SAM’S SWITCH TO AI PROVES A SMART MOVE
Burnley-based tech entrepreneur Sam Barrowclough launched his AI platform in June last year. Just five months later he had sold it to a US based software firm.
The intrepid 31-year-old has no time to sit back and savour his success. He is now working for the new owners from his base at The Landmark business centre.
Software tool developer Sam’s ChatCSV platform uses AI to enable users of very large spreadsheets to ask for insight, trends, correlations and see results in seconds.
Sam, who studied computing at university but was initially more focused on making music, enjoying some success as a producer, describes ChatCSV as “like having your own personal data analyst”.
He gained 7,000 users for the tool in just three months, including Procter & Gamble, McKinsey and tech firms Zapier, Quora, and Vimeo.
Sam’s mission was to build a start-up he could sell. However, he was surprised by the speed at which things moved.
He says: “Things happened pretty quickly. David Boskovic, Flatfile’s founder and chief executive, messaged me in early July.
“A colleague of his had alerted him to ChatCSV.
David and I connected, we chatted, we hit it off right away. He loved what I’d built and I was really impressed with David and his team’s successes, especially in AI for data exchange.
“Flatfile is used by businesses for streamlining large data imports from multiple and diverse sources.
“I got on really well with Flatfile’s development team too. When David asked me if I’d sell ChatCSV, and also join his company as a developer, it all made perfect sense.”
He adds: “Joining Flatfile allows me to continue my work with ChatCSV and to work with David’s smart AI developers from across the US and beyond - all from my home in Burnley.
“My immediate task for Flatfile is to make ChatCSV even better and faster. Right now, I’m working on enabling it to handle significantly larger and more complex spreadsheet portfolios.”
Sam says: “I studied computing at university but in my final year I was more focused on making music. I was having some success as a music producer, mixing and publishing music.
“A couple years later, I came back to computing. I worked for a company as a web developer. But I had the itch to build my own apps.
Sam Barrowclough
“Funded by savings and some freelance work, I was able to re-launch with my own business, building, publishing and selling software tools.
“I saw how a select few developers, guys who had jumped into AI early, had enjoyed huge successes very quickly.
“I built ChatCSV in just over two weeks and launched via social media. Right away, I had amazing feedback and got a big boost online from tech influencers.”
Karen Buchanan Principal, Burnley College
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