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Shawn Wilkie

Talkatoo is an affordable, subscription-based desktop dictation software that enhances your workflow by using speech-to-text capabilities, so you finish your documentation in half the usual time.

Talkatoo was founded with one goal in mind. Our goal is to make the day-to-day lives of veterinary professionals better. With Talkatoo, you’ll save significant time on tedious record-keeping and documentation every day to reduce burnout and get back to doing more of what you love.

Talkatoo’s core values are:

  • Collaborative
  • Honesty
  • Good humour
  • Hard working
  • Ability to adapt and adjust
  • Reliable

Tell us about yourself?

I’ve been a serial entrepreneur for all of my life. I had my first company when I was 16 and have tried my hand at running all sorts of different businesses. Most of the companies that I have started have all focused around technology. Several years ago, I was selling dictation software made by another company as a reseller. During that time, I saw a huge need for a veterinary-specific version, and that’s how Talkatoo came to be.

If you could go back in time a year or two, what piece of advice would you give yourself?

Yeah, I would say it would have to be always to trust your gut. If something doesn’t feel right, more than likely, it’s not.

What problem does your business solve?

Medical documentation for veterinarians is a very arduous process. Talkotoo software allows veterinary professionals several different ways to increase their efficiency, whether it’s our desktop dictation software or are fully managed remote scribe offering the problem that we’re solving – getting more done in less time.

What is the inspiration behind your business?

Veterinary medicine is an industry that has a large number of challenges. The people that make up this industry are some of the kindest hardest-working people I’ve ever worked with. So there’s a problem that needs to be solved, and that’s why our purpose is to give these professionals more time back in their day.

What is your magic sauce?

What makes Talkatoo unique is that we’re not just a dictation software. We’re a suite of tools that can be used on any device to allow veterinary professionals to get through their work using their voice instead of their keyboard. The things that make us unique is the fact that we’re easy. We work everywhere, and we really focus on making our customers more efficient.

What is the plan for the next 5 years? What do you want to achieve?

The vision for the company was to make the tools that we’re creating accessible on every device and work in every field. We’ve come a long way to completing that vision, and we’ve almost arrived there. What’s next is looking at other verticals and continuing to help veterinary professionals get more time back in their day, ideally. We’re looking to grow the company and sell it within the next five years.

What is the biggest challenge you’ve faced so far?

The biggest challenge for us has been changing management. Veterinary professionals that we work with have worked the same way, in some cases, for 20 years. Teaching them a new way of work, even though it’s more efficient, has proven very challenging. And it’s actually caused us to have to create new products that we didn’t even think about when we started the company. Adapting to customers’ needs, sometimes it’s challenging, but listening to customers and building in software that works for them has the power to change the industry.

How can people get involved?

We’re always looking to hire bright people to help us fulfill our mission. If you’d like more information, you can check out the career section of our website at Talkatoo.com or message me directly on LinkedIn.