Being recognized as a successful woman in tech is a huge accomplishment, but there are those who are also quick to point out that gender is just one of many aspects a person has to offer the world. Tongtong Gong (pictured), co-founder and chief operating officer of Amberdata Inc., was recently awarded one of the Top Women Entrepreneurs in Cloud by CloudNOW for her work co-founding Amberdata, which monitors and analyzes blockchain data.

“I always consider being female as an attribute of me,” Gong said. “My gender doesn’t define me. It doesn’t constrain me. It’s just who I am. And I’m also an engineer. I’m also incredibly curious all the time. I’m also bubbly. I’m also a wife. I’m also a daughter. So, there’s just many attributes of me.”

Gong spoke with Lisa Martin (@LisaMartinTV), host of theCUBE, SiliconANGLE Media’s mobile livestreaming studio, during the CloudNOW “Top Women in Cloud” Innovation Awards event in Menlo Park, California. They discussed Amberdata and opportunities with blockchain. 

Bringing Amberdata into fruition

Amberdata was born out of the desire to analyze blockchain data, which can be incredibly immutable and hard to access — just like a fly covered in amber, which is the concept behind the name of the company.

“Without a tool, a platform like us, you can’t possibly count all the bubbles in the amber,” Gong said. “We help you extract the bubbles from the amber, the flies from the amber, and analyze it.”

During the initial stages of starting the company, there were countless meetings to talk to people about the idea behind Amberdata. “We’d talk to anyone about our idea — looking for advice, looking for validation,” Gong stated. “That’s really what led us to get the funding.”

Though she doesn’t let her gender completely define her, Gong also does affirm that her more traditionally feminine attributes of connection, community and conversation were a huge advantage in helping Amberdata get off the ground.

“In the beginning, you really try to define and refine the idea and the product,” Gong said. “You really can’t get answers unless you talk to lots of people — and … being a female, it really helps me just to talk to people all day long.”

Here’s the complete video interview, part of SiliconANGLE’s and theCUBE’s coverage of the CloudNOW “Top Women in Cloud” Innovation Awards event:

Photo: SiliconANGLE