Sramana Mitra: How much did you do in terms of revenues in the first couple of years? John Wallace: It probably took us four years to get to a million dollars. Sramana Mitra: How many people were involved? John Wallace: There were about four people. My original hypothesis was that there would be a lot
Sramana Mitra: You were kind of an applications engineer? John Wallace: It was a great opportunity. Sramana Mitra: That brings us to 2003? John Wallace: Yes. In 2003, I started a firm doing analytic consulting. I thought that I would be more impartial to what software we use to solve a problem and be more focused on
If you haven’t already, please study our Bootstrapping Course and Investor Introductions page. We maintain that one of the best ways to identify complex problems worth solving inside enterprises is by offering services to them, thereby gaining exposure to the domain. Datasong is yet another case in point. Related reading: Bootstrapping Using Services. Sramana Mitra: Let’s start at the
Sramana Mitra: You mentioned that there’s also feedback going into engineering. Does that imply that you see bug reports on social media? Howard Lau: It’s not so much bug reports. It’s something like product enhancement request. Sramana Mitra: That’s for product management though, right? Howard Lau: Yes, product management.
Sramana Mitra: You’re doing a sentiment analysis. If it’s a negative sentiment analysis, you’re trying to take action against that? Howard Lau: That’s a great insight. It is sentiment analysis. At the most basic level, you’re looking for things like positive, neutral, or negative sentiment. Our engine allows us to dive in to another level
This discussion is about how Attensity is using unstructured data analysis to prevent churn in customer bases of Telecom, Consumer Electronics, and other verticals. Sramana Mitra: Howard, let’s start with introducing our audience to Attensity. Tell us what the company does. Also give us some of your background. Howard Lau: Thank you for this opportunity.
Sramana Mitra: Let’s say in the 10-year horizon we are seeing really significant adoption of still people-driven but a lot of data-driven behavior and optimization. It would be probably reasonable to say that in another 20 to 30 years, the people component will become less and less and everything becomes fully automated. Joe Shamir: Certain
Sramana Mitra: If you were to predict the horizon, what time frame are we talking about in which decisions will be driven by data – more scientifically as opposed to approximation? Joe Shamir: It’s very hard to predict that. You have to be a social guru for that. Today, the phenomenon is driven from the