I wasted $40k on a fantastic startup idea

It felt like there was a missing chapter!

Consumers don't see the value at all.

Doctors see the value, but won't pay for it, because it doesn't change their bottom line.

Whose bottom line does this change then?

HMOs, insurance companies, organizations that want to improve the health of a population in aggregate. They'd pay money to have healthier people (on average) to provide the service to their docs (who see the value) to use for free.

Well, maybe; but I was hoping to see that theory validated in the last turn of the wheel.

Insurance companies are the real target here. If they can potentially manage to get doctors to prescribe more efficient medication, then they will end up needing to reimburse less and improve their bottom line.

Exactly. Some 23andme clones are aiming at insurance companies and national healthcare systems. I know at least two of them personally, with investments from big pharma.

If you convince say, NHS, that this service would make their medical practice more efficient they would totally buy it! For this you'd need to hire MDs and play lots of regulatory tricks. Plus, after that, probably private medical offices would follow the lead.

Companies doing genetics-based prediction are trying to fight the same uphill battle, and I think it's one worth fighting. So don't give up!