Bradford “Brad” Greer and Kevin Ge, both 2023 graduates from the George W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering, have taken their startup, CADMUS Health Analytics, from a classroom project to a promising health tech company. In 2024, CADMUS was accepted into the CREATE-X Startup Launch program. Over the 12-week accelerator, CADMUS made significant strides, and program mentors provided expert guidance, helping the team focus their direction based on real-world needs. Their partnership with Northeast Georgia Health System (NGHS) was a direct result of connections made at Startup Launch’s Demo Day. 

In this Q&A, Greer shares experiences, challenges, and insights from their entrepreneurial journey. 

How did you first hear about CREATE-X?

Greer: We did the CREATE-X Capstone in our initial team of seven people. We transitioned to Startup Launch the next summer. We had to build a hardware product for Capstone, but for several reasons, we pivoted to software. By that point, we already had a grasp on the problem that we were working on, and we didn't have the resources to start working on a large hardware product. 

Why did you decide to pursue your startup?

Greer: One of our close buddies was an emergency medical technician (EMT). We also had family connections to EMTs. So when we were doing our customer interviews, we found out that Emergency Medical Services (EMS) had multiple problems that we thought we'd like to work on and that were more accessible than the broader medical technology industry.

What was Startup Launch like for you?

Greer: Startup Launch seemed to transition pretty seamlessly from the Capstone course. It’s from customer and hardware development to the basics of how to start and run a corporation. I found it very interesting, and I learned a whole lot.

What was the most difficult challenge in Startup Launch?

Greer: Making the pivot was hard, and then customer interviews. We spent a lot of time on that in the Startup Launch classes. It's a difficult thing to have a good takeaway from a customer interview without getting the conversation confused and being misled. We didn't mention the product, or we tried to wait as long as possible before mentioning the product, to not bias or elicit general, positive messaging from the people.  

We're working in EMS, and the products we are building are affecting healthcare. EMS is a little informal and a little rough around the edges. Many times, people don't want to admit how bad their practices are. 

What affected you the most from Startup Launch?

Greer: The resources at our fingertips. When we were running around, it was nice to be able to consult with our mentor. It's having someone with the know-how who's been through it. I revisit concepts a lot.

We've been talking to everyone in the EMS sphere. Our product, our goals, and our direction are grounded in many different perspectives. 

How did the partnership with NGHS come about?

Greer: During Demo Day, we were put into contact with a Georgia state rep. He put us in touch with NGHS. Not too much before, they had put together a venture arm. They were looking for companies to co-develop, so we pitched our product to them. They liked it, and we spent a long time banging at the details. It took quite a while because we're dealing with health data and AI. We worked with John Lanza, who's a friend of CREATE-X. He helped us find a corporate lawyer to read over the stuff we were signing. It took a little back and forth to get everything in place, but in September, we finally kicked it off.

What’s the partnership like?

Greer: We have weekly meetings with them where they get feedback on the output of our tool, and we just hone it. EMS agencies use the same type of software, and our software plugs into any of those. We use the expertise at NGHS, and Kevin and I are constantly working on the tool. 

During this developmental period, they don't allow us to test it with anyone else or sell it because they're putting their name on it. They want to make sure it's ready to go before we release it to a larger audience. We were incentivized to split our product into two parts, one that's co-developed and one that's not because we had already done substantial work on it. We only wanted the work from that point on to be recognized as part of the co-development rather than the whole thing. 

We split the product into the AI side, which was emergent capabilities, very exciting, all co-developed, and the data-handling side, which we'd already built out and already had some level of value, though not nearly as much as we expect the AI tool to have. That is not linked to the co-development, so we're free to sell it and implement it wherever we want, and we've started working, contacting, and marketing to counties in Georgia mostly. We're also talking to some people in Texas. Habersham County is the first of such counties that we're implementing this other product with. It's not as exciting, but our other product is a report-checking and data visualization tool, which is not available to Georgia EMS agencies right now. That's another problem we tapped into where this is easily solvable, so we just built it out. We want to keep the momentum going and get some cash flow before our primary product is ready to be released to the world. Right now, the pilot is set to be yearlong, and at the end of the year, we aim to be ready to implement anywhere.

How did you pivot into this other avenue for your product?

Greer: EMS does not have many resources. That makes it not a popular space as far as applying emerging technologies. There's only competition in this very one specific vein, which is this central type of software that I mentioned that we plug into, so we're not competing directly with, but that's all people focus on. 

EMS agencies, EMTs, and paramedics, the care that they give has to be enabled by a doctor. There has to be a doctor linked to the practices that they engage in and the procedures that they do. This product that we're marketing now, we want to provide a low-cost, plug-and-play product, a tool that'll do everything they need it to do. The goal is to improve patient care. We're analyzing their data. We're compiling it, and then we're giving them metrics, a clear thing to latch onto to drive improvement of practices and skills and education within their organization. They have to do a lot on their own to make sure care gets better, but we are offering them a starting point.

How are you supporting yourself during this period? 

Greer: I was paying myself last year, but we're out of money for that, so we're not paying for any labor. It's all equity right now, and our burn rate outside of that is very low. The few hundred monthly recurring revenue covers the cost of our tool. That could run indefinitely and that covers everything we're doing for the pilot as well. And then I'm working part-time as an EMT now. I've been working on my EMT certification during this time. I'm supplementing, and it helps with understanding the problem, too. 

How are you balancing working on both products at the same time?

Greer: It's hard to balance. There's always stuff to do. I just do what I can, and the pace of development is good enough for the pilot. Every week, and then every month, Kevin and I sit down and analyze the rate at which we're working and developing. Then we project out. We're confident that we're developing at a rate that'll have us in a good spot by September when the pilot ends. But that also means the other product isn't as good as it could be. I'm not neglecting it, but it could be better. You know, everything could be better, but there are a ton of changes that I've already recognized I want to make that perhaps I don't have enough time for, so I just do as much work as I can.

What’s a short-term goal for your startup?

Greer: Kevin and I are trying to reach back out and see if there's anyone interested in joining and playing a major role. The timing would be such that they start working a little bit after the spring semester ends. I think most Georgia Tech students would meet the role requirements, but generally, JavaScript and Node skills and a diverse background would be good. 

Where do you want your startup to be in the next five years?

Greer: I want to have a very well-designed system. Despite all these things that I'm talking about being different products, they should be part of the same system in place at EMS agencies anywhere. I just wanted to be a resource that EMS can use broadly. 

Another issue in EMS is standards and even the centers that are in place aren’t accessible. I think that these new AI tools can do a lot to bridge the lack of understanding of documentation, measures, and standards and make all of that more accessible for the layperson.

What advice would you give students interested in entrepreneurship?

Greer: Make sure the idea that you're working on, and the business model, is something you enjoy outside of its immediate viability. I think that's really what's helped me persevere. It's my enjoyment of the project that's allowed me to continue and be motivated. So, start there and then work your way forward.

Are there any books, podcasts, or resources you would recommend to budding entrepreneurs?

I’d recommend Influence to prepare for marketing. I have no background in marketing at all. Influence is a nice science-based primer for marketing.

I reread How to Win Friends and Influence People. I am not sure how well I'm implementing the day-to-day, but I think most of the main points of that book are solid.

I also read The Mom Test. It's a good reference, a short text on customer interviews. 

Want to build your own startup?

Georgia Tech students, faculty, researchers, and alumni interested in developing their own startups are encouraged to apply to CREATE-X's Startup Launch, which provides $5,000 in optional seed funding and $150,000 in in-kind services, mentorship, entrepreneurial workshops, networking events, and resources to help build and scale startups. The program culminates in Demo Day, where teams present their startups to potential investors. The deadline to apply for Startup Launch is Monday, March 17. Spots are limited. Apply now.