David Isserman got the idea for RareShare while working recently for the biotech company, Nutra Pharma.
Patients with the rare disease Adrenomyeloneuropathy would write and ask him how they could meet other people with the same illness. There were few suggestions he could offer – and no spot, online or off, efficiently able to bring this geographically disperse group of people together.
It's more of a philanthropic effort, says David Isserman
That’s when Isserman decided to create one. RareShare launched in beta in July and has seen growth of 35 percent each month since.
The site lets members join communities, interact with others and contribute information about their diseases. About 850 people have joined and about 5,700 unique visitors have come so far this December.
“There’s nothing out there for rare diseases,” says Isserman. “Everyone seems to be overlooking this area.”
Isserman, a 25-yer-old MBA student at Columbia Business School, says his first goal is to build communities of users around the 1,500 rare diseases that exist in the world today. Then he is considering raising money from angels or venture capitalists, though he says the development of a business model is at an early stage.
It is more of a philanthropic venture than a profit making one, he says.
Still, RareShare is accomplishing something important. Most discussions of social networking center on Facebook and MySpace and how these two general-purpose networks apply the technology.
RareShare is more proof that social networks can be just as valuable targeting niches the big guys overlook.
Mark,
Thanks for writing the nice review of RareShare!
David
david@rareshare.org
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