a clientele nonetheless. The company set up wireless networks at another private school. After setting up a test pilot at a local community center, the D.C. municipal government paid TSG to set up networks at three more centers. Salgado also hired a sales coach and ran a cold-calling campaign - "it was probably the most miserable thing I've done in my life," he said.
Salgado returned to Brown last semester after his year off, but his partner is still running TSG and has refocused the target market to specialize in private schools. Salgado said he made back his investment and a little bit more, but the venture certainly did not make him a millionaire. He has since stepped out of management, but he still appreciates the experience he gained during his year off.
"The experience will continue to help me on new ventures," he said. "It was incredible to get thrown in there and make sales with people who were my dad's age. When I had my first sales appointment, there was this guy sitting across the table, gray hair slicked back, power tie, so intimidating. But you have to carry yourself well. You look young, but who knows how young you really are? You learn to become confident."
Salgado said he is a bit apprehensive about the future of DigiTRx - especially with several of its members graduating this year - but said he remains dedicated to seeing what the company can accomplish.
"I hope it gains traction, and if it does I'll have to seriously consider where I'm going to go with it," Salgado said. "If we can get some traction, I'm committed to seeing where we can take it."
