One of the things that sets my team apart is our ability to dig up remarkably obscure information and use our insight to connect it to other digital resources. Sometimes these resources connect to obvious online repositories (Google, Twitter, Facebook, Yelp), while at other times it connects to second and third tier data (home sales, political contributions, census data, employee lists.)

The most interesting part of our work is between the connection of digital information and real world information that has often been ignored for months, years or even decades. New strategic and tactical information allows us to redesign business models and locate areas of efficiency, risk and opportunity (sample connection points for digital and real world data include human resources, stock changes, executive communication, employee management, customer care, fulfillment, sales, etc.) Continue Reading »

I don’t talk too much about the business of making businesses: but having been through the hurdles a few times and having sat on almost every side of the table, I wanted to share some of my lessons learned.

First off… money is nice, but it isn’t the end goal of venture capital or growing a gigantic business. The experience and talent VC’s can bring to a start-up can be immense (or completely void) and the biggest asset usually becomes the investor’s network.

So from my viewpoint, the three main assets in order of importance:

• Network
• Expertise / Talent
• Money Continue Reading »

The art of perfecting a business is not in changing the way the entire process functions, but to understand how small functions create bit changes across the enterprise.

Case example: when I was at Verizon, one of my success stories was understanding how a very simple task was currently being implemented thousands of times per day by over 3500 workers. With some technical understanding and business application, I managed to shave off a few minutes from the process. Continue Reading »