About the Company

Tinq.ai is a Natural Language Processing (NLP) toolkit designed to simplify the integration of AI capabilities into various applications. It offers several tools, including a paraphraser, sentiment analysis, entity recognition, and classifiers. These features allow businesses to automate tasks and streamline workflows related to text processing. Launched in beta in July 2021, it became publicly available in October 2021 and has since grown to 34 paying customers.

One of the company's key selling points is its affordability compared to competitors, offering robust NLP services at a fraction of the cost. This makes Tinq.ai an attractive option for businesses looking for customizable AI solutions without investing in expensive custom development. Kandine emphasizes the importance of delivering a "plug-and-play" API, making it accessible even for non-technical users.

The platform has a user-friendly interface, allowing users to track API usage easily. Over time, the design has evolved based on feedback from its initial users, helping make it even more intuitive and simple to use.

Idea Behind Company

Boulama Kandine’s journey into AI began long before Tinq.ai. At 18, he founded his first software company in Niger, giving him valuable insights into what business owners need to improve productivity. The onset of the pandemic in 2020 highlighted the need for automation, especially for customer service and IT departments handling numerous client requests. Kandine noticed a gap in the market for affordable NLP tools and saw an opportunity to enter the AI space.

With a passion for machine learning and NLP, he started researching existing platforms and found that most were overpriced or too complex. Kandine built a paraphraser, summarizer, and classifier using open-source models from Google, which he fine-tuned for better performance. He successfully pitched this concept to his clients, who appreciated the cost-effective solution. This process validated his idea to develop Tinq.ai further.

Kandine believed that with good preparation and planning, many startup failures could be avoided. His deep experience in API development and machine learning helped him create a functional prototype in just a few weeks, which he tested with early users.

Creating the Company

The creation process for Tinq.ai started with feedback from initial clients who tested the first version of the paraphraser, summarizer, and classifier. Kandine focused on building a platform that was simple enough for non-technical users while also powerful for more complex use cases. Learning machine learning techniques on the go, Kandine leveraged cloud credits to access the computational power needed to fine-tune models.

He spent time refining the user experience by gathering feedback from his early testers. Initially, there was no user interface, just a simple gauge diagram showing API usage. However, after weeks of development and more feedback, a basic UI began to take shape, ultimately evolving into what is now available on the Tinq.ai platform.

The focus on creating an intuitive user experience has been a cornerstone of Tinq.ai's development. Kandine made sure to continually iterate based on user feedback, adding new features like classification templates, which allow users to create custom classifiers quickly and easily.

Launching the Business

Interestingly, Tinq.ai did not have a formal launch. Instead, Kandine shared updates about the platform with his Twitter audience, which helped attract early users. These initial testers spread the word within their communities, helping the platform grow organically. The lack of a traditional marketing strategy did not hinder the platform’s early success.

Around November 2021, growth plateaued, prompting Kandine to optimize the platform for SEO. This led to Tinq.ai being prominently featured in Google searches for "paraphrasing API," resulting in a steady influx of sign-ups. In January 2022, Kandine also launched a free version of the paraphraser on rewrite.app, which became a significant source of traffic for Tinq.ai.

Although the platform had not yet become profitable, most of its growth was driven by word-of-mouth and SEO efforts. Kandine's next step was to build a community around Tinq.ai and introduce affiliate marketing to further drive user engagement.

Earnings

As of January 2022, Tinq.ai generates about $3,500 in monthly recurring revenue (MRR) from 34 paying customers. The platform has grown organically, with zero dollars spent on advertising. Kandine attributes this growth to engaging directly with users through live chat tools like Crisp.chat and incorporating their feedback into the product’s development.

The paraphrasing API became one of Tinq.ai's most popular offerings, helping drive its user base. By continually improving features based on real user needs, the platform has built a loyal following. Looking ahead, Kandine hopes to reach $10,000 MRR and scale the business further by introducing affiliate marketing and continuing to engage with users. Despite using free credits for AI model training, he anticipates having to cover these costs soon but remains optimistic about the platform’s future growth.