#StartupsEverywhere Profile: Thkisha Sanogo, Founder and CEO, MyTaask
This profile is part of #StartupsEverywhere, an ongoing series highlighting startup leaders in ecosystems across the country. This interview has been edited for length, content, and clarity.
A New Tool to Help People Plan
MyTaask, a new Alabama-based project management service, is using machine learning to help workers of all ages plan and fulfill their projects. We recently spoke with Thkisha Sanogo, the Founder and CEO of MyTaask, to learn a little more about her company and the Alabama startup ecosystem.
Can you tell us a little about yourself? What is your background?
I met my college sweetheart 20 years ago and we’ve been married for 16 years. We have a very busy life. I am a mom of three, and I’m basically a social butterfly. I love meeting new people and documenting new experiences, and I want my family and community to get the best that life has to offer them.
I love creating awareness - my background is in marketing. My undergraduate degree was in business administration, and I also have several advanced degrees in project management and public administration. I fell in love with technology when I was a director building project management offices from the ground up in several institutions globally and on the state level. I really love the ability to create domain knowledge and then share it with others.
Tell us more about MyTaask. What is the work that you’re doing?
I began building the tool because I saw a need to bridge the gap between generations who where transferring and sharing knowledge. I discovered this problem when building a project management internship program for undergraduates. I witnessed my millennial interns not getting valuable information from our boomers because of how they perceived productivity differently. It was painful to watch.
When I thought about it, in my own field of project management, there was also a knowledge gap occurring because it takes about 4,000 hours to get a PMP certification a the new workforce did stay long enough to get the necessary experience. My goal was to teach college students project management essentials, and that’s kind of where I thought I’d be focusing. Because of how the new generation is learning and consuming knowledge, I wanted to build a “just in time” project management tool that would let them learn and plan as they go, based on how they grew up and how they were visually taught. So I went through that process and I worked with one of the University of South Alabama’s technology graduate students to create the initial MVP and test it out, and we learned so much.
Planning utilizes the administrative function of the brain and involves a lot of critical thinking. about how people transfer knowledge during that learning process. Whether it’s corporations or government or schools, how we transfer knowledge now is different. From there, I was trying to narrow the substance down, and that’s what took me to working parents who are also dealing with a lot of work life integration. That’s where my concentration is now. It’s really about building and curating these experiences so that we don’t have to spend as much time planning from scratch.
What makes Alabama’s startup community unique?
I wrote an article recently for “This is Alabama” about how Southern hospitality is the New Silicon Valley. What makes us unique is that we have a different perspective on how to treat people, and how to really make our lives in general more sustainable. When you’re living in the south, you don’t have a lot of access to capital or access to resources. We do, though, have a lot of grit and determination and work to make a lot of something out of nothing. You also don’t have to spend a ton of money to start your business or purchase your home.
We could recruit better if people were open minded about moving to the south. And, in Mobile, we do have a lot of diversity as far as countries and companies who bring in different cultural experiences, because we are like a hub. So it’s just a really great place. We have access to a corridor of a lot of great other cities, like New Orleans and Atlanta and Orlando and Birmingham, so we’re very uniquely positioned.
What issues are Alabama entrepreneurs dealing with that should receive more attention from state and federal policymakers?
I’ve been thinking about this question for a long time. I think I may be the only African-American female-led tech company in this region, although not the state. Unfortunately there aren’t as many opportunities for black females in the state. There’s lots of opportunity for funding, but there are not a lot of paths and avenues to capture that.
The perception of living in Alabama sometimes puts constraints on our growth and our potential to grow because of all the talent being saturated in several places. For lawmakers, I’ve been through just about every program. I did the Lean Startup method with ICORE, which was part of an SBIR grant. I’ve done our Innovation Portal program, and I was lucky to be part of a group of six startups as part of that cohort. So I’ve been handed off to a lot of people, but it’s really not helping me grow. SBA grants don’t help because we’re a startup and it requires a little bit of runway before we can get enough funding to start paying back loans.
Access to the right type of people matters as well. Your network is your net worth. It doesn’t help if you’re not exposed to officials. I’ve written many of them and invited them to many things, but they’re just not coming, and I don’t know how else to get their attention. If it’s not an issue that’s shiny or pretty or everyone’s talking about it, then those people don’t seem to get invited.
They’ll always say things like, “Well, I don’t know where to find you.” That’s another question you hear: “How do I find minorities who are involved in technology?” Well, who’s in your circle, and how do you create an avenue that’s open for others?
What other steps need to be taken on the state and federal level to increase startup diversity?
Making sure that there’s access to creating a better structure. We’re small and a lot of times we’re not protected. We have ideas, but our ideas can be taken over by larger companies that have more money and resources.
A good first step is to look at how we can help people get free patent support. Another thing would be for lawmakers to introduce and highlight women of color. We should be talking about the importance of diverse protections and spending some time working on introducing larger companies to startups. Finding ways to get them to support grants or certain projects as startups grow would be phenomenal.
We should also think about creating a tax pool for the largest companies that would help fund diversity programs and support a level playing field. Businesses are supposed to make money and do good for the people that they serve, but when they hog all the resources there’s no lift. We need real progress, not incremental progress.
What is your goal for MyTaask moving forward?
So MyTaask is about creating technology to really cultivate and organize these experiences so we can share knowledge in a way that allows the older generation and the next generation to learn from one another. To re-imagine a world that allows every person to function with efficiency no matter how many aspirations. We bring the super power of planning to all of the busy people that need it.
My company is about building and sustaining a technology company so people can stay here and work. Alabama is losing so much of our young population to other cities, and they’re not coming back because there are no opportunities.
All of the information in this profile was accurate at the date and time of publication.
Engine works to ensure that policymakers look for insight from the startup ecosystem when they are considering programs and legislation that affect entrepreneurs. Together, our voice is louder and more effective. Many of our lawmakers do not have first-hand experience with the country's thriving startup ecosystem, so it’s our job to amplify that perspective. To nominate a person, company, or organization to be featured in our #StartupsEverywhere series, email edward@engine.is.
