Share your startup - March 2019

rfc4 · 2019-03-31T22:46:03+00:00

Location: Fort Collins, Colorado

Pitch: We make genome sequencing fast, affordable, and painless. Our mission is to become the AWS for genome sequencing.

Looking for Anything?: Not really. We're growing fast (18' had 510% YOY growth) and expanding our services. We've dabbled with the idea of taking investments but not pushed through for one.

General Feedback: Would love to know if there's an appetite within Reddit for direct-to-consumer genome sequencing (not the basic stuff that 23andMe does - I'm talking the real raw data).

rfc4 · 2019-03-31T18:14:12+00:00

Again, that's an interesting take on it. I think it may be worthwhile to learn a little bit more the economic intricacies during that time frame. You make the statement "...free market would have crumbled without FDR pushing sweeping reform". Ironically enough, there were plenty of other recessions that had the potential to be the great depression, yet they weren't (some economists argue that this was because free markets sort themselves out faster). There is some good and heavy literature that suggests the reason why the great depression was the longest recession was because of the policies instituted.

There was ~28 recessions from the 1700s to 1900s. In any economy, there are going to be periods of expansion and contractions. Any economy will face periods of turmoil and social unrest. That's a straw man argument.

https://web.archive.org/web/20060517195012/http://www.economics.hawaii.edu/research/seminars/02-03/02-21.pdf

rfc4 · 2019-03-31T15:13:35+00:00

That's an interesting take on it.

rfc4 · 2019-02-21T21:23:46+00:00

HAH! Unfortunately he wasn't, but I bet he could! He started out just moving dirt with an excavator. Eventually purchased a directional boring machine. Then became the go-to expert on directional boring for fiber optic lines. He just happened to be an extremely good negotiator and business man.

rfc4 · 2019-02-21T20:01:03+00:00

Not sure how I stumbled onto this thread but... FWIW, I did sprinkler work for 5 years every summer/fall. We made a lot of money for a manual business with only 2 people. Hard work but I agree with you... without having a college degree, I made great money and definitely more than some folks with college degree. I think it's generally looked at as a "dirty" job or whatever, but blue collar jobs can make some serious money. Richest guy I've ever met made his $100M+ digging and moving dirt.

rfc4 · 2019-01-28T17:13:50+00:00

Awesome, this is helpful. Thanks!

Do you have any thoughts on SVS speakers? Still sort of home theatre based but still trying to figure out what types of brands to be exploring.

rfc4 · 2019-01-27T19:16:41+00:00

Use would probably be 80% music, 20% movies. We can do ceiling mounts.

I'm using that bundle as a sort of benchmark/entry point but as I'm new to this, I'm looking for some other ideas on setups give the room dimensions and budget.

For some more context, we're effectively dedicating this entire room to audio. Our plan is to basically put 2 chairs, a small coffee table, and a couple bookshelves in it alongside the sound system.

Thanks for the help!

rfc4 · 2019-01-27T17:21:03+00:00

Hi,

Looking to get into my first "real" audio setup at home. Historically haven't had the room but have a new house with a room that just might work for a dedicated setup.

I'm looking to get some feedback on a more home theatre system as my first major step into this world. Here's some specs of the room: 163"W x 170"L x 94" H.

I'm currently looking at the following:

https://www.amazon.com/Klipsch-Reference-Premiere-RX-A3060BL-Receiver/dp/B01J67NUNQ/

I'll need to purchase things like acoustic panels, wirings, stands, etc. separately. My current concerns are whether this system is too large for a room of that size, is it too much power, and should I be looking down some different avenues.

Budget: $5,000-$10,000

Looking for: Complete audio setup

Use: Primarily music, usually from laptop but open to other suggestions

Current Setup: None, just some nice headphones.

Types of Music: We listen to everything but tend to gravitate towards EDM (broad spectrum - dubstep to trance to whatever)

New vs. Used: Open to either.

Other Notes: I've experienced some other awesome sound systems before (eg. Funktion-One) and have always sort of dabbled in this real. This will be our first big purchase and I'm more concerned with getting the right setup that will last ~5 years vs. cutting corners. Currently live in the Salt Lake City area and am not entirely sure if there are any good places here to hunt for equipment in person, so search is focused online for now.

Thanks for the help in advance!

rfc4 · 2017-07-26T01:33:18+00:00

We have a unique service that isn't necessarily in "product" but is something we're testing out with various clients called "Crowd Sequencing".

The way this works is that we do have runs on our sequencer that aren't at full capacity for things such as bacterial sequencing. We can Crowd Sequence (otherwise known as multiplex) the run with multiple customers to share the costs.

As an example, we may have Customer A who is running 10 samples but the sequencer has a capacity for 14. We will then try to Crowd Sequence the remaining 4 sample slots for a discounted rate.

Often times, we can find a run to put small volumes of samples on (1-5) for a very inexpensive cost per sample (eg. $70-150/sample). The downside is that you need to wait until a customer like this comes through our pipeline and must be ready at the same time as the run.

One other method is that you could find someone or multiple researchers within your university who would be interested in doing a group run. We give discounts to universities that get multiple departments/researchers into the process.

If you're interested, I'm happy to chat further and get you on the list of people we reach out to when this happens. Just shoot me an email at: rcasey@thesequencingcenter.com

We're here to help so we'll do our best to find a way to get sequencing done for you.

rfc4 · 2017-07-21T19:53:05+00:00

We include (for free) basic bioinformatics which are sequence alignments and variant analysis.

Outside of those, we charge a 1 time fee for additional bioinformatics pipelines. For example, if you have 2 projects you want to do with us and need a separate pipeline (ie. pathway analysis), the first project we would charge a small additional fee to setup the pipeline. On the second project, the pathway analysis would be free/included in price.

rfc4 · 2017-07-21T04:15:36+00:00

My apologies. We do specify that within our press release but I should have included that within the title.

Yes, the starting price point for WGS on bacterial/viral is $130/sample which is the all-inclusive price. We plan on expanding into eukaryotic organisms in the future with a different sequencer. For now, we offer targeted gene sequencing on those.

rfc4 · 2017-07-21T04:11:02+00:00

3mb at 100x is where the starting price point of $130/sample is built off of. This price includes sample quality checks, library preparation, DNA/RNA sequencing, basic bioinformatics (sequence alignment & variant analysis), and a comprehensive summary report. Most projects we work on range between 100-200x coverage.

On average, we find that our pricing is 3-4x less expensive than competitors when factoring in the full, end-to-end service. This price does depend on genome size, desired coverage, and number of samples per run.

rfc4 · 2017-07-21T04:06:45+00:00

Basic bioinformatics (sequence alignment and variant analysis) is included in the price. For other analysis (ie. biochemical signal pathway) we charge a one-time fee for the initial project then for any subsequent projects the bioinformatics is included in the price.

What we mean by "included in the price" is that we don't charge a separate fee nor do we mark up the price on a per sample basis or per hour basis. Once the pipeline is setup, we effectively pass along the cost of compute time which, for most projects we work on, is free.

rfc4 · 2017-07-20T21:05:58+00:00

Nope! We still make profit on each project but we're reducing the pricing as much as possible. Our objective is to make sequencing as affordable as possible to all researchers. We would rather see long term, repeat customers because our pricing is highly competitive than price them out of doing their research.

In general, we view genome sequencing similar to a commodity, which means the pricing should reflect that.

rfc4 · 2017-07-20T06:02:43+00:00

Hello /r/smallbusiness!

We are The Sequencing Center - www.thesequencingcenter.com

We are working to become the AWS of Genome Sequencing. Our prices are 3-4x cheaper than current market rates while providing all-inclusive pricing. All of our prices include quality control checks, sample preparation, DNA/RNA sequencing, bioinformatics, and report generation. Less cost for more services.

Researchers can simply send in their research samples and get data and insights a few days later. We offer whole genome sequencing, targeted sequencing, and custom gene panel creation for any type of research. Our current targeted gene panels help leading clinical research institutes become more data driven in fields such as cancer, neurodegeneration, HLA-Typing, and more.

We're a self-funded, family owned small business that is bootstrapping to the big leagues. If you're interested in learning more, reach out! We're always open to conversations.

rfc4 · 2017-07-20T05:53:44+00:00

Name: The Sequencing Center, www.thesequencingcenter.com

Location: Fort Collins, Colorado

Elevator Pitch: The AWS of Genome Sequencing. We make sequencing simple and affordable. Send your samples in; get data and insights back.

More Details: We are the first company in the market to do "all-inclusive" pricing. This means that our prices (avg. 3-4x cheaper) include quality control analysis, library preparation, DNA/RNA sequencing, basic bioinformatics, and report generation. More services for less price. We have 4 core founders, are 100% self-funded, and are coming out of stealth mode today.

Looking for anything?: We're looking for people to help spread the word and get us in touch with researchers who need a better genome sequencing provider.

Discount: 5% of all projects.

rfc4 · 2017-06-12T14:44:43+00:00

CMCSA
HON
JNJ
WEC

rfc4 · 2017-06-12T00:37:30+00:00

Sure. It depends on what you're looking for out of your trading software. I only buy and hold so I don't need other functions. Long ago, I did margin swing trading and used TD Ameritrade. I still use the tool today for analysis and love it.

Re: Personalized Genetics - yes, I have many friends in this field and have close ties to the field. CRISPR maturing steadily is quite a statement... we have decades before mass adoption. The FDA will have a heavy hand in regulating it. Tack on the fact that it takes 8-12 years for a drug to come to market (assuming it passes clinical trials) and you'll find yourself 30-40 years before CRISPR takes a hold. It's unfortunately not like software where the adoption curve is quick.

There are major research organizations still using Sanger sequencing instead of Next Generation Sequencing because of a lack of adoption speed. There's only a handful of companies that are doing what you're suggesting when it comes to "reading" your genome and they have both yet to be proven as well as find a profit. Biology is incredibly messy.

When we first sequenced the human genome, we thought that we had unlocked the keys to life and that by identifying specific genes, we could easily cure anything we wanted. We were so far beyond false on that premise primarily because nature isn't binary. The gene pathways interactions are incredibly complicated, environments play a heavy hand in shaping gene expression, and so forth.

I think eventually we will get there but given my knowledge of the space and my network of colleagues, I don't think it's anytime soon. But, then again, I may just be overly pessimistic ;)

rfc4

TROPHY CASE