- It's Pronounced Data
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- Alt means Old
Alt means Old
Sorry Alt Data
Regularly scheduled programming to resume later today. Enjoy some different content this morning.
2023 By The Numbers
My friends at Live Data Technologies provided a recap of 2023 jobs in data. I’ve provided a few highlights below. For the full version including a great comments section, check out Jason’s post here.
So, what made 2023 such a good year for data?
AI runs on data
AI dominated 2023 and AI has an insatiable appetite for data. AI has been a massive forcing function for companies to get their data houses in order. Whether it is a startup using an AI tool, a major bank working AI into their offerings, or OpenAI training ChatGPT, AI is only as good as the data it is fed and trained on.
In God We Trust (All Others Bring Data)
2023 was a year in which many businesses faced a "return to rigor". And, rigor needs data. Across every business function, data is the foundation for better processes, better measurement, and better decisions.
Two great examples of this from 2023 are the rise of RevOps roles and the rise of data-driven VC (see the great content from Dr. Andre Retterath). Both functions are bringing historically "by feel" and "relationship-oriented" functions into the data era.
All the kids love data
From a sample of 2M+ new grads in 2022 and 2023, 2.6% (YoY change) more new grads started data jobs in 2023 versus 2022. The need for data isn't going anywhere and the pipeline of future data pros is strong.
In N’ Out
Earlier this week I asked the LinkedIn community what is In and what is Out for 2024 in data and research. Check out the post here and as promised, the list below:
In
This newsletter (thanks Brendan) and other industry podcasts, newsletters, webinars, and memes
Free data trials
Data feeds/streams (vs. static data)
Data storytelling
Code-free external data exploration and analysis tools
Data visualization (and see bullet above)
People going from “on the beach” to “back in the game”
Masters of Science in Analytics
Survey fraud prevention
Idea dinners
Low-Key Meetups and Chill Data Summits (see events section of the weekly newsletter)
Out
Cookies (except Levain)
SaaS seat licenses
Sales pitch happy hours
Emails that start with “Quick question”
"Alt Data" (not the concept or companies, but the term). As I recently learned from Thani Shamsi, "Alt" means "Old" or "Traditional" in German. The irony kills me
Return to office rhetoric
AI hallucination (let's hope)
2024 Crystal Ball
A roundup of interesting predictions for 2024
Snowflake Big Data Industry Predictions for 2024. BI analysts will have to uplevel. Today, business intelligence analysts generally create and present canned reports. When executives have follow-up questions, the analysts then have to run a new query to generate a supplemental report. In the coming year, executives will expect to interact directly with data summarized in that overview report using natural language. This self-service will free up analysts to work on deeper questions, bringing their own expertise to what the organization really should be analyzing, and ultimately upleveling their role to solve some of the challenges AI can’t. - Jeff Hollan, Director of Product at Snowflake
Gulp Data 2023 Highlights. In 2024, even more companies will prioritize treating their data as a fundamental business asset. Organizations have realized that neglecting data assets means missing out on opportunities to 💰 secure capital (data loan), 📈 boost enterprise value (data valuation), 💸 generate new revenue (data monetization). - Lauren Cascio, Founding Partner at Gulp Data
Thoughts Going Into 2024. We will see more pitch decks with seasoned founders who have a plan for profitability and no need to raise capital after their seed round. These businesses will spit off cash giving the founders more optionality on their future for the business. - Matt Ober, General Partner at Social Leverage
2024 is here... what's in store for fintech and financial services? CEO Succession and President/COO uptick - This 2023 trend will continue into next year. We see many top fintech businesses thinking through what their bench strength is now and what it will need to look like to run a successful long term business in this environment. - Jonathan Pomeranz, Partner, Head of Fintech & Financial Services at True Search
2024 Predictions. This will be an atypically busy year for the PE industry. We’ve now gone almost two years with relatively little capital returned to investors and less capital deployed as deal activity has dropped. This has (in part) made it harder to raise money for certain firms. We’re going to see a lot of activity in PE, and not just in deal-making (which I do predict will return) but also in firm consolidation as fundraising becomes impossible for some. There’ll be more take privates, which many predicted in 2023 but which couldn’t happen until public companies improved EBITDA margins, as many did by year end. - Pat Petitti, CEO at Catalant Technologies.
10 M&A Predictions for 2024 with a breakdown of each transaction idea with data - Anand Sanwal, CEO at CB Insights
2024 Predictions. The IPO market remains closed through the first 6 months of the year. But a few mega issuances, especially Stripe & Databricks in the summer or fall, re-open it for others. The Fed cuts rates, which helps. M&A accelerates throughout the year. The anticipation of a rate change drives fear of target acquisition valuations. In the last two years, M&A has totaled about $49b & it surges to above $60b driven by AI acquisitions. PE becomes an important buyer of companies growing 10-25%, as it did in 2018, driven by lower debt costs. - Tomasz Tunguz, General Partner at Theory Ventures
My VC Resolutions For 2024. Be an AI leader: Buy at least one share of Open AI in that employee secondary at an $86B valuation – then change website and all social profiles to “early believer and investor in Open AI” - Matt Turck, Managing Director at FirstMark
Views here are my own and not of my current or former employers.