Hello again :)

It’s been a few months since I’ve posted anything here. Truth be told, I’ve been hyper-focused on other things besides writing. Not writing is a bad habit though. Writing is critical, and something I’ll be doing a lot more of. So, hello again 🙂

So what’s been taking up my time? My last post about my path as a “reluctant data scientist” cryptically alluded to a mysterious new company. A few weeks after that post, I started a new company to address the concerns in the post. The new company is called Ternary Data. We started Ternary because we are tired of seeing companies failing on their journey with data. Ternary helps companies win with their data by helping them build a solid data foundation. We feel that a solid data foundation – built on three pillars of data architecture, data engineering, and DataOps – will generate more wins for companies pursuing data science. We’ve partnered with some major players – AWS and Google Cloud – who appreciate what we’re doing.

Right now, my attention is hyper-focused on Ternary Data. Starting a business is like holding down 3 full time jobs – you sleep and dream about your business, you wake up and work on your business, and in your downtime, you constantly think about your business. Business is an obsession. Which is great, because business is very hard, and you must always tend to the critical moving parts. I find myself simplifying things as much as possible, in order to free up mental space for clear thinking.

Running a company, my efforts are focused on driving us forward in a couple of areas – reputation and sales. Reputation is any company’s most important asset. A great reputation will keep you in business; a shoddy reputation will sink you. It’s that simple. So, we focus on reputation-building activities like content, meetups, partnerships, and most importantly – doing great work. The latter cannot be overstated. Always do great work and make sure your customer is getting the best service. Honesty goes a long way here – say yes to opportunities when they makes sense, say no when it’s not a good fit. The data world is a small place, and word travels fast. As Warren Buffett says, “It takes 20 years to build a reputation, and five minutes to ruin it. If you think about that, you’ll do things differently.”

If we can maintain a solid reputation, the second key area – sales – is much easier. Sales is the lifeblood of any business, and it’s where I spend a lot of my time. The number one rule in sales is to keep an active and full pipeline. Ironically, we also take a non-salesy approach to our interactions with prospects and customers. We consult and advise clients. Looping back to reputation, our reputation rests on helping the customer solve their problems, using best of breed solutions. Sales and reputation. That’s the name of the game for me.

Other stuff I’m up to?

Raising 2 boys is also a fulltime job. They’re growing up fast, and it’s fun to participate in their evolution. Also doing my best to be a good husband. Cassie is a saint. So, I’ve got 4 full time jobs… 🙂

Activity-wise, I took a 3 month hiatus from Crossfit to heal up and focus on rock climbing. Climbing is my go-to sport, and Utah is one of the best places in the world for climbing.  But, I miss Crossfit and will be starting back up in December.

I’m currently in Asia, visiting friends and family. I’m writing this from a house in Tokyo.

Hello again. Thanks for reading. I’ll be back soon.

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