Smile Virtual
Brian Harris spent 15 years as a successful cosmetic dentist running a profitable practice. Around 2016, he had an epiphany: instead of just serving local patients, he could build software to help dentists worldwide offer virtual smile consultations. He developed version one for himself, and the results were immediate. "The business just exploded," he recalls. "People from all over the world were reaching out wanting these types of procedures." That moment of realization—that he could do more good by leveraging software—launched him into entrepreneurship.
Harris spent a year and a half (2016-2017) developing the initial version of Smile Virtual, using it exclusively in his own practice to validate the concept. He wasn't rushing; he wanted to perfect it first. When he felt the product was strong enough, he launched formally in early 2018 with a beta cohort. "We took on about 12 doctors as kind of beta testers for the first four months and then slowly added." He paid $75,000 of his own capital to fund development through a partnership with Coplex, an agency that provided developers and marketing support in exchange for a small equity stake and a monthly retainer.
Harris did "no marketing" in the traditional sense. Growth came purely from word of mouth—other dentists learning about the software through his reputation and results. He structured pricing as a $3,500 setup fee (covering onboarding and automated training) plus $499/month recurring revenue. A year after launch, he had grown to 75 dentists on the platform, generating $30-40k in monthly revenue. "We've done no marketing, just kind of word of mouth at this point," he noted, which is remarkable for a SaaS product in a niche vertical.
The platform worked exceptionally well for dentists willing to put in the effort. Harris himself saw two to three new consultation requests daily from the software, booked three months out. However, churn existed: some dentists struggled with the technical complexity of the platform, and others signed up expecting results without committing the necessary time and effort. Harris candidly explained the lesson: "You're giving people this gift of your time and your expertise, knowing that it will return dividends to you if you can do it for the right reasons." This insight informed his next product iteration.
Harris is transitioning away from his dental practice, dropping from five days a week to three, with plans to move to two days weekly within three months. The software business is profitable with two full-time employees (a co-creator with a marketing background and a customer success person) plus Coplex's retainer support. A new version of the software—launching within three weeks of the interview—consolidates the platform into one streamlined place, reducing the need for hand-holding and allowing him to focus on mentoring dentists rather than troubleshooting platform issues. His personal dental practice generated $1.3 million in revenue the previous year, providing both product validation and lead generation. Harris is clear about his priorities now: "It's not really about the money anymore. It's about impacting others on a larger scale than I can do just with my own hands and in my practice."
- •The founder's 15 years of domain expertise as a successful dentist gave him credibility and deep understanding of customer pain points, enabling word-of-mouth growth without traditional marketing spend.
- •By building and using the product in his own practice for 1.5 years before launch, Harris validated product-market fit internally and demonstrated tangible results that other dentists could witness and trust.
- •The subscription pricing model ($499/month recurring) aligned with the high-value outcomes dentists experienced, creating natural advocates who organically recommended the platform within their professional network.
- •Solving his own acute pain point first meant the product addressed a genuine, urgent need rather than a theoretical one, making early adopters' positive experiences inherently shareable and compelling.
- 1.Spend significant time (6+ months) building and validating a solution within your own business or workflow before launching to external customers, ensuring you can demonstrate real results from authentic use.
- 2.Leverage your existing professional reputation and network in your target industry to seed initial customers through direct relationships rather than paid acquisition channels.
- 3.Structure pricing as a high-value subscription ($300-500+ monthly) paired with a meaningful setup fee to attract committed customers who are more likely to achieve results and refer others.
- 4.Hire a customer success person early (before scaling marketing) to ensure customers achieve measurable outcomes, turning them into organic advocates who generate word-of-mouth referrals.
- 5.Continuously iterate the product based on which customer segments show highest engagement and results, then focus sales efforts on replicating that customer profile through your network.
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