Alternative Data Weekly #204
September 20, 2024
Thanks for being here!
The theme that emerged in this week’s email is … seeing data business models and frameworks maturing.
QUOTES
“As AI continues to narrow its focus, the demand for high-quality datasets to support these targeted use cases will only increase. This shift presents a considerable opportunity for both investors and innovators.” - Sebastiaan Vaessen
News Articles
Podcasts
Cool Charts
Final Thoughts (content)
#1 – Sebastiaan Vaessen published The Next Big Data Gold Rush: Why Vertical AI Needs Specialized Data Providers Now. September 2024.
My Take: What will be the differentiators? The author offers us 5 features of winning offerings: 1- high-stakes use cases, 2- comprehensive coverage, 3- AI enablement, 4- workflow integration, and 5- proprietary data. See this related article from ModuleQ talking about role-specific tools being the next big thing in AI.
#2 – Tristan Handy published The Analytics Development Lifecycle (ADLC). September 2024.
My Take: The author’s stated goal in publishing this whitepaper is to create a consistent, shared framework for a mature analytics workflow: the ADLC. Very readable and digestible, so don’t see “25 pages” and stop there. My experience with ADLC has been very ad-hoc, with daily fire drills to pull the right information at the right time (fingers crossed that it is accurate). Taking a step back to review the lifecycle is a needed practice and will accelerate the industry’s path to maturity. Tristan lays out a nice simple framework for how to start thinking about this stuff. See below for some cool pictures from the article.
#3 – World of DaaS published DaaS needs to focus on product and differentiation, not plumbing. September 2024.
My Take: This is a summary of an interview with Bobsled’s Jake Graham. Bobsled is paving the way for a more efficient and scalable data ecosystem, transforming how companies approach DaaS. This is a great example of the tools being developed removing friction from the interoperability problem.
What else I am reading:
Sven Balnojan’s The 7 Data Product Strategies (new book!)
Sven Balnojan’s AI-Augmented Decision-Making in Business - How Can It Enhance Your Strategy?. September 2024.
Bloomberg’s Data Spotlight: Transaction data & credit backtesting. September 2024.
Alastair Walker’s Revolutionising Insurance With Alternative Data. September 2024.
Aakarsh Ramchandani published We just launched our early-access program for Bigdata.com. Here's why you should care. September 2024.
Don Wood published GUI Overload: Too much of a good thing for Alternative Data. September 2024.
Amplify Data published Case Study: project44 Unlocks the Power of Self-Serve, Customizable Data. September 2024.
Source: The Alternative Data Podcast is back! Mark Fleming-Williams interviews Tim Baker. September 2024.
My Take: First ½ of the podcast is a background on CUSIP, FIGI, etc. This is a wonderful overview of what is going on in that space. CUSIP – unique identifier (started in 1960s) for stock trading; every trade should have a unique identifier. Now part of a global numbering system; all contribute to ISIN (S&P became operator of CUSIP service). IHS and S&P merged in 2019; the European Commission said they needed to sell CUSIP service. Tim saw this as an opportunity to open up the CUSIP. A paper published 4 weeks ago (before the podcast) recommended the use of FIGI & not endorsing CUSIP because it is a closed system.
“CUSIP is a tax on innovation” minute 11:30
The second ½ of the podcast focuses on Tim’s recent acquisition of the assets of a business that IEX was closing that focused on making market data more widely available … Tim & his co-founders bought the underlying technology/software/databases, etc, as of 13th of August the deal was done. According to Tim, they’ve just bought a jet fighter; we haven’t quite decided where we’ll take it on the first flight. I love this story and will be watching closely & wishing them big success.
Highlights (44-minute run time):
Minute 01:20 – Tim Baker’s background (UBS, Thomson Reuters, IEX, etc)
Minute 04:40 – part 1 of interview: CUSIP background & recent events
Minute 12:00 – FactSet bought CUSIP; followed by class action lawsuits
Minute 15:00 – the lawsuit is in the discovery phase; the US government initiative to improve data
Minute 17:30 – FIGI vs CUSIP lawsuit
Minute 24:00 – part 2 of the interview: Tim has acquired the former IEX data business that he operated
Minute 28:30 – what was bought from IEX? “The easy button for market data”
Minute 34:00 – use cases (for example Duck Duck Go)
Minute 38:00 – Tim is seeing support from many angles
Minute 40:00 – current employer Expero
Source: Neudata published The Future of Alternative Data. September 2024.
Lots of good info in here. The headline is that Alternative Data budgets are expected to rise in 2025. Great news!
Some cool charts:
BONUS: Tristan Handy published The Analytics Development Lifecycle (ADLC). September 2024.
There is no single canonical version of the SDLC, but here is a common visual depiction.
As in the SDLC, the relationship between these stages is a loop. Here is how the stages logically relate to one another:
Source: Doing content right as a tech start-up
I enjoy putting this type of thing (ADW) together.
I like the framework provided in the article for the most effective types of content for the different stages of growth.
I started ADW because I felt like every time I talked to a prospective client I was asking for something (a trial, a payment, a follow up call, etc)…I could feel the prospect getting wary of me. I figured I was reading most of this stuff anyway & listening to most of these podcasts anywhay, why not just consolidate into a single deliverable and see who might have interest.
Creating something like this is a opportunity to offer something of value (perhaps that is debatable!) that demonstrates your engagement in the community, and build a personal brand.
And if you enjoy it, it is not as difficult.
