Meet Damayanti Dipayana of Manatee

Today we’d like to introduce you to Damayanti Dipayana.

Damayanti, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
I’m born and raised in the Netherlands and went to uni in London. I’ve had the privilege of living and working in eight countries to date, and my most recent stop was the US. I came to NYC about seven years ago and was building out the US operations of a London based VC-backed tech startup. I’ve always loved technology and the impact it could have on society as a whole, so about two years ago, I decided to build my own company.

I’ve always been a bit of a social justice warrior, with a hint of capitalism, I suppose… so I first launched a production company called Be Frank. We’ve made some awesome videos about the influence of porn, racial inequality, abortion and were covered in Huffpost and more! You should check them out 🙂 https://www.befrankchannel.com/abouthome

Anyway, I handed the operations of Be Frank over to my partner and launched Manatee. I grew up with a brother who had a bunch of behavioral and mental health problems, so it was a problem I was super passionate about. On top of all that, therapy hasn’t changed in 70 years and there was a real opportunity to support families better with digital tools. About a year ago, my co-founder, Shawn Kuenzler, joined the team, we became part of the Digital Health Lab at Children’s LA, went through Techstars, signed large enterprise customers and are now about to close our seed round.

We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
Doing something worthwhile (like starting a business) is never easy. 99% of startups fail. So if you want to have a shot at fulfilling your vision, I think it’s key to do something you are really, REALLY passionate about. That desire of building something, because it has to exist in the world, is what keeps you going when things get hard. And they will get hard.

For me, some challenges were:
Finding a technical co-founder who was right for me and the business.
Getting your first customer/traction.
Focusing on what matters (it’s really easy to get distracted).

Please tell us about Manatee.
Manatee is a digital platform to empower families and children during mental and behavioral health therapy by integrating therapy into daily life. 
Our platform sets reminds and tracks patient treatment goals, engaging families at home and gamifies therapy for kids. We’re currently partnering with leading pediatric providers, including the Children’s Hospital of LA, Wisconsin and Colorado.

I’m most proud of the fact that we’re actually helping kids and families. There is nothing more fulfilling than getting a mom or dad telling you that you’ve improved their family’s happiness.

Has luck played a meaningful role in your life and business?
Luck is a VERY big factor in my life and business. But if you want to be successful (whatever that means for you), you have to make your own luck. Meaning, you have to put yourself in a lot of situations where you *could* get lucky, so you increase your probability of getting lucky. And luck is a vicious cycle. Once you’re lucky and catch a break, you are more likely to get lucky again and again.

Contact Info:

• Address: 663 S. Oneida Way
  Denver, CO 80224
• Website: getmanatee.com
• Phone: 6469458900
• Email: dama@getmanatee.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/getmanatee
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/getmanatee/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/getmanatee
• Other: https://www.linkedin.com/company/getmanatee

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