The business comes before the tool
There is rarely value in forcing a business into a system because it happens to be popular. I start with how the business actually operates and work backwards from there.
It all started with a computer and a five-year-old
who wouldn’t leave it alone
My career in data did not begin with a plan to become a consultant. It started with a computer, a lot of curiosity and a mother who noticed it early.
What followed was a fairly direct path from learning how technology worked to figuring out how it could solve real problems inside a business.
It all started with a computer and a five-year-old
who wouldn’t leave it alone
My career in data did not begin with a plan to become a consultant. It started with a computer, a lot of curiosity and a mother who noticed it early.
What followed was a fairly direct path from learning how technology worked to figuring out how it could solve real problems inside a business.
Curiosity quickly turned into something more
serious
My mom noticed how fixated I was with computers and started looking for ways for me to learn more. She phoned colleges until she found courses that would take someone my age.
At ten, I earned my ICDL Gold certificate. At twelve, Boston City Campus and Business College offered me a bursary which I used to complete CompTIA A+, Network+ and Security+.
I kept choosing subjects and opportunities that allowed me to go deeper into IT. At that stage I was interested in the technology itself. I had not yet seen how much more interesting it becomes when you put it into a real business.
Curiosity quickly turned into something more
serious
My mom noticed how fixated I was with computers and started looking for ways for me to learn more. She phoned colleges until she found courses that would take someone my age.
At ten, I earned my ICDL Gold certificate. At twelve, Boston City Campus and Business College offered me a bursary which I used to complete CompTIA A+, Network+ and Security+.
I kept choosing subjects and opportunities that allowed me to go deeper into IT. At that stage I was interested in the technology itself. I had not yet seen how much more interesting it becomes when you put it into a real business.
One
opportunity changed the direction
In matric, a friend’s dad gave me an opportunity to spend some time in his workplace and get a feel for the working environment. It gave me my first foot in the door and showed me how technology was being used beyond a classroom or exam.
I went on to study Computer Science at the University of Pretoria, completing both my BSc and Honours with distinction, with a Data Science minor.
During my second year, that same connection led to an internship at DNS Africa.
That was where things started to come together.
One
opportunity
changed the direction
In matric, a friend’s dad gave me an opportunity to spend some time in his workplace and get a feel for the working environment. It gave me my first foot in the door and showed me how technology was being used beyond a classroom or exam.
I went on to study Computer Science at the University of Pretoria, completing both my BSc and Honours with distinction, with a Data Science minor.
During my second year, that same connection led to an internship at DNS Africa.
That was where things started to come together.
The point where it all came
together
During my internship at DNS Africa, I started looking through the data already sitting inside the business and found plenty that was not being used. We turned that data into dashboards that people actually opened and used in their day-to-day work.
The project eventually became our university Capstone Project, where it won awards for Best Software Engineering and Best DevOps.
By our final year, we had stopped treating it as a university project and started treating it as a business. That became Tyto Insights.
DNS Africa backed us with capital, guidance and access to real client opportunities, giving us the opportunity to build a business around the work we had already started.
The point where it all came
together
During my internship at DNS Africa, I started looking through the data already sitting inside the business and found plenty that was not being used. We turned that data into dashboards that people actually opened and used in their day-to-day work.
The project eventually became our university Capstone Project, where it won awards for Best Software Engineering and Best DevOps.
By our final year, we had stopped treating it as a university project and started treating it as a business. That became Tyto Insights.
DNS Africa backed us with capital, guidance and access to real client opportunities, giving us the opportunity to build a business around the work we had already started.
None of these problems usually appear overnight. They build up as businesses grow, new systems are introduced and temporary fixes become permanent. Eventually, more time is spent checking, correcting and maintaining information than using it to understand what is actually happening in the business.
Having more data does not necessarily make a business more informed. When information is spread across different systems, spreadsheets and manual processes, it becomes harder to know which numbers are right. Where they came from, or how they should be used, gets lost along the way.
Sales might be working from one number while finance works from another. A spreadsheet that started as a temporary solution becomes something the business cannot operate without. Someone spends half a day every Friday rebuilding a report that should have been automated years ago. Important reporting logic sits with one person because nobody ever stopped to document how it works.
None of these problems usually appear overnight. They build up as businesses grow, new systems are introduced and temporary fixes become permanent. Eventually, more time is spent checking, correcting and maintaining information than using it to understand what is actually happening in the business.
None of these problems usually appear overnight. They build up as businesses grow, new systems are introduced and temporary fixes become permanent. Eventually, more time is spent checking, correcting and maintaining information than using it to understand what is actually happening in the business.
01
The
principles behind how I work
Data reflects behaviour
Numbers are not isolated from the people and processes that produce them. When something looks wrong in the data, there is usually something worth understanding behind it.
Test the idea before building it
A good idea is not necessarily a good system. I would rather test whether something solves a real problem before investing time and effort into building it properly.
None of these problems usually appear overnight. They build up as businesses grow, new systems are introduced and temporary fixes become permanent. Eventually, more time is spent checking, correcting and maintaining information than using it to understand what is actually happening in the business.
Having more data does not necessarily make a business more informed. When information is spread across different systems, spreadsheets and manual processes, it becomes harder to know which numbers are right. Where they came from, or how they should be used, gets lost along the way.
Sales might be working from one number while finance works from another. A spreadsheet that started as a temporary solution becomes something the business cannot operate without. Someone spends half a day every Friday rebuilding a report that should have been automated years ago. Important reporting logic sits with one person because nobody ever stopped to document how it works.
None of these problems usually appear overnight. They build up as businesses grow, new systems are introduced and temporary fixes become permanent. Eventually, more time is spent checking, correcting and maintaining information than using it to understand what is actually happening in the business.
None of these problems usually appear overnight. They build up as businesses grow, new systems are introduced and temporary fixes become permanent. Eventually, more time is spent checking, correcting and maintaining information than using it to understand what is actually happening in the business.
01
The
principles
behind how I work
The business comes before the tool
There is rarely value in forcing a business into a system because it happens to be popular. I start with how the business actually operates and work backwards from there.
Data reflects behaviour
Numbers are not isolated from the people and processes that produce them. When something looks wrong in the data, there is usually something worth understanding behind it.
Test the idea before building it
A good idea is not necessarily a good system. I would rather test whether something solves a real problem before investing time and effort into building it properly.
None of these problems usually appear overnight. They build up as businesses grow, new systems are introduced and temporary fixes become permanent. Eventually, more time is spent checking, correcting and maintaining information than using it to understand what is actually happening in the business.
Having more data does not necessarily make a business more informed. When information is spread across different systems, spreadsheets and manual processes, it becomes harder to know which numbers are right. Where they came from, or how they should be used, gets lost along the way.
Sales might be working from one number while finance works from another. A spreadsheet that started as a temporary solution becomes something the business cannot operate without. Someone spends half a day every Friday rebuilding a report that should have been automated years ago. Important reporting logic sits with one person because nobody ever stopped to document how it works.
None of these problems usually appear overnight. They build up as businesses grow, new systems are introduced and temporary fixes become permanent. Eventually, more time is spent checking, correcting and maintaining information than using it to understand what is actually happening in the business.
None of these problems usually appear overnight. They build up as businesses grow, new systems are introduced and temporary fixes become permanent. Eventually, more time is spent checking, correcting and maintaining information than using it to understand what is actually happening in the business.
01
credentials
10
Age at first IT certificate
3
CompTIA certifications
2
Degrees completed with distinction
1
Data consultancy co-founded
01
Early start
ICDL Gold certificate
Earned at ten years old.
02
Certification
CompTIA A+, Network+ and Security+
Completed through a bursary from Boston City Campus and Business College.
03
University of Pretoria
BSc and BSc Honours in Computer Science
Data Science minor. Both degrees completed with distinction.
None of these problems usually appear overnight. They build up as businesses grow, new systems are introduced and temporary fixes become permanent. Eventually, more time is spent checking, correcting and maintaining information than using it to understand what is actually happening in the business.
Having more data does not necessarily make a business more informed. When information is spread across different systems, spreadsheets and manual processes, it becomes harder to know which numbers are right. Where they came from, or how they should be used, gets lost along the way.
Sales might be working from one number while finance works from another. A spreadsheet that started as a temporary solution becomes something the business cannot operate without. Someone spends half a day every Friday rebuilding a report that should have been automated years ago. Important reporting logic sits with one person because nobody ever stopped to document how it works.
None of these problems usually appear overnight. They build up as businesses grow, new systems are introduced and temporary fixes become permanent. Eventually, more time is spent checking, correcting and maintaining information than using it to understand what is actually happening in the business.
None of these problems usually appear overnight. They build up as businesses grow, new systems are introduced and temporary fixes become permanent. Eventually, more time is spent checking, correcting and maintaining information than using it to understand what is actually happening in the business.
01
credentials
10
Age at first IT certificate
3
CompTIA certifications
2
Degrees completed with distinction
1
Data consultancy co-founded
01
Early start
ICDL Gold certificate
Earned at ten years old.
02
Certification
CompTIA A+, Network+ and Security+
Completed through a bursary from Boston City Campus and Business College.
03
University of Pretoria
BSc and BSc Honours in Computer Science
Data Science minor. Both degrees completed with distinction.
None of these problems usually appear overnight. They build up as businesses grow, new systems are introduced and temporary fixes become permanent. Eventually, more time is spent checking, correcting and maintaining information than using it to understand what is actually happening in the business.
Having more data does not necessarily make a business more informed. When information is spread across different systems, spreadsheets and manual processes, it becomes harder to know which numbers are right. Where they came from, or how they should be used, gets lost along the way.
Sales might be working from one number while finance works from another. A spreadsheet that started as a temporary solution becomes something the business cannot operate without. Someone spends half a day every Friday rebuilding a report that should have been automated years ago. Important reporting logic sits with one person because nobody ever stopped to document how it works.
None of these problems usually appear overnight. They build up as businesses grow, new systems are introduced and temporary fixes become permanent. Eventually, more time is spent checking, correcting and maintaining information than using it to understand what is actually happening in the business.
None of these problems usually appear overnight. They build up as businesses grow, new systems are introduced and temporary fixes become permanent. Eventually, more time is spent checking, correcting and maintaining information than using it to understand what is actually happening in the business.
01
Where the
work has taken me
I did not set out with a five-year plan to build a data consultancy. The opportunities came through the work itself, from studying Computer Science to working inside a real business and eventually building Tyto Insights.
What has stayed consistent is the way I like to approach problems: understand what is actually happening, question what is being taken for granted and build from there.
None of these problems usually appear overnight. They build up as businesses grow, new systems are introduced and temporary fixes become permanent. Eventually, more time is spent checking, correcting and maintaining information than using it to understand what is actually happening in the business.
Having more data does not necessarily make a business more informed. When information is spread across different systems, spreadsheets and manual processes, it becomes harder to know which numbers are right. Where they came from, or how they should be used, gets lost along the way.
Sales might be working from one number while finance works from another. A spreadsheet that started as a temporary solution becomes something the business cannot operate without. Someone spends half a day every Friday rebuilding a report that should have been automated years ago. Important reporting logic sits with one person because nobody ever stopped to document how it works.
None of these problems usually appear overnight. They build up as businesses grow, new systems are introduced and temporary fixes become permanent. Eventually, more time is spent checking, correcting and maintaining information than using it to understand what is actually happening in the business.
None of these problems usually appear overnight. They build up as businesses grow, new systems are introduced and temporary fixes become permanent. Eventually, more time is spent checking, correcting and maintaining information than using it to understand what is actually happening in the business.
01
Where the
work has taken me
I did not set out with a five-year plan to build a data consultancy. The opportunities came through the work itself, from studying Computer Science to working inside a real business and eventually building Tyto Insights.
What has stayed consistent is the way I like to approach problems: understand what is actually happening, question what is being taken for granted and build from there.