Jiazhu Hu is an engineer who noticed that many data-structuring platforms have limitations that cause delays and headaches.
After noticing that others were facing similar issues, Hu decided to use his background in tool development to create TablDA, a Cary-based startup that aims to solve the issues associated with teams and other related parties trying to share and work on the same body of data.
Hu said that TablDA’s name is a combination of the words table, data and application. The platform is a space for managing data, creating custom applications and collaborating and sharing data with others. He said the platform also helps streamline the workflow process.
“Our goal is to boost the productivity for people who are working around structured data,” Hu said.
While Hu said that tools like Excel and Google Sheets are sometimes good options, those platforms limit what you can do on them. He said that they do not have data tabs that would increase productivity through being able to do things such as rate task performance, save items like documents and pictures, or easily share data.
“Those problems are critical for productivity and collaboration,” he said. “And why not me to go [create] such a tool?”
Hu said he noticed that the data on the currently available applications that are similar to TablDA are linked and not independent, making personalization difficult.
In the past, Hu has developed tools such as one for internal database management, which has prepared him for this venture.
Depending on how much information someone may be trying to share, how often it is being updated and how sensitive it may be, Hu noticed that these factors made data sharing a cumbersome process. To alleviate this, he said that one of TablDA’s features allows users to choose the specific information they want to share. He also said that the platform allows users to define different views, meaning only specific columns can be seen and/or edited by certain people.
“You can just define that one definition for the range and the actions for all customers,” Hu said.
Some other features of TablDA’s offering include its built-in conversion which allows sharing efficiency between different parties, the dependent drop-down lists, branching and conditional logic, various display formats and more. TablDA is also user-friendly and customizable, which makes it easy to navigate.
TablDA will feature a SaaS business model with the option for either a monthly or annual subscription. He said that there will be a base subscription that will contain the main model of TablDA, then add-ons based on the user’s preferences.
Although Hu said his initial marketing will be focused on the telecom industry, he did say that it is meant to be a general tool that can be used by anyone.