Getting on Google’s radar was life-altering for Thkisha Sanogo. She’s the founder of myTAASK, a personal planning platform dedicated to getting stuff done in real time. MyTAASK uses machine learning to automate everyday tasks, blockchain to protect privacy and gamification to motivate and reward.

Accepted in 2018 to the Google for Startups and Black Founders Exchange program in Durham, Sanogo received mentoring advice from Google’s team. It was “hands down the best program I had been to that helped our company grow,” Sanogo told Moguldom.

Many startups pivot at some point. Imagine if YouTube had stayed focused on hooking people up as a video-based dating service? They would never have grown into a successful company or appeared on Google’s radar for acquisition. Google bought YouTube for $1.65 billion — the best tech deal ever at the time.

We went through our pitch. Google hated the name. They didn’t understand the tech stack or what I was trying to do or what my story was. They kept blasting me. That was Day 1. I was crying. I thought, “I am going back to Alabama.” But I stayed.

Thkisha Sanogo, founder of myTAASK, a personal planning platform.

One of the company’s pivots was changing its name to myTAASK (formerly Panoptic Project Solutions). With the help of Google and recent participation in the February cohort of Founder Gym, Sanogo is helping users manage personal life and all of its activities. In the process, she’s growing the future of personal task automation.

Sanogo spoke to Moguldom about her biggest challenges, pivoting her business and where myTAASK is going over the next five years.

Moguldom: Why did you start myTAASK?

Thkisha Sanogo: I started myTAASK so that I could close the gap between personal planning and work-life integration. It has evolved since I started in 2017. From all the research I’ve done, working parents are having a difficult time because we’re tired and rushed. We are doing a whole lot of things which can stress us out and our focus is very limited. Even as a master project manager, wife and having a family of three myself, I was struggling to my best life. I was like, enough is enough. I needed to have a way for us to curate and share are our plans and things to do. As I shared my experience with my community of friends, and they shared with me the same challenges. I thought about it, there are tons of people that could benefit from a platform that was curated to help those who are just as busy to plan on demand. That’s how it all began.

A challenge has been to get support as a Black female founder from a community who don’t understand how tech startups work. It’s not like starting a hair salon. It’s not tangible and you can’t see it or touch it until it’s done.

Thkisha Sanogo, founder of myTAASK, a personal planning platform.

Moguldom: You mentioned your product has evolved. We often talk to founders about pivoting. Was the evolution of your product the result of feedback from an accelerator program or mentors?

Thkisha Sanogo: I completed a lean startup through the University of South Alabama, which taught me how to do customer discovery. I then got accepted into Google for Entrepreneurs for Black Founders back in September (2018). It was so cool because of the experience of being with other Black founders. It felt good to be selected in this very exclusive program. And then it was the first day. It was so depressing. I thought, “Why did you pick me?” Because they tore us up — every last one of us founders. We had a board meeting, day one.

We went through our pitch. At the time we were called Panoptic Project Solutions. They hated the name. They didn’t know what we were doing. They didn’t understand the tech stack. They didn’t understand what I was trying to do and what my story was when we presented. They kept blasting me. We all went through that on day one. I was crying and felt so vulnerable. I thought, “I don’t need to return tomorrow” and “I am going back to Alabama.” But of course, I stayed.

When we did pivot our business model, we had over 1,000 names in our inbox within the first 48 hours.

Thkisha Sanogo, founder of myTAASK, a personal planning platform.

We were given a Google mentor. The mentor worked with us for four days to basically understand our tech stack, customer discovery, how to plan our marketing and what to do with partners. It was very eye-opening. Hands down the best program I had been to that helped our company grow. They gave us this amazing outline of how to start a tech company as a minority that could be successful and sustainable. That’s where I really said, “OK, I have to pivot.” Since then it has really taken off.  People are really taking on to personal planning. It’s bringing me great joy, though, it has been a struggle. But I’m definitely at a place now I’m ready to get some momentum to start moving a little bit faster.

Listen to GHOGH with Jamarlin Martin | Episode 03: Arlan Hamilton

Jamarlin talks to Arlan Hamilton about Backstage Capital, the venture capital fund she dreamed up while she was homeless, and how she made it a reality.

Moguldom: Are you self-funding the company by bootstrapping? Are you guys seeking outside funding?

Thkisha Sanogo: We have been self-financing thus far. We will be doing something a little different. On Aug. 30 we will be doing a business gift registry or business shower. We’re doing this as a different type of friends-and-family-round. We’re listing items that we use on a daily basis and items we need to scale. This could be anything from MailChimp to airline tickets for the next conference.  We are posting very specific items where our friends and family can support for just a month or with a 12-month subscription. A lot of our partners are asking to just donate and support. So our fundraising plan is a bit different to help alleviate our resources since we’re self-funded.

You’ve got this thing that you’re trying to make beautiful and usable to solve a problem, and sometimes the people who are closest to us don’t really understand that. If they were closer to technology, then having your circle as ambassadors would be a lot easier.

Thkisha Sanogo, founder of myTAASK, a personal planning platform.

Moguldom: What have been some of the biggest challenges since launching?

Thkisha Sanogo: My No. 1 challenge is it’s hard to synthesize all the information that you get sometimes, especially when you work with advisors. Also, funding is another challenge. The more money you have, the faster you can move. When you are trying your best to stay afloat and keep the momentum going it’s a challenge. You have to be creative in how you stay relevant. (If I) had all the money that I needed right now, I’m pretty sure we would be a top company. I have no doubt about that. But that’s the struggle. If I don’t have the money to pay my work resources, I can’t get a particular feature going. I actually worked nine months as a full-time founder and then I ran out of money. I had to go back to a consulting gig so I could help fund the business. A third challenge has been to get support as a Black female founder from a community who don’t understand how tech startups work. It’s not like going and starting a hair salon, or a barbershop or a restaurant. So, it’s a challenge to get capital for technology since it’s not tangible and you can’t really see it or touch it until it’s done. You can be working on something for a year and no one can see it until you’re completed if they do see it. You’ve got this thing that you’re trying to make beautiful and usable to solve a problem, and sometimes the people who are closest to us don’t really understand that. If they were closer to technology, then having your circle as ambassadors would be a lot easier. That’s been my experience.

Technology has to flow with us. My bet is on helping prepare people so that they can act right away because planning has a lot to do with feelings and emotions. (I’m) making planning and accomplishing tasks automated.

Thkisha Sanogo, founder of myTAASK, a personal planning platform.

Moguldom: What are some of your notable wins for you and your team?

Thkisha Sanogo: We just completed Founder Gym in February (an online program that trains underrepresented founders on how to raise money to scale their tech startups) which was also very amazing. When we did pivot our business model, we had over 1,000 names within our inbox within the first 48 hours. We use our Panoptic PM podcast as a vehicle to tell the story for myTAASK and how to plan your personal life. We have over 1,000 subscribers on that platform. We just did a season and we’re getting ready to do our second season.

Moguldom: What do the next five years look like for myTAASK?

Thkisha Sanogo: We’re going to automate personal and repetitive tasks. That is the No. 1 thing we want to do. That is the thing that gets us excited every day. I’ve worked in project management for years. I’ve had to put information inside systems for years and some of them are very good and kept me somewhat organized. But technology has to flow with us. My bet is (on) helping prepare people so that they can act right away because planning has a lot to do with feelings and emotions. If you don’t feel like doing something, you are not going to do it. (I’m) making planning and accomplishing tasks automated so you don’t forget to plan those wonderful milestones or things impacting your life. We want to help bridge the gap with work-life integration. And once we get that IPO, we want to use the platform to be a source for other Black female founders. We don’t see enough of us. I will put myself on the line for that. I think that’s part of why I’m just going to keep doing all of this until it gets done.

Once we get that IPO, we want to use the platform to be a source for other Black female founders. We don’t see enough of us. I will put myself on the line for that.

Thkisha Sanogo, founder of myTAASK, a personal planning platform.