Personal Update
Who wants to be a podcast guest?
I talk a lot about the value of data and the associated value-chain and wanted to share some of the companies I’ve been working with in an advisory capacity at the forefront of data productization and value realization.
As you may gather from the companies below, I have a “pick-and-shovel” thesis on data monetization and product creation, and am very fortunate to witness these teams leading the way. I have strong conviction that these are the next generation of data industry leaders, with some building on prior efforts, and others charting entirely new paths for industries and companies of all sizes to maximize the potential of data.
One of the most rewarding things has been seeing the positive client reception as each company provides a solution to long-standing industry problems, led by teams which have experienced those problems first hand. It has also been great to see some of these companies partner with each other to improve the client journey through the value-chain.
If you’re interested in learning more or partnering with any of these companies, or just like to chat all things data, shoot me a note by replying to this email!
Oh, and it wouldn’t be right to publish this in my newsletter without memes for each company.
What is my data worth?
Gulp Data provides data valuation services to understand the value of data at the earliest stage of data commercialization. I met the Gulp team from an intro following a market map I had created. We immediately hit it off discussing the challenges of building the case for data monetization, and a more accurate ROI model. Fast forward to today and I’m blown away by the growth and how Gulp established themselves as the leader in data valuations, powering the model for top consulting firms, and recently launching a native app and partnership with Snowflake. Gulp is based in Puerto Rico, so I’m going to unofficially tease a Data Conference under the Giant Banyan Tree at the ESJ in the future :)
Transforming messy data into business insights and new revenue streams
FirstParty specializes in providing businesses with the capabilities to successfully organize, validate, and deploy their data assets. More simply, the company is solving the “okay, we have a ton of data, seems like it could be super valuable, anyone know how to extract insights from this stuff?” problem in a very data-owner friendly business model.
FirstParty works side by side with companies, filling whatever gaps exist for their clients, to generate new data insights for internal use and external commercial applications. The team has leveraged decades of experience in the alternative data space to create a next generation platform with all the tools, technologies, and domain knowledge required to transform raw data into insight.
I first met Alex Nephew back in 2015 when he was running 7Park Data (later acquired by Vista Equity Partners). While Alex couldn’t convince me to join 7Park (or so I’ll keep telling myself that as it wasn’t my best interview), it started a relationship at my earliest days of exposure to the data world.
I love that this industry remains ripe for new models and innovative approaches, and FirstParty seems to have found a value niche for all types of companies to tap into expertise and tech that simply solves some of the most common and critical data challenges that still remain for most.
Their tier 1 clients span companies who are new to data initiatives, those with strong data IQ but have never monetized data, as well as some of the largest data companies in the world looking for extra horsepower - the common theme is a need for external help to execute on a highly strategic initiative.
Deliver anywhere your clients want
Bobsled is a data sharing platform that allows data providers to share data directly into customer's cloud storage and data warehouses without leaving their own. With Bobsled, providers integrate once and then can efficiently and securely manage cloud delivery across their entire customer base through an intuitive UI or powerful set of APIs. Bobsled works with data providers and SaaS companies of all types who are sharing data internally or externally.
I met the Bobsled team on an intro from a friend in growth equity. I was immediately impressed with the team and loved the concept (if you can’t tell, I’m a big fan of companies solving industry-wide problems as a neutral player). After a few convos, they asked if I would jump on the sled as an Advisor. Fast forward to today and Bobsled has raised a $22M Series A led by Madrona and Greycroft, supported data and software companies of all sizes on their data distribution and delivery, and provided a solution to the industry to help speed up data commerce and reduce the whack-a-mole data providers have been playing trying to keep up with the adoption of various cloud platforms by their end clients.
How do I incorporate data into my process and make sense of it all?
Exabel’s code-free platform integrates 50+ datasets with fundamental data sources like Visible Alpha, FactSet, and proprietary internal feeds. Their advanced analysis and visualization platform is flexible enough to customize KPI mappings beyond top level metrics, view point-in-time consensus revisions, blend and model multiple data sources, redistribute findings to teams, and more beyond simply backtesting for correlation.
I previously ran a similar concept business, Datavore, so I am a big believer in code-free data platforms that are purpose-built for investment research. I met the Exabel team during the WFH pandemic days when they created the Weekly Data Clubhouse Chat (wtf is Clubhouse?!). I was at FactSet at the time and while clicking through the profiles in the room, I realized a colleague, Brendan Gay, was dialed in. Never having met before, I chatted him on Teams and that was the start of a great friendship with Brendan, who later joined Exabel where he is currently Director of Partnerships.
Bringing it all together with life cycle management for data exchange
Libra is building the future of data product life cycle management. The company helps data product & business teams manage data contracts with customers, partners, and vendors at each stage of the data exchange life cycle.
I met the founders off an intro from a friend at a large data vendor (someone else I actually initially met from the market map). It was clear to me that not only did they have an interesting solution, but they were experienced practitioners who dealt with the problems of data product management and B2B data exchange first hand throughout their careers.
Libra is in build-mode working with a number of leading companies as design partners and beta testers. If interested in learning more or being a beta tester, let me know.
Bringing simplicity in information sourcing to complex subject domains
Mindgram is on a mission to organize information intelligently and accelerate research workflows across complex subject domains. The company provides an AI-powered research intelligence platform, with their flagship Clinical Edge product purpose-built for biopharma and biotech research.
I met Shrey Verma early last year off an intro from a friend in private equity at a firm which owned Shrey’s prior employer, Reorg Research. What stood out to me about Shrey was how humble, collected, and thoughtful he was in his approach, and his own research-driven approach to product development and go-to-market strategy. Shrey also brought on another Advisor, Dane Quigley, who I had the opportunity to work with at FactSet and previously led product management at Evaluate Pharma.
It’s been exciting to see the client reception and early adoption by leading life sciences companies and investors, and I’m amazed at how much product development has taken place in such a short time since inception, already positioning on-par and in some areas much more advanced than some of the large research platform incumbents.
I’m joining my friend Evan Schnidman as Co-Host of the I See Data People podcast. We’re exploring some new formats for panel discussions with thought leaders across data verticals. It won’t just be financial data, we’re aiming to follow the typical newspaper sections: business, economy, sports, politics, arts, and entertainment. Pretty much everything other than back page classifieds and obituaries (though there is probably data related to both). We have some great lineups set already, but if you’re interested in participating or have a recommendation for someone else, please get in touch.
I was fortunate to be the first guest on the podcast when it launched last year. Have a listen to my episode here.
Aside from advisory roles, in early December I launched AggKnowledge with my Co-Founder and old colleague, Bill Ronkoski. Bill and I worked together at GLG, the largest expert network. Since leaving, we’ve both remained passionate about the expert-based research and knowledge sharing industries. Bill and I caught up last summer and were talking about a persistent problem in the industry, which has only gotten worse - the expert experience. Being solution oriented, we set out on a mission to improve the fractured relationship between individuals and knowledge communities, which led us to Jon Zajac, our Co-Founder & CTO. Jon was previously in engineering leadership roles at hyper-growth companies including HubSpot and Teamshares, and has a great mix of large company and startup experience. With Jon on the team, the three of us are now off to the races building data enrichment tooling and front-end products.
With AggKnowledge, expert networks, survey panels, market research firms, and other knowledge economy players have access to a previously inaccessible data enrichment ecosystem, improving their outreach accuracy and operational efficiency. Individual experts can commercialize their expertise by leveraging a unified platform with connectivity across the various channels, reducing the time it takes to respond, improving opportunity matching, and improving the overall experience.
It’s Pronounced Data Newsletter - yes, the thing you’re reading right now. Don’t worry, I’ll still make time. After all, the perk of my week is curating and making memes (yes, I make about half of the ones you see each week).