How to build an app with Brian Dixon
My interview guest this week is Dr. Brian Dixon. Dr. Brian is a psychiatrist in Texas, hell bent on making sure that people can find the appropriate mental health care when they need it.
He has a MD from the Texas A&M College of Medicine and finished triple board residency from the University of Kentucky. He owns and operates Mindful, a private practice in Fort Worth. He is also the co-founder of Gide, an app that helps therapists make better referrals.
I spoke to Dr. Brian about why he built an app, how much it cost, and what he’s learned along the way. Enjoy!
Why did you decide to build Gide?
Honestly, it’s exhausting to constantly be asked “do you know a therapist who does XYZ” and not have an answer. We need better referral infrastructure in mental health that’s owned by us.
How did you go about building it?
I initially tried to find software to license (Mighty Network, TeamSnap) but they weren’t nuanced for our industry. Fortunately, a friend and software developer believes in the power of therapy and we buckled down to build it over nine months.
How much did it cost to build?
When I initially priced it out, it was going to be between $150,000 to $200,000. Good coding isn’t cheap. The more expensive part, though, is marketing and getting therapists to sign up. We’re a cautious group (rightfully so!)
What's the long-term vision?
Gide will become the point-of-service referral management tool for therapists so that we can comfortably refer people within that therapist’s strengths. Most importantly, we connect therapists globally without the data-mining and exploitation of search engines and social media companies.
What advice do you have for therapists who are interested in building an app?
Treat it as a separate stand-alone business, not as an extension of you or your practice.
Anything else to add?
Building a robust mental health ecosystem requires all levels of care, all licensures, and all business models—recruiting early adopters is key. Gide ties the ecosystem together so that people get to where they need to be.
To incentivize therapists to sign up before 12/31/21, we’re offering free use of the app for life (it’ll be $8/month after that).