Alternative Data Weekly #209
October 25, 2024
Thanks for being here!
The theme that emerged in this week’s email is … striking the balance between data-driven and gut feel.
QUOTES
“…data needed to be the lifeblood of the operation, running through every part of the business—from product development to client delivery, and everything in between.” – Isaac Esseku
News Articles
Podcasts
Cool Charts
Final Thoughts (Creator Economy)
#1 – Isaac Isseku published Building a Data-Informed Organization: The Role of the COO. October 2024.
My Take: There is a balance to be struck between being data-driven and having the “gut feel”. Domain expertise certainly plays a role & the importance of domain knowledge is evident to loyal readers of ADW. The authors write from the perspective of a COO, and highlights the importance of understanding the different needs & motivations of different groups (sales team vs product team, etc).
#2 – Benn Stancil published Is being data driven a fad?. October 2024.
My Take: I hope not! But while data is important and there is more available today than ever, animal spirits are alive & well…and matter just as much, if not more, than data (see meme stock phenomena).
BONUS: Various authors published Data Analysis in the Era of Generative AI. September 2024. “Furthermore, AI systems, particularly LLMs, can tailor the content and format of reports to suit various audiences and devices by dynamically adjusting tone, detail level, and emphasis.” (my take: personalization is key!)
What else I am reading:
CyberSyn Announced They are Winding Down. October 2024.
Joseph Politano published The AI Investment Boom. October 2024.
Ergest Xheblati published Good Questions Bad Questions. October 2024.
Seattle Data Guy published The Data Leader’s Guide to Hiring and Team Building - Part 1. October 2024.
Michael Mayhew published The Importance of Backtests Performed by Data Vendors. October 2024.
Dow Jones and New York Post Sue AI Startup Perplexity, Alleging ‘Massive’ Copyright Infringement. October 2024.
Source: Eric Traub of The Building Bridges podcast interviewed Matt Ober. October 2024.
My Take: Eric asked one of the first questions I would have asked: relative to larger cap, more mature markets, how do you apply data to the early-stage investment process? Matt specifically indicated they make sure early-stage companies are developing the right infrastructure (collecting, storing, organizing, using) around data. Data is picks & shovels of the investment world. One other interesting point was Matt indicated early-stage companies today need to build a real business relative to past cycles when it was all about growth.
Highlights (17-minute run time):
Minute 00:30 – Matt’s background
Minute 03:00 – how does data play into early-stage investing?
Minute 06:00 – VC as a piece of a larger portfolio
Minute 08:00 – good vs. great early-stage investor (domain knowledge, deal flow, training)
Minute 10:00 – key metrics as you move from Series A to Series B (are you executing?)
Minute 13:30 – under-the-radar trends in VC
Source: Peter Baumann published Data Contract - Q&A. October 2024.
A Data Contract is a formal agreement between a data producer and a data consumer.
BONUS: Wipro published New Data Shows Wealth Management Firms Winning with AI. October 2024.
Source: Ollie Forsythe published The Creator Economy 2025. October 2025.
This is a report worth reading if at all interested in the creator economy. We re in the very early innings of understanding how independent creators will impact the world. The massive difference in viewers between CNN and some independent news sources is amazing. For example, Joe Rogan has 14m followers on Spotify, 18m on Instagram, and 16m on YouTube. Among traditional cable, Fox News leads the way with 3.6m viewers nightly during prime time (almost all of them old).
"I am not a businessman, I am a business, man!" – Jay-Z
