Ever wondered how a fraction of a percent could revolutionize your business? Meet Darren Tapp, our Wantrepreneur to Entrepreneur Spotlight guest who's turning data into dollars. This math whiz-turned-business guru harnesses the power of Python and statistical sorcery to uncover hidden revenue streams for small and medium-sized businesses. From navigating academic setbacks to embracing the startup spirit, Darren's journey is a masterclass in pivoting and perseverance. Get ready to dive into the mind of a data maverick who's proving that in the world of business intelligence, every decimal point counts.
Hi, Darren! Thanks for joining us today. Tell us about your business. Who do you serve, how do you serve them, and what's the impact that your business and work makes?
I serve small to medium-sized businesses. I provide business intelligence and data analytics to clients. My clients want robust data backed by sound statistics that can guide them to make the best business decisions.
Tell us about the moment you finally felt like you went from wantrepreneur to entrepreneur.
A report that I produced found that tweaking a metric would result in 0.9% more revenue. Zero point nine percent does not sound like a lot, but when multiplied by revenue, it is. Imagine your business having 0.9% more revenue with no additional investment or work required.
Describe the moment or period in your life/career that motivated you to make the entrepreneurial leap.
I've been fortunate enough to have my home paid off before I was 40. Knowing my home was secure allowed me to take entrepreneurial risks. However, I took a job at a computer security start-up in my early thirties. That introduced me to startup culture. It introduced me to the bold and energizing spirit of entrepreneurship. Ever since then, I have felt incomplete without some type of start-up project.
Describe a tool, service, or software that has been a game-changer for your business. How does it contribute to your success?
The Python programming language is a tool that I consider game-changing for my business. Off the top of my head, I can think of four calculations that I have done for clients where Python worked while other tools failed. Python also helps me automate computer tasks, which allows my time to be much more productive. Knowing that a cronjob will be working for you while you sleep is a wonderful feeling.
So yes, Python has provided me with an amazing wealth of resources. What blows my mind, though, is that Python is open source and therefore available to every high school student with a computer. A world where Python is utilized to the fullest in high schools would be marvelous.
We know that success is very often a non-linear path. Tell us about a failure, pivot point, or lesson that changed your course or direction and helped to get you where you are today.
While I was in graduate school, my advisor pointed out a paper by Morihiko Saito with the title Bernstein-Sato polynomials of hyperplane arrangements. At the time, my focus was on the lower-dimensional case of line
arrangements, and I had some results. I felt that this Japanese mathematician, who I had never met, flew halfway around the world to West Lafayette, Indiana, and punched me in the gut. Saito's paper meant that some of my results were no longer novel. It also meant that generalizing to higher dimensions would not be worthy of a thesis.
This experience made the costs of procrastination very clear to me. First-to-market requires no time wasted. I also published my work on line arrangements, which yielded some novel results, as a chapter in my thesis. To me, this was a lesson on recovery. Even if you fall short of your main goal, provide the value you can. As I earned my degree in a different but related topic, I also learned about pivoting.
What unconventional strategy did you employ that significantly impacted your business?
I reduced my marketing budget to zero. It had a negative impact on my business.
What’s something you wish you knew sooner that you’d give as advice for aspiring or newer entrepreneurs?
I wish I understood open-source culture at a much earlier age. I would suggest that a young person find an old computer and install Linux on it. If possible, try to make Linux your only operating system. It may also be a much cheaper option.
This advice may need to change as technology evolves. I haven't tried Microsoft's new operating system, which has AI built in. "AI" will be a valuable tool in the future. I'll learn AI in an open-source culture by retooling an old computer as a server, which will host Meta's Llama 3.1 LLM. Then I will use agent zero (https://github.com/frdel/agent-zero) to build "AI agents" that query my local server. That way, it's a little more work, but more educational.
Want to dive deeper into Darren's work? Check out the links below!
- Visit TAPPMATH's website: tappmath.com
- Visit Darren's website darrentapp.com
