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CardioSynth Labs: Building Visibility for a Synthetic-Data Startup in Cardiology

How a new entrant turned privacy-by-design data into a credible category story — without hype


 / 2024-10

Abstract

CardioSynth is a seed-stage startup that generates synthetic, privacy-preserving datasets for cardiology — helping hospital research teams and device/drug developers run faster feasibility studies, simulate cohorts, and explore edge cases that are rare in small registries. This case study explains how we increased market visibility in 120 days within a conservative, B2B clinical space: the sequence we employed (access → content → ABM → events amplification), why it was effective for cardiology specifically, and how we measured the resulting lift. Where helpful, we include method notes so another team can replicate the approach.

Disclosure. All names & results are de-identified and may be aggregated across engagements; we never disclose PHI or client-identifying details. Results reflect circumstances described and are not guarantees of future performance.

CardioSynth had a technically strong product and early design partners, but a low external signal in the USA market. Long sales cycles, security reviews, and a crowded “AI for health data” narrative made it challenging to capture the attention of cardiology chiefs, informatics leads, and clinical researchers. The founders asked for a plan that would build trust and clarity first, lead second.

Constraint. No aggressive paid media; we would prioritize earned relevance: credible content, respected voices, and precise targeting (ABM), supported by a lightweight social engine and lifecycle nurture. This sequence mirrors approaches we’ve used in adjacent healthtech settings — thought leadership, executive ghostwriting, and social proof at the founder level to humanize the brand, then operationalize it with a structured content system and UTM-tracked distribution.

Definition. In this context, synthetic data are statistically faithful, patient-like datasets learned from real cardiology sources. While end users work only with synthetic outputs and no one-to-one records are exposed, CardioSynth trains and evaluates models under BAA-governed controls. We document privacy risk via expert determination and publish disclosure-risk metrics (e.g., nearest-neighbor distances, membership-inference resistance) alongside utility results. End users never touch PHI; training and audit of generators occur in a segregated, BAA-covered enclave with access logging and key management.

We enforce unit normalization (UCUM), terminology alignment (LOINC/SNOMED), and cross-modality constraints (e.g., EF ranges vs. cath hemodynamics; QTc–HR physiologic bounds) during generation and QA.

1.1 A digital front door for researchers (access first)


We rebuilt the site around three decisions a cardiology buyer actually makes:

  1. What can synthetic data do for my lab? (use cases, validity, limitations)
  2. Is it private and compliant? (governance, de-identification, audit trail)
  3. How would we pilot? (data access model, success metrics, timeline)

Every page was clear on mobile and linked to “Request a data design session” with a calendared slot. The goal was a path from curiosity to a specific next step — not a brochure. We’ve employed the same access-before-ads philosophy in prior B2B healthcare work, pairing it with founder-level posts that make the brand feel relatable and human.


1.2 Category leadership without chest-beating


We positioned founders as explainers, not evangelists:

  1. Short explainers on data realism vs. privacy, bias in source registries, and evaluation protocols (train/test leakage, utility benchmarks).
  2. Guest posts and panels with clinicians and data scientists; we deliberately co-created content with partners to avoid monologues.
  3. Executive ghostwriting on LinkedIn in the founder’s voice (measured, specific, not salesy), synchronized with a steady calendar and syndication into relevant professional groups. This play has helped other clinical tech leaders secure speaking invites and coverage; we saw the same pattern here.


1.3 ABM for IDNs and research hospitals


We treated each target system as a mini-market: tailored microsites, a one-page security and governance brief, and 1:1 webinars for clinical leadership and data governance. We aligned with sales on ICP (interventional cardiology, HF programs, EP labs with active research) and orchestrated personalized outreach. This mirrors proven ABM patterns for strategic accounts — microsites, 1:1 webinars, executive touchpoints. 
All case notes are fully synthetic and non-traceable; partner mentions are opt-in and contractually cleared.


1.4 Lifecycle + nurture (education over time)


We built buyer-stage emails:

  1. For researchers — methods and validation notes.
  2. For informatics, architecture, and auditability.
  3. For executives — ROI and risk framing.

Prior work shows that segmented nurture materially lowers CPL and increases funnel quality when content matches the stakeholder’s lens. We applied the same discipline here.


1.5 Events that live longer than the event


Every live talk became six months of digital fuel: edited clips, Q&A posts, and follow-up emails tied to ABM lists — turning a conference appearance into a measured nurture arc. It’s a play we’ve run repeatedly to extend event ROI.



2. Messaging — the cardiology version (one narrative, many lenses)
Universal narrative. CardioSynth lets cardiology teams ask careful questions of patient-like data before they ever touch PHI — so they can plan studies, prototype features, and evaluate device or drug scenarios faster and with lower risk. Privacy is the default; utility is measured, not assumed. Synthetic cohorts are for feasibility, prototyping, and hypothesis generation — not for safety/efficacy claims or treatment decisions.

Stakeholder lenses (owner’s manual for sales and CS). We kept one story and changed the angle:

  1. Clinicians: clinical questions and validity. Can synthetic cohorts reflect the signal we see in echo, cath, and ECG-derived features? How do we evaluate drift and rare-event enrichment?
  2. Informatics: integration and governance. Where is the de-identification boundary vs. synthesis? How do audit trails, access controls, and BAAs work in practice?
  3. Administrators: time and risk. time-to-IRB (or NHR determination), security-review predictability, and the real cost of delays.
  4. Industry partners: feasibility and time-to-insight. Cohort simulation, labeling strategies, and sample-size planning.

That modular “one narrative, many lenses” framework carried across decks, landing pages, and outreach, and it consistently shortened time-to-close.



3. Content program — 30% story, 70% analysis

We built anchor pieces that can withstand peer review:

  1. How synthetic data is evaluated in cardiology. What we measure, how we prevent leakage, and how we handle rare-event enrichment. We report privacy risk alongside utility.
  2. De-identification and synthesis. The regulatory and ethical line, and where synthesis adds — rather than replaces — traditional methods.
  3. Bias mitigation in echo and cath datasets. Source registry bias, sampling choices, and validation protocols.
  4. To avoid monologues, we co-authored short case notes with cardiologists and biostatisticians. Those clinician voices reliably lifted engagement and credibility. Distribution stayed disciplined: UTM-tracked founder posts on LinkedIn, reshared by collaborators; monthly reporting on click-throughs and “request a design session” intent. The same cadence had worked in adjacent biotech and med-practice programs; it worked here again.

Evaluation metrics at a glance. Utility is measured with TSTR/TRTS (Train-on-Synthetic-Test-on-Real and the converse), calibration intercept/slope, subgroup performance (sex/age/renal impairment; HFpEF vs. HFrEF), and preservation of clinically meaningful correlations (e.g., EF vs. BNP; QTc vs. HR). We maintain strict train/test hygiene and drift checks. When enriching rare events, we provide class-weighting and reweighting guidance to keep PPV/NPV and decision thresholds clinically meaningful. Privacy risk is reported via Distance-to-Closest-Record (DCR) distributions, outlier proximity thresholds, membership-inference AUC, and attribute-disclosure stress tests on rare cohorts.



4. Search & discoverability for a YMYL topic

We optimized for intent clusters, not single keywords — because researchers, IT, and executives don’t search the same way.

  1. Clinical research intent: synthetic cohort design, sample-size simulation, labeling strategies, utility metrics.
  2. Operational/IT intent: governance, audit logs, BAAs, integration pathways.
  3. Executive intent: ROI, risk, time-to-feasibility, partner case studies.

Workflow. Each week, we exported Search Console data, deduped queries by intent, and updated the highest-impact pages first. We made authorship explicit (author + medical reviewer + last-updated), cited authoritative sources, and applied structured data (FAQPage/HowTo, Organization, breadcrumbs). In healthcare, this E-E-A-T + schema + localization trio is table stakes for trust and discoverability.

Attribution. We use a HIPAA-eligible analytics platform configured to exclude PHI (unique booking links per page type; event tracking from page view → design-session request → scheduled call) and HIPAA-ready dynamic call tracking on high-intent pages. A single funnel dashboard (aligned with Salesforce stages) made ROI legible to leadership


5. ABM execution  what changed in 90–120 days
We treated each IDN or research hospital as its mini-market: 1:1 microsites, an executive-friendly security & governance one-pager, and tailored webinars for cardiology and data governance leads. Founders sent the notes (ghostwritten in their measured voice), while curated talk clips gave each touchpoint substance.

Within the first 120 days, ABM drove qualified design-session requests from four research hospitals, with two moving into security review. Founder LinkedIn reach and follower growth rose sharply, especially after clinician-voice posts. Two conference talks powered six months of clips and Q&A — long after the lanyards were in a drawer — and we saw a sustained uplift in “request a session” submissions versus pre-event baselines.

Method notes. Baselines were the prior 8–12 weeks; qualified meant right persona + problem fit + data availability; account progress was tracked as intro → technical deep-dive → governance.



6. Lifecycle nurture 
slow is smooth, smooth is fast

We stopped “spray and pray” and aligned sequences to the buyer stage. Researchers received methods and validation notes. Informatics has architecture and auditability. Executives saw ROI and risk framing. In previous programs, this segmentation reduced CPL by ~40%; here, the same education-first posture improved demo quality and made hand-offs to sales cleaner.


7. Governance & risk   Why we earned the meeting
We led with process over flair. PHI never touches public LLMs. We execute BAAs with eligible vendors. Any assistant work uses versioned prompts, rollback plans, and human approvals for public-facing content. Change logs make edits auditable. That posture is recognizable to CISOs and IRBs and shortens the security-review loop.



8. Unit economics 
an illustrative service-line payback

For a 90-day push focused on research hospitals with active cardiology programs, we modeled:
  • Incremental meetings. ABM + content yielded ~8 additional design-session calls quarter-over-quarter; ~25% advanced to pilots; two converted to paid POCs.
  • Contribution. At $25–40k per POC over 3–4 months, that’s ~$50–80k incremental contribution.
  • Spend. HIPAA-eligible martech (analytics/call tracking under BAA), design, content , events amplification at early-stage scale: $6–10k/month.
  • Payback. On conservative assumptions, cash payback clears inside the pilot window, with upside from multi-site expansion and renewals.

Actuals vary by contract structure; we model contribution (not just top-line) and track ROI in one dashboard tied to Salesforce.



9. What we learned
(and why it generalizes)
We didn’t start with a slogan; we started with a door. Making it effortless for a researcher to walk in — What can this do? Is it private? How would we pilot? — created momentum that ad spend could not. Once access was real, education landed. Clinicians co-authored, their names sat beside ours, and credibility compounded. Only then did precision outreach matter; ABM stopped feeling like “campaigns” and started feeling like thoughtful invitations to continue a conversation already in motion.

The final mile was a measurement. When leadership could trace a straight line from content to a booked design session, then to a pilot, then to revenue, the program defended — and grew — its budget. That virtuous loop is the difference between chasing visibility and operating visibly.


10. Accessibility & tone

Because this is healthcare and YMYL, how we speak matters as much as what we say. Researcher-facing pages met WCAG 2.2 AA basics (contrast, keyboard focus) and kept reading level around 6th–8th grade for method explainers. This isn’t window dressing; it’s how complex ideas become legible, and legibility builds trust.

Week 1 — Wire access and publish proof.

  1. Connect real-time booking to the three highest-intent pages (use cases, governance, pilot).
  2. Publish five expert-reviewed FAQs (EN/ES) covering utility, privacy, evaluation, bias, and pilots.
  3. Launch founder posts (ghostwritten if needed), each answering one narrow technical question; UTM every link.

Week 2 — Stand up targeted outreach and nurture.


  1. Spin up ABM microsites for 10 priority systems; schedule 1:1 webinars with data governance and cardiology leadership.
  2. Convert one recent talk into six months of clips and Q&A posts; thread these into ABM follow-ups.
  3. Ship buyer-stage nurture for researchers, informatics, and executives; measure reply-qualified leads by segment.
  4. Align GA4 + CRM reporting to show content → meeting → pilot; review the funnel weekly.
  5. Hold a 10-minute weekly huddle: capacity, campaigns, top questions from calls, quick fixes.


Closing note

The gains came from alignment more than invention: access that removes friction, content that earns belief, outreach that respects context, and governance that keeps all of it trustworthy. When those parts move together, visibility stops being a campaign and becomes the way the company works.
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