[Kamal Datta] Welcome, Johan. Very glad to have you here. Thank you very much. Glad to be with you. Great. So, maybe we can start a little bit to understand your background a little bit with a quick introduction. [Johan Tigér] Yeah. I, well, I I work primarily with tech related issues in the in the endurance space industry, which is kind of of, hard to understand when you know how how I grew up, hating everything that had anything to do with sports. Watching sports, being in sports, you know, I just I just hated it. But I started running in 2,006, and somehow found a love for it. And, I wanted some kind of keep I wanted some way to keep track of my own running and got sick and tired of doing it in Excel or in notebooks. So since I'm a programmer, I started writing my own little runner's journal. Uh-huh. Invited my friends to join me, my running friends that is. And, all of a sudden, we were a couple of 1,000 people on my on my little platform. Mhmm. And long story short, I I was working with another Swedish company, that did almost the same. We launched our different systems 3 weeks apart or something like that Uh-huh. Without knowing about each other. And then we, we started a a small registration company. Okay. My my race, if you translate it to English, in Swedish. But then, for some reason, the Gothenburg half marathon, which is one of the biggest half marathons in the world Uh-huh. They were on the hunt for a registration system to replace the one they had. I see. And they found something in what we had developed, so they bought it. And they also hired me to develop it further to even more adapt to their needs instead of them having to adapt to how the platform works. Mhmm. So, I I developed that system for them, and they liked me. I like working for them. So I ended up as a technical director for that race. I worked there for 3 years before I started 3, 4 years. Before I started my own company, Tiger Tech, which kind of focuses on doing more or less what I did for that race, but for multiple races and other brands that are in this running sphere. Okay. So I had the privilege of working with brands like Garmin and New Balance and, Morton Sports Shield brand, which is from Sweden, actually. Oh, great. So it's a really great space to work in, I think. People who work in this, in the race or the running industry, they really do it because they have a passion for what they do. Absolutely. Yeah. [Kamal Datta] No. Thank you for sharing. It's exciting. A lot of things to unpack, that story just you told. So you build that app just for yourself or the software, and then you end up selling it to the Gothenburg half marathon organizers? [Johan Tigér] Yeah. For the registration system we built. Yes. Yeah. Okay. [Kamal Datta] Okay. Oh, that that's exciting. And you supported them for some time to build some new features and functionalities, as their technical director for some time. Right? Did you mention? [Johan Tigér] Yeah. Yeah. And, I mean, what we me and my friends started building that was really simple registration system. Instead of people just sending them money and send sending money in envelopes to the organizer, they could use our system. So it was really simple. Just, individual registration. No prepaid places or group registrations or anything like that. So there were Okay. Quite a few, features that had to be built to actually support what a major event needs. Okay. Okay. And, what drove you to start your own, company, TigerTech? I think I I started it in, in the middle of the pandemic. Okay. My wife is in finance or economics. So I was I had kind of quite the heart rate when I approached her and said, I wanna start my own business targeting the event industry in the middle of a pandemic. Yeah. Yeah. But, she agreed with me that that, there might be there might be something here. Okay. And, I mean, we were in the pandemic, and they I mean, every physical event was canceled. Right. Everyone went virtual or digital or whatever you wanna call it. Yeah. So I think I got a really good, head start or really good push start, whatever you wanna call it Yeah. Since the entire industry was looking for virtual or digital substitutions to what they normally did. Oh, okay. Yeah. I think, I'm seeing the rebounding numbers post pandemic. Right? Especially, you know, you had a huge pause on the running of folks that run-in in races. The rebound number are exponential now. It is pre pandemic plus more, as you see the numbers across races or people who picked up running or endurance sports during the pandemic, and now they're going back to races and all. It is phenomenal. So the growth has happened during the pandemic. Now you can just catapult that, based on you know, pandemic just helped to as a catalyst. Yeah. I think since gyms and stuff like that were closed as well Yeah. In big parts of the world, people found running, and now they also find racing. It it's the same with this, the Gothenburg half marathon, which are still one of my biggest clients. They, I think they're closing registration tomorrow. The race is 1 mile month out. We haven't we haven't closed registration before the start of the race in probably 8 to 10 years. Oh, wow. So so it's really rebounding. [Kamal Datta] Yeah. That's that that's good to say that as well. So for our audience, Johan, what does TigerTech do? Like, what products and services you offer? I'd say that we specialize in digitization and digital activations for the endurance sports industry. [Johan Tigér] As I said, the Gothenburg half marathon, one of my biggest clients, I still help them with with a lot of that's more consultancy, helping them to understand what's possible in a technical sense to do. How can we use the data that we have, to engage more with the with the participants or to leverage more data to the, the sponsors of the race or whatever it could be? Mhmm. But then I worked a lot with, we have a Swedish car brand called Polestar. Oh, okay. Mhmm. And I helped them with an activation last year where every runner that finished the race got a photo of Polestar with a roof clock. Nice. Lead vehicle, but they've got their own personal time Mhmm. Digit digitally overlaid on that image, and they got that within 30 seconds 20:30 seconds after finishing. Okay. So I built an integration with the timer. Mhmm. I did a project now in this year for New Balance in Europe. A big Strava challenge that gathered 417 participants, which I built a, a website where people could get kind of their, well, an equivalent to Spotify's 0 year in music. So it's a summer a summary of your of your path or your route through the activation. What have you actually done during this 30 days? Because the activation was or the challenge on struggle was 30 days. Okay. Let's say, in in essence, it's about using data that is available, doing something fun with it to present to participants in races or to, as in the New Balance case, to to the participants in this challenge. Mhmm. There's a there's a huge amount of data that can be used, but, of course, you have to to use it restrictively as well with all regulations as GDPR as we have Right. Eastern Europe. Right. And I know you have the equivalents in the US. Yep. So, yeah, using data to make fun things. That's what I so I went through, some of the projects you did on your website, and that really sounds fun. And if I'm getting the services that you offer, you work with race organizers or whoever is putting a race together to make some meaningful, the magic of technology to give some experience to the runners or the people who are participating in those races, it's a fun experience. Right? And this is pretty, a lot of fun to do. Like, you take a challenge that a organizer is throwing at you and use technology to make that fun goal in a reality. And that's what I'm saying that use case that you example give an example of that sounds like a lot of fun, and I'm sure the participants who actually get get that, you know, felt special after they finish the race. Yes. Yes. And I think if if there is a partner to race I mean, every race is dependent on their partners or sponsors or whatever you wanna call them. Yeah. And when I as a runner and that's partly why this is so fun to work with because I can I can test all my innovations myself? Yeah. Yeah. But if I as a runner get a message from, let's just say, from Budweiser Uh-huh. After finishing a race. I'm high on endorphins. After running the race, hopefully, I set a new PB, or at least the race was fun, and I feel joy over that. And I get a message from Budweiser saying, congratulations. It's personalized. It's clearly targeted towards me, maybe even based on my age and my sex, and that I'm from Sweden or whatever. Yeah. I feel really seen and appreciated. And in that sense, I get a very positive message or positive feeling about the sender, in this case, Budweiser. Right. So I think it's really great for building a brand feeling. That's that's the right word to put it as well. Now I get to learn about or came to know about TigerTech when I read a post on running USA Magazine about this, software that you did called Run Rhythm. And I found it very fascinating, like, what you're trying to do. [Kamal Datta] Can you share a little bit more about how that project came to being and what actually folks got out of it? Of course. The idea came from one of these activations that that I was talking about. I did a project in 2021, I think, no. 22 for New Balance in Spain Okay. [Johan Tigér] Where they were the part a a partner to the Valencia Marathon. Mhmm. And they wanted to have a 6 weeks a 6 weeks challenge on Strava. But that's I mean, Strava is awesome. I love Strava. But, but with these challenges, they're not so interactive. You can only see how far you've come in the in the in the overall. Mhmm. New Balance wanted to give the participants something along the way. Okay. So we built a system that integrated with Strava. And based on your mileage, every week, you collected points. I see. So if you did 10 kilometers, that's about 6 miles, I think. 1 week, then you got one point, and so on. And in the end, you could use these points in 3 different restaurants in Valencia or Barcelona Mhmm. To redeem or to buy breakfast with your friends. So so, basically, it was breakfast for, earn breakfast by running or buy breakfast by running kilometers. I see. And these points were then sent to digital wallet cards, both for Apple and Google. And I really liked working with this technology, and I saw the opportunity to actually build something that was very versatile. So I started taking bits and pieces of what I have learned during this that project with New Balance. And I put together run redeem, which is basically a system where you can design a a a digital card. What will it look like? Uh-huh. And you can also design the logic behind the card. So what kinds of interactions do you wanna have with the card? Do you want it to be connected to, Garmin Connect or to, Polar or. Mhmm. And then set up some gamification rules like saying you get one point per every 6 miles. You can interact with reality based on me as a cardholder. I can scan QR codes that you post in the real world. Just using my normal, smartphone camera. And that will also trigger actions on the card, giving me points or taking away points. Okay. So it's I'd say that it's a, it's a technology that could not be a it it couldn't be a loyal loyalty system, but it can be technology provider for loyalty systems or loyalty programs, where you want someone to to be loyal to your organization. And for every action they do with you, you reward them somehow. And then in the end, you but when you reach to certain level, then you might get something in return. Right. Right. [Kamal Datta] No. That sounds exciting because, you know, I I have a saying. Right? Especially, you know, you earn through your miles. Right? So, like, in a lot of folks, I know that, hey. I run because I have to have my beer. I have to earn my beer. So I I, you know, run a couple of miles and then I earn my beer. So that's how they think about it. That that you're giving in more of a, systematic way of thinking it can be anything as a reward, but you can customize it based on that. Now what state is it now? The, are folks using it? I know you did a special project for New Balance. Are folks using it now? [Johan Tigér] Yeah. I've had a couple of projects in it, short term, but there is a we had this advent calendar that that one, trail running community here in in Gothenburg, Sweden did last in in December. Oh, okay. Every year, you had a certain task, and then, if you were to run 7 kilometers, then we automatically checked your activities coming through these API connections from, from all certain tracking, tracking services. And so that well, you did an 8 point 4 kilometer run today, and the assignment was to run 7 kilometers. So here is your point. And we did I'm also working a bit with Congo River Marathon, in the Congo for Okay. Just for sending, participant information to the participants in their races. Mhmm. So instead of people having to search through an, an inbox that might be, as my personal inbox is, at least 20,000 unread emails because most of them are spam. Mhmm. But instead of searching for an email there saying which your what your start number is or which t shirt size did I actually select when I when I registered, we send them that info. And in the email, they can just tap a link, and save their participant info to a digital card, which will automatically appear on the lock screen of your iPhone when you're at the expo where you pick up your bib. And people just show that card and and pick up their bib and their t shirt, and they're happy. So it really simplified the process of, packet pickup for Carnival River Marathon. Oh, nice. Nice. But I say that it's a big interest from, everyone I'm talking to, both brands and races. But the big issue for people to actually jump on board is not what are we gonna reward people for doing, but what are they gonna get when they reach a certain level? Then we have to give something away. Right. And they don't like to give things away. They wanna get paid for their products, whatever it could be. If it's an infantry race or some sports fuel or sports drink or whatever. Right. So that's where, it's hard to sell. But everyone, like, loves the idea, and that that kinda keeps me going in, developing it further. Right. I believe in the idea. So it's just a matter of getting some traction. Right. Right. Is this most of the, like, okay, you reach certain points, the giveaway, the logistics around it. Obviously,the operationally in figuring out the partnerships, you know, what to give away, and also who are giving away, what does it need for them. So building this whole, logistical or the business aspects of it probably kinda needs to be considered when they're adopting this technology Yes. For sure. And me as a technician, I I I see only the, pros of using this system in a technical aspect. Right. But I also underestimate the impact that this will have on, a customer of mine's and marketing team. And as you say, they're logistics teams. They're gonna send things out to people because they reach these levels of points or whatever. Yeah. Yeah. So so I learned a lot during this process as well that it's just not it's not that easy as to to just adapt a software and get going. It's, Without marketing, you can have the best software in the world, but no one will see it. No one will notice it. That's for sure. That's for sure. Now it's a good way to put it. So, one thing I love to talk about on this podcast is getting your first customer. [Kamal Datta] If I heard you correct, so Gothenburg Marathon is or the half marathon is your the organizers are your first customer, right, for TigerTech? No. My first customers was to get a company called Transpiration here in Sweden. Oh, okay. So tell me the story a little bit because I like to hear about getting your you started a company, getting your first customer, and someone is willing to take out their wallet, say, okay. [Johan Tigér] I'm going to pay you for the service or product that you offer. Yeah. I think this is kind of kind of undramatic because Okay. I actually closed that deal with them before I started my business. So Ah. At least before I resigned from my position as a technical director for the race. Okay. So everything was really set from the beginning Mhmm. Which probably was one of the reasons why I dared to take that leap. Yeah. Yeah. And actually go on my own that I was guaranteed income for 6 months from my first, client. I see. Okay. But we built a we had we had some projects. We built a couple of apps for Stockholm Marathon, since this was probably early 2021. Everything was virtual, so we built them bespoke apps for tracking, tracking their virtual races. Mhmm. So it was fun. That's great. And so what state is TigerTech is now? Are you doing, helping our a lot of customers, or you are very selective on who you support or which projects you take on? No. But I try to focus on the endurance space. Yeah. Stay within sports. I think some people say, why don't you take projects from whatever company? It's still money. But I don't think I'm as I as I said in the beginning, I'm not in this for the money. Of course, I wanna be able to pay my bills. But I wanna do things that I love to do. Mhmm. And I want to work with people with passion, that have a passion for the same things more or less that I do. Mhmm. And, fortunately, when when I'm that picky, selecting clients in in the running space, or the endurance sports space, that kind of seems to be the the average Joe in this industry, that they are really passionate. Right. And I wouldn't say that I'm at a place right now, just yet, where I can be picky and say, no. I don't want this project because it doesn't sound fun, and I have 4 other clients in line. But I'm a normal Swedish work week is probably 40 hours, and I would say that I put in 50, 60 hours a week. So I I have I have work to do. Okay. That's great. But it but since it's fun work and since I love it, it doesn't really feel like working. It just feel like doing fun things. Yeah. [Kamal Datta] You're helping your fellow runners or endurance sports enthusiasts or organizers somewhere to be make some fun projects for sure. So what's next for what how do you see TigerTech going forward? Oh, good question. I'm more of a live for today kind of person. Okay. But but, yeah, I don't know where the interesting question is where does what happens with run redeem? Mhmm. If that gets traction, in my head, that could be really big. Mhmm. That could be a popular service, and that might end up in me having to hire people. [Johan Tigér] Today, I'm, I'm just a one man show. It's just me. TigerTech is what you see now. Mhmm. It could be like that anyway because I I feel like this year, specifically, I see more interest in the services that I offer. I have at least more inquiries from people that might want to do something. Mhmm. It hasn't gone that far yet that I have to say no to someone because I don't have time. But it might come through that in a in a in a future. Mhmm. But I'm hoping that combining kind of these services as, if we say, run redeem is more of a software as a service, with consultancy and contracting work, as with these activations. I think there's a bright future for TigerTech. That's great to know, and wish you all the best for sure. Now as you work on these custom projects or the need of different, organizers or, you know, different companies, what trends you are seeing, Johan? Do you see a trend, like, where the industry is going? Especially if you think about technology used in endurance sports. Yeah. I would say that and that that from what I've noticed, the one of the trends is definitely going more and more personal. And I mean Okay. If you if you boil it down to go back 5, 10 years maybe. Mhmm. The the end the entire digital industry, ecommerce or or whatnot, kind of changed the way that you send newsletters from having these mass emails that you were proud to say that you sent 5,000,000 copies of this newsletter to to your subscribers. Mhmm. You divided this into multiple, groups of people that and sent to if you're a woman, you get this email. If you're if you're a woman with between 40 50, you get this one. Right. If you primarily shop these kinds of clothes, then you get this one. And this I'd say that the endurance industry is a few years behind, but they've for sure adapted this for newsletters. But I'd say that it'll go even further. People are kind of used to how you see ads on Facebook or TikTok or whatever it could be that is super personalized to you and to what you usually watch on these platforms Mhmm. Or who your friends are. Mhmm. So as I said, I think in the beginning, getting something targeted to me as being, a white guy in his forties, with beard running a marathon around 4 hours, The more data you have, the more personal you can get. Mhmm. And then the impact of the mess message will be much greater. Okay. And that's And I'd say also fast deliveries of everything. People today won't don't wanna wait for I mean, in the in the running industry, go back 20 years, and then you had to wait until the day after the race to see your see your result maybe. Uh-huh. And today, everything gets delivered within milliseconds. Right. So, that I'd say. It's gonna be fascinating to see how AI will enter the running industry. Mhmm. Maybe not for races. I don't see but it could be just me being naive. But but I don't see how AI will will make a race better because the race is so far from from the digital space because you are alone on the hopefully, not alone, but but you are by yourself on the Right. On the course. Mhmm. But leading up to race, I mean, AI powered, training programs. They're already a thing. Right. How's that gonna evolve? And how in what air out what other areas can AI make an influence on, on the running industry? So I think we're in, we're in an exciting time where a lot can happen. Yeah. Yeah. No. That's definitely a couple of ideas you touched on. What I'm curious about it, do you see because you are a runner yourself. [Kamal Datta] Do you see the expectation is, you know, going in that hyper customized experience or, you know, the example you gave was kinda segmented, customers having a specialized or customized experience for that segment, like, you know, person in their forties, you know, having some set of communication experience versus someone in their twenties or, you know, fifties, different one. Is that you see over the years that the expectation has grown from the runners' point of view, or you think that, hey. Technology is coming. But as I'm seeing as a service provider or a race organizer, there's I want to bring in that experience that I'm seeing outside to the running community. Which way you are seeing or is both? Combination of both? [Johan Tigér] I think more the latter. Oh, is it? Okay. Because I think I think these kinds of things as segmentation and personalization probably has a lot more actual impact on, let's say, ecommerce. Right. Where you get where you can see momentaneous impact from changing from this mass email to segmented emails, and then you can measure the conversion rate between these 2. And this is probably astronomically higher when you do segmentation. Mhmm. And I think the effect of the segmentation is a bit less in running for his sports. Mhmm. But I definitely did think that it's kind of an expectation from, from the runners or the participants in races to get more or less the same kind of messaging from, from a risk organizer as they do from from, their favorite ecommerce, online store. Because otherwise, it feels like, oh, here's a newsletter from the eighties. Welcome. Yeah. Yeah. So I think it's, the running industry is good on developing their races. Right. But I think for these more peripheral, things like technology is for race, it's kind of they learn from other industries. That is true. [Kamal Datta] That is true. No. Thanks for, sharing this. It's great to know and the insight. Anyone who's looking to say, I'm very I'm a techie or I'm in technology, and I love endurance sports because you have you are a combination of both, and you, you know, you started TigerTech and it's building as you go. What would be your recommendation to those folks? Try to combine it. Somehow, there's a lot of companies, tech companies working focused on the sports industry. Right. And probably growing at a steadily pace as well. [Johan Tigér] So so try to I I say this to my kids as well. Try to find work where you where you enjoy spending time. So you don't feel that you have to force yourself to work, and you are bored or something like that at work every day and just look forward to the weekend or your, annual leave when you go for somewhere where you look wanna be. Yeah. Yeah. But since work is such a big part of your life, so much time of your life that you spend working, make sure that you really enjoy working. Right. And I haven't changed I haven't regretted my decision to start my own business working with the things that I love. Haven't regretted it for a second. Yeah. [Kamal Datta] Looks like definitely your energy, what you are doing. And Yeah. Wish you all the best. It was great having you, Johan, and I'm I'm wishing you all the best for TigerTech and what's coming ahead. [Johan Tigér] Thank you, and thank you for having me.