Interview with CEO of D-EYE, Richard R. Sill

Rick Sill

Our latest interviewee is Richard R. Sill, CEO of D-EYE, who has a background in introducing and distributing new technologies on a global basis, from the startup to Fortune 500 level. He was the founder of the first consumer GPS company (Magellan), introduced new technologies as VP Marketing and Sales at two Caltech startup companies, Cyrano Sciences for chemical sensing and Wavestream for high-power millimeter wave amplifier technology. Prior to this, Sill worked in sales and marketing with global eye care company Bausch & Lomb for ten years…

How would you pitch your company? What’s your elevator pitch?

D-EYE is an affordable and portable smartphone add-on capable of taking high-definition images and video of the fundus, and transmitting them to other medical professionals.

What sets you apart from competitors?

Traditional ophthalmoscopes, while comparable in price, do not offer the imaging capabilities of D-EYE. On the other hand, fundus cameras, capable of such imaging, typically cost $10-20K. D-EYE fulfills a niche previously unmet, providing an affordable ($400) and portable option capable of high-resolution imaging and transmission of those images over the wireless network.

What’s your business model?

We will sell our D-EYE package (lens, smartphone adapter and app). We also have plans to launch our “ImageVault” this year, allowing healthcare professionals to store and transmit images they take. We will first sell directly to Ophthalmologists and Optometrists, but we aim to also target Neurologists, Pediatricians, General Practitioners, Nurse Practitioners, Emergency Medical Technicians, etc.

Can you share some numbers? How many users do you have?

We have just launched the company and the product is expected to ship on May 22nd.

D-EYE package

Where do you see the company going from here?

We envision a world where health screenings are offered to the masses versus only to those who can access and/or afford them. Our launch product is aimed at eye health, but we plan to offer other products that allow for earlier detection of other health issues.

Where do you see the mHealth industry going?

I see it only getting bigger and bigger even though it is still in its early stage. I was a founder of GPS satellite navigation company Magellan. In the early days of GPS (1989), we could only provide our customers with a Latitude/Longitude position. They then set up waypoints to guide themselves on water or land. We then introduced product for pilots to use. And, twenty years later, every day consumers rely on this technology to navigate to specific points of interest or addresses. I believe mHealth will go down a similar path, especially when governments and healthcare insurance companies see how much money they can save by treating people early versus waiting until it is too late and the costs skyrocket.

How long are we from seeing modern mHealth technologies going mainstream?

A good friend of mine from the GPS days said that, as a rule, having new technologies go mainstream usually takes 15-20 years. In the case of GPS, he was correct, because it took the digitization of maps and voice prompts to merge with GPS positioning capability to turn GPS into a mainstream technology. I believe the same applies to mHealth, but it just might go faster because the financial incentives are there to push for mainstream adoption.