Ahmed Elsamadisi shares a new approach to data, Byron Slosar and Dakotah Eddy discuss diversity, and it's about to get inspiring

"I love the problem we are solving and am excited to see a world where future data people don’t suffer like I used to."  In You've Got This this week, Ahmed Elsamadisi of Narrator.ai shares his entrepreneurial journey and why solving client problems through a new approach to data matters. Don't miss his answers below — or a special interview with Dakotah Eddy and Byron Slosar of HIVE DIVERSITY — as well as our next guest, bestselling author and leadership advisor Vince Molinaro, Ph.D.

Victoria: "You're leveraging your data model to help your clients more efficiently understand what their data is saying. What's the feedback been like thus far, and where do you see the space going?"

Ahmed: "Our customers are happy to be able to ask and answer any question they want without going to the data team, and data teams have been really excited to allow everyone to be able to self-serve with correct data that requires no maintenance. They’re excited because, until this point, this reality was considered a pipe dream. Self-serve data is so much easier said than done. Self-serve tools are either really easy to set up (but don’t use the correct source of truth that the data team approves of), or they have the right data but it requires a full-time team to maintain the backend. We took a different approach. We started from scratch and designed a system that was built with the sole purpose of asking and answering data questions, instead of trying to make it easier to slice and dice data from a dashboard. To make this possible, we needed a product that could bridge all data sources, be a single source of truth, and put the experience of asking a question and finding an answer at its core.

 For example, this week I was talking with a customer who was losing his mind because he could not tie web visits to orders via Looker, a common dashboarding tool. So he turned to Narrator. In the first session we created two building blocks (what we call 'activities'): a 'visited site' building block and a 'completed order' building block, both of which took 15 minutes. And in the next 5 minutes we were able to use Narrator’s unique way of relating data to tie each order to the web site visit it came from. He was so happy then got sad and asked, “Oh I want to know if the customer called before completing an order too”. This is normally a hard question because it is a third data source but in Narrator it was easy. In just two clicks he added calls and was able to answer all his questions.

 "What's been the most interesting for us is that non-data people find our system to be way more intuitive than data people do. Because we change how data is related and answer questions from the customer’s perspective, most people find this to be more natural and easy to understand."

The second reaction we get is peace of mind! With Narrator’s new Narrative Library (a Narrative is a data analysis in a story-like format), customers can get well-thought out actionable analysis instantly! Want to know about your customer acquisition cost or marketing attribution model or how your emails impact your orders? You can get those Narratives on day 1. It’s like having a team of expert data scientists working for you full time building analyses but you don’t have to pay them! This space is just starting.  

Data products on top of cloud data warehouses is something a lot of people are talking about. With warehouses becoming so cheap and fast, we expect more and more companies to start using them earlier, so putting your product on top of one makes a lot of sense. You get to have access to all the data (no need for many 3rd party integrations), you don’t have to worry about big data (solved by warehouses) and it is an easy connection. I see this field continuing to grow and getting a lot more popular.

Finally, data presentation is also changing. Dashboards are no longer the preferred way to present data. We see a lot more companies like count.co or NarrativeScience are also working to present data as stories. This format is easier to consume and much more impactful for the business."

Victoria: "As a founder and entrepreneur, what's the process been like of launching your company and building your team? What advice would you have for fellow founders and entrepreneurs?"

Ahmed: "The advice I give most entrepreneurs is 'don't do it.'  

 "There are two kinds of companies: better and different."  

 When you are building a company that is 'better' you get to go to all the companies using one product and pitch to them why you are better. This is quite difficult because you're comparing features and they have years of experience and are hundreds of engineers ahead of you. When you’re building a company that is 'different' you need to educate potential clients on the problem you are trying to solve and the value of the behavioral shift you want to see. This is also quite difficult. Narrator is building something 'different,' so most of our calls go like this…

Them - “Are you like a Mixpanel?” 

Us - “No, we—”

Them - “So you analyze data like a Looker”

Us - “No, we analyze data but in a unique way—”

Them - “Hm, is this a best practice, since I have never heard of it?”

Us - “Not yet, this is an innovation so it is not common —”

…So why do I do it? I love the problem we are solving and am excited to see a world where future data people don’t suffer like I used to.  I love the fact that I work with my best friends and we continue to grow closer everyday. I love using our product daily, it is truly a revolutionary experience and I cannot go back. If you’re an aspiring entrepreneur and you have a problem that you cannot let go of - then go for it! It’ll be a hard journey, but it will be rewarding as hell."

Victoria: "What's more important for data science - asking better questions, or leveraging data more effectively?"

Ahmed: "Asking better questions 1,000,000%! I have never seen an example of people shoving data in an ML/AI model and getting anything of value out. You need to ask good questions to decide what is the data you want to put in and what is the best model to use. 

 "Asking good questions is really hard. Because we’ve always been limited to ask questions that a dashboard can answer, we have been trained to ask really, really awful questions. Good questions are always way harder to answer."

Everyone is asking if gender or industry indicates conversion because dashboards can answer those questions easily - just slice by attribute. But the valuable questions take the form: 'Does the number of visits indicate interest in conversion?' 'Does the time to first email open affect conversion?' These questions about behavior are so much more valuable but they are much harder to answer. That’s why most people will shy away from them. If we stop asking the good questions–because they’re difficult–then we’ve given up. And this terrible cycle just normalizes the practice of bad questions being asked. This is why Narrator is so important. We need to quickly answer the good questions, accurately, and in minutes! It is VITAL that the tool you use helps you ask and answer good questions. In Narrator you are forced to think of questions from the customer’s perspective. It trains you to ask better and better questions, faster and faster."

Follow Ahmed on LinkedIn

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HIVE DIVERSITY Founder & CEO Byron Slosar and Partner and COO Dakotah Eddy stopped by to answer some questions about the recent launch of their undergraduate-focused diversity recruiting platform.

Victoria: "What inspired you to take the plunge into starting HIVE DIVERSITY? And what's the reception been like so far?"

Byron: "I started HIVE because I had gained enough experience to know with 100% certainty that a few of my observations were warranted, and that I’d be able to develop a solution that would impact students and employers in a meaningful way. Students should be able to go to college to figure out who they are when they are there, to experience college as college – not just to get a job. Much of the current structure with regard to recruiting and career development doesn’t include them as participants in the conversation, rather it expects them to accommodate how the structure has always existed because they need and want jobs. We’ve recognized some of the inefficiencies in personalized service, then added innovation and personality to technology - allowing us to focus on the goals of success and placement, while redefining the way to get there. The reception has been overwhelmingly positive. We’ve built a student community with representation across 225 universities and 2000+ student organizations. Our Select Fall Corporate Partners represent diversity of industry, company size and intention. It’s fun to see what you think is a good idea grow into something that others believe and see as well."

Victoria: "How can professionals and candidates at every level, as well as employers, take an active role in championing diversity and inclusion?"

Dakotah: "There are so many ways we each can make an impact as diversity and inclusion champions, so I’ll name a few here, but definitely not all! Employers can offer (and require) training in diversity, equity and inclusion so that the workforce understands each of these words, their meanings, and how they relate. Our module will ensure this common language is a baseline understanding before our students move forward as DEI champions. Employers can also ensure workforce policies (from the hiring process to bathroom policies) are equitable so everyone has a chance to grow, feel comfortable, and succeed. Individuals and candidates at every level can start by acknowledging what elements they uniquely bring to the organization, not only in the form of culture, race, and gender, but elements such as socioeconomic background, geographic location, and specific knowledge and experiences. Individuals can then better contemplate differences—which make us all unique—and learn more to identify and prevent their own unconscious biases, and become culturally competent. When selecting companies and entering companies, employees can start to be active champions by learning the diversity, equity and inclusion goals and vision of the organization, and understanding how these goals impact their roles and how their roles might impact the initiatives. Whether you join an Employee Resource Group, volunteer to be on a DEI task force, or are a people manager, you can: learn more about diversity and inclusion, get involved in the conversation, make suggestions for improvement, listen to others’ perspectives and offer your own perspectives, and speak up on behalf of yourself and others."

Victoria: "What advice would you have for fellow entrepreneurs and creators who are looking to tackle new challenges?"

Byron: "One: figure out where you can enhance what others are doing, rather than focusing on competing with others. We have focused singularly on where we know we’re great – which is engaging students, educating them in an innovative way, removing a lot of the noise and unnecessary actions from their process, and increasing opportunities for employers to more meaningfully engage with them. Two: knowing that you don’t know something is actually knowing exactly what you need to know. I have never been a CEO, and I now have a team of 9 (and growing) who work WITH me, providing talents and insights in areas where I don’t have expertise. Success is about how a team of individuals can collectively drive the business forward, scale it significantly and feel empowered every step of the way- and in the end produce something pretty sweet."

Follow Byron and Dakotah on LinkedIn.

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Next week's guest: Vince Molinaro, Ph.D.

Our next guest on You've Got This is bestselling author and founder of Leadership Contract Inc. Vince Molinaro, Ph.D. With a just-released book, as well as his extensive experience and background in the leadership space, here's what I'll be asking Dr. Molinaro:

• What inspired you to write your latest book on accountable leadership, and why is it so timely?
• Your new podcast explores some of the challenges facing leaders today. What are some of the common themes you're seeing in the interviews you've done so far, and where do hope to take the series?
• For those who want to grow their skills as a leader, what are some resources you'd recommend they check out?

You're encouraged to join in the conversation by asking your questions in the comments below. And, as always, thank you for reading and being a part of You've Got This.