Dan Green ’12 is the president and CEO of DANI (Dynamic Automated Nutrition Innovations), a local start-up that aims to battle obesity through technology. DANI is a finalist in the Big Idea Competition, and our personal favorite (page 7). The Big Idea finals will be held on April 15 at 4 PM in the Statler Ballroom. This Inside the Mind feature focuses on DANI’s preparations for the competition.
What is the game plan going into the final round? How do you prepare?
We’ve been working a lot on getting everything ready. We have this huge calendar leading up to the Big Idea. Each team member has a series of milestones culminating in the Big Idea competition. We also just recently were the winners of the We Live NY Elevator Pitch competition. There were a lot of great companies there from all over NY state so that was a huge win and a great way to energize everyone moving into the final stretch of Big Idea prep.
Are any changes to DANI to take place before the final round?
Of course. We are always working on improving our technology and building new apps. We just finished a project using DANI technology for a Health 2.0 competition sponsored by Veterans Affairs for people with hypertension and renal disease. With renal patients especially, it is really important to limit phosphorus and protein intake so the application highlighted those nutrients and changed from red to yellow to green in real-time as levels increased for a food item.
Attached is an exclusive sneak peak at our production ready Smart Scale design. We’ve been working on developing partnerships and launching a website as well. The site should be up at eatweighsmarter.com in the next week.
What are the judges looking for in a winner and how does DANI provide that?
This is a tough question. The judges haven’t been announced yet so it’s hard to say what they’re looking for. I’m not too familiar with the other teams but this is Cornell so I’m sure everyone will be really well prepared. It should be a great competition, definitely come check it out on Friday April 15 at 4pm in the Statler Ballroom.
Anything else?
We’re always looking for people to help out and for feedback. If any of the Insider readers are interested in working with DANI, have feedback (positive or negative) or just want to learn more please send me an email (dpg64@cornell.edu).
Here’s a link to one of our surveys. It takes less than 5 minutes to complete but really helps us better understand customer wants and needs. We’d also love to co-sponsor events (especially food and health related ones!). If your club or group is interested, again feel free to reach out to me anytime.
