Unleashing Potential From Student Days to Startup Success

Unleashing Potential From Student Days to Startup Success

Welcome back to the Innovative Business Visions Series, where we bring our alumni’s phenomenal entrepreneurship and innovation stories to you. Next in the series are the co-founders of Dayta AI – Alex CHU, BBA Finance and Operations Management (2017), and Patrick TU, BBA General Business Management (2018) – who are also CFO and CEO respectively.

Whether it reminds you of the X-men character or the one-eyed giant from Greek mythologies, Dayta AI’s signature product Cyclops is a cloud-based AI software for retailers that combines big data and in-person shopping experiences. Since its launch in 2018, the software has revolutionized how retailers capture and analyze data collected from brick-and-mortar stores.

The idea for Cyclops was developed by Alex and Patrick at the Moet Hennessy Innovation Challenge 2018, where they won first place. And their entrepreneurial success can be traced back to their student days at HKUST Business School. Let’s explore how their studies helped them become co-founders of an award-winning AI software company.

Practical Curriculum Drives Entrepreneurial Agility 

Alex and Patrick began their college life at HKUST back in 2013. But they didn’t get to know each other until 2015 when they became tutors in the same tutoring center. They found their mutual passion for entrepreneurship from the practical aspects of their curriculum valuable. Analyzing business case studies with tools like the SWOT analysis framework allowed Alex to gain vital knowledge on the challenges of bringing innovative products to market. “We did the same analysis for Dayta AI,” he explained, “which led us to pinpoint our positioning and competitive edge.”

Patrick, who minored in entrepreneurship, accumulated real-life business experience through The Base, where he became passionate about entrepreneurship. He also found his first internship and met his mentor there.

Both co-founders consider these hands-on experiences to be essential in developing their agility as entrepreneurs. “At the end of the day,” Patrick admitted, “it’s about how you adapt that gets you through the ups and downs of entrepreneurship”.  

The Importance of Diversity 

Looking back, Alex believed that having a diversified education in year one helped set them apart from other entrepreneurs. “Learning about different majors in our first year opened our perspectives towards a multitude of topics and areas of interest,” said Alex, “This is crucial for entrepreneurs because we’re constantly involved across different roles and functions.”

Speaking of diversity, Patrick also appreciated that being immersed in a culturally diverse student community helped him develop his unique presentation and communication flair, enhancing his capabilities as the external-facing co-founder of Dayta AI. “My conversational English skills have improved through interacting with students from different cultures. Being a bilingual entrepreneur increased my confidence in communicating our ideas to local and international clients and investors.”

Patrick (in the middle) and Alex (first from right) found their mutual passion for entrepreneurship when they met in the same tutoring center. 

Undivided by Rejection 

As young co-founders of a software company, Alex and Patrick faced multiple challenges, including gaining investors’ trust. Although failure is a regular occurrence for any new entrepreneur, they remain focused on learning from their experiences to improve their investor pitches.

Additionally, preparing financial projections for investors proved to be a labor-intensive task that required specific hard skills. “Luckily, I studied startup financing at the School,” said Alex, “which gave us a better understanding of investors’ expectations and allowed us to structure a credible financial model for pitching.” 

Continuous Learning and Beyond  

Moreover, Alex and Patrick believe that continuous learning has been critical to their success as entrepreneurs. “We have to keep learning to stay ahead of the curve. It’s essential to upskill and be adaptable in the face of new challenges,” said Patrick.

Looking ahead, the Dayta AI team is further developing Cyclops’ algorithm to offer customers new data types and enhance the integration with clients’ existing software. Beyond the company, Alex and Patrick are striving to exit Dayta AI in the next five years. “There are other areas we want to explore,” Patrick revealed, “We talk about technology every day. Exiting will give us more time to explore other interests.”