Florida CEO Andreas Dettlaff Takes on HIMS and Roman

When Andreas Dettlaff was first introduced to Cenegenics he was immediately intrigued by the concept of regenerative health. At the time, Cenegenics was leading the way in age management solutions, and Dettlaff recognized an opportunity to break into a growing market. He founded Nu Image Medical in 2008 and initially partnered with his primary care physician in order to treat patients for the physical and hormonal changes that accompany aging.

When Dettlaff’s company began growing, he started looking for a way to reach more clients. Telemedicine provided him with the answer, and Nu Image Medical became one of the first medical providers to legally operate via phone calls and video calls. In the years since Andreas Dettlaff founded Nu Image Medical, he has relocated from New Jersey to Tampa, Florida, where Nu Image Medical is now headquartered. He continues to operate as CEO of the company and retains full control over medical, technology, legal, and marketing decisions for Nu Image Medical.

While Dettlaff has focused on organic growth and relied on proprietary formulations and programs to set Nu Image Medical apart from competitors, he has watched the market change significantly in the past 14 years. In 2017, competitors HIMS and Roman both hit the market, propelled to prominence by venture capital funding. In addition to some big-name competition, what was once a primarily men’s health market has now grown to include many products for aging women.

Andreas Dettlaff’s Growth Strategy

After years spent investing heavily in research and development, as well as setting the industry standard for customer service, Andreas Dettlaff is now focused on a period of accelerated growth for Nu Image Medical. Facing venture capital-backed giants may be intimidating for some homegrown companies, but Dettlaff has absolute confidence in the programs and team that Nu Image Medical has established over the years.

In order to prepare for a large increase in customers, Dettlaff started by upgrading the company’s internal technology systems. Rather than depend on unreliable third-party software integrations, Nu Image enjoys its own proprietary software platform that fully automates the entire company. Functioning as an EMR [electronic medical record], an accounting software platform, a video platform, a billing platform, a customer service platform, a medical platform, and a reporting platform, this software will allow Nu Image Medical to grow exponentially bigger before requiring any further investment or upgrade.

When it comes to marketing on a grand scale, Andreas Dettlaff went straight to the top. He brought marketing expert and original Shark on ‘Shark Tank,’ Kevin Harrington, on as Chief Marketing Officer. He and Harrington have formed a strategic partnership and launched an ambitious marketing plan that includes commercials and celebrity spokespeople.

The first two celebrities to partner with Nu Image Medical are Carmen Electra and Ric Flair, both pop culture icons who appeal directly to potential Nu Image customers. Carmen Electra has been tapped to promote Screamer Gel Max, formulated to help menopausal women achieve orgasms. Ric Flair supports Mt. Everest, Nu Image’s 3-in-1 rapid dissolve erectile dysfunction tablets.

Because Nu Image Medical was an early adopter of telemedicine, their core business model and infrastructure are already in place to keep pace with customer needs and preferences. Dettlaff’s foresight into the importance of technology in patient communication has been key to Nu Image Medical’s success. Thanks to telemedicine, embarrassing and time-consuming doctor’s office visits have been eliminated, medical providers are much more able to stay on schedule for appointments, and patients have frequent and easy access to both their providers and their medical records.

Benefits of Organic Growth

Although many startups chase venture capital funding in order to expedite growth opportunities, that funding does not come without expectations. Founders are constantly under intense pressure to meet and exceed revenue goals, which are set at a high bar by investors. Many of their business decisions are influenced by investors, who are more interested in their bottom line than the health and well-being of the company’s hardworking staff. And as more funding rounds take place, founders give away more and more of their ownership stake in the companies they worked so hard to create.

By relying on organic growth, Dettlaff has steered clear of the many drawbacks of VC funding. As an admittedly tough boss, who expects results with few complaints from his staff, Dettlaff doesn’t need investors looking over his shoulder everyday; he has been able to follow his vision for Nu Image Medical without interference. Many of his senior staff members have been with the company for more than a decade, which is a good indication that the burnout that often occurs in high-profile startups isn’t an issue at Nu Image Medical.

When Nu Image Medical was initially founded, Andreas Dettlaff wore many hats: sales, marketing, recruiting, and even customer service. His daily task list has changed quite a bit since those days, and now his current priorities are building relationships and overall company growth while maintaining licensing in all 50 states. As Nu Image Medical focuses more heavily on marketing in this next phase of their growth, Dettlaff can be expected to roll with the punches the same way that he has for the past 18 years. Thanks to his background in technology and his basic goal of helping people look and feel their best, he has set Nu Image Medical up to compete at the highest levels of the anti-aging telehealth industry.