I started a platform for companies to collect, categorize, and manage data to power AI, search, or content models

In one line, what do you do and what is your most significant achievement?

Co-founded Tictag, a mobile-first social enterprise startup that has developed an innovative platform for companies to collect, categorize, and manage data to power AI, search, or content models with a high accuracy rate of up to 99.97% accuracy

Who are you and what business did you start?

I am the co-founder and Chief Operating Officer of Tictag, a data annotation platform based in Singapore. Tictag's main value proposition is its ability to provide companies with high quality ground truth data for their artificial intelligence (AI) models, with a focus on speed and scalability. Tictag also works with social service organizations to onboard persons with disabilities onto its platform, allowing companies to not only get good data, but also do good in a sustainable manner. I had the opportunity to learn AI from experts back in 2014 during my exchange in Germany. I have also worked on software development, hardware delivery, and change management, and has a passion for deep learning, data mining, program management, IT consulting, and business strategy. Prior to co-founding Tictag, I led Taiger's global business operations team and was responsible for managing a project portfolio of 5.5 million SGD.

What's your backstory?

Tictag was founded with the single-minded focus to make data easy and accessible. After years of frustration with low quality, expensive, unstructured data in the field of Artificial Intelligence, the founders set out to bridge the gap between people who have time to deal with data and the companies that don't. How did we do that? We turned it into a mobile game.

What should be the first steps to take to enter your industry?

The first steps to enter the industry would likely involve networking and building connections within the AI and technology sectors. This could involve attending industry events, joining relevant professional organizations or networking groups, and reaching out to potential connections through social media or other channels. Additionally, they should consider applying for job openings or internships at companies in the AI and technology industry,. It may also be helpful to seek out mentorship or guidance from experienced professionals in the industry to gain insight and guidance on the best steps to take in entering the industry. The co-founders of Tictag are always happy to have a conversation over coffee on this topic!

How did you spend your First 100 Days of launching your business?

During the first 100 days of launching my business, I focused on getting the right co-founders with the right skillsets that had the same goal (in our case it was the passion for doing good) and alignment as me. I was lucky to meet talented co-founders in our previous startup working in key positions as head of technical sales and technical lead.

I spent time iterating on the product's user interface and design to ensure it was user-friendly and visually appealing with a contract designer that I was working with at that point in time who is currently our product manager.

I also spent a lot of time talking to people about the idea, gathering feedback and insights to help shape the product. Additionally, I conducted research on product market fit to ensure that there was a demand for the product in the market and that it was filling a gap in the industry.

Overall, my focus during the first 100 days was on building a strong foundation for the business by getting the right team in place, refining the product, and gathering valuable feedback from potential customers.

Since launch, what has worked to attract and retain partnerships/customers?

There are several factors that have worked so far but the top three are likely to be

Tictag's strong value proposition We have focused on clearly communicating the value that our services offer to our customers and partners, which has helped attract and retain them. Customers and partners that have worked with us for a long period of time are also aligned with our objectives to do good for the society.

Consistency We have consistently delivered high-quality data annotation services which goes up to 99.97%, which has helped to build trust and loyalty among our customers and partners.

Excellent customer service We have made customer service a priority, and this has helped us build strong relationships with our customers and partners.

What has taken you from 0 to 100?

My experience with a near death incident during training in a foreign country for national service as a commando completely altered my mindset and instilled in me a strong desire to push myself to the limit. This event reminded me to live each day as if it were my last, which has fueled my determination to achieve my goals and become who I am today.

What is one underrated thing in your industry that business owners should start doing/using?

One underrated thing in any industry that business owners should start using is crowdsourced annotation. While traditional methods of data annotation typically involve hiring a team of in-house annotators or outsourcing the work to a third-party company, crowdsourced annotation utilizes a large group of individuals that we refer to as taggers to annotate data. This method can be more cost-effective and efficient, as it allows for a larger volume of data to be annotated in a shorter period of time. Additionally, crowdsourced annotation can provide a diverse range of perspectives and experiences, which can lead to more accurate and comprehensive data annotation. Business owners should consider incorporating crowdsourced annotation offered by Tictag as a component of their data annotation strategy in order to improve the speed and quality of their annotation processes.

What was one failure you had to go through that others in your industry should look out for?

One failure I had to go through was with my team in the AI startup when we attempted to build a machine learning model without properly understanding the underlying data. We assumed that the data was clean and accurately represented the real-world situation, but upon further analysis, We discovered that there were significant biases and inconsistencies in the data. As a result, the model performed poorly and had to be completely scrapped. This taught me the importance of thoroughly evaluating and understanding the data before building any machine learning models. Other AI professionals should be aware of this potential pitfall and make sure to take the time to properly analyze their data before attempting to build any models.

What platform/tools do you use for your business?

Hubspot - Sales, Slack - Internal communication, Google Suite, Linkedin!

How are you doing today and what does the future look like?

I am doing well today and am feeling positive about the future. We are growing as a company and I am looking forward to a good year in 2023. I am inspired to do more good and am more passionate than before to grow Tictag into a profitable company. Overall, I am excited about what the future holds and am confident that we will continue to grow and succeed.