In August 2020, we asked PlusAmp to tell us about themselves…
Tell us about your company. What problem are you trying to solve?
We observed a big gulf in data science between a) what we do upstream (e.g., stats, machine learning, NLP, etc.) and b) what the downstream options are to deliver data science results to users. Upstream in data science, there has been tremendous investment and innovation. Downstream, there has been limited innovation in delivery options beyond data feeds, APIs, or dashboards.
We focus on the downstream user experience of data content. Specifically, we provide data scientists a platform to package, deliver, and monetize data content. Our core customers are data providers who want options beyond data feeds or APIs to expand to new customer segments and improve the user experience of their data.
How did your company get started?
In previous jobs, we all had to share our data within our companies and to external stakeholders. Typical Business Intelligence tools had significant limitations, especially on external sharing. Since we could not overcome these limitations, we set out to build tools that we needed. Later on, we were lucky enough to find an industry, data providers, that needed our solution.
Why is your team well-positioned to solve the problem you’re tackling?
The smartest thing we have done is hiring people with skills beyond our own. Our problem was not a data science problem. Bringing in the right combination of UX, content management, collaboration, and digital marketing capabilities has been vital. Of course, we need data science capabilities on the team. Data scientists understand the problem and empathize with the customer. That’s critical. To solve the problem, however, we needed the intersection of all of these skills.
What’s the biggest lesson you’ve learned along the way?
Because we were very close to the problem in previous jobs, we feel the problem acutely. However, we are also prone to developing too much, adding features we would have wanted in previous jobs that are not always top of mind for our customers. In some cases, we have been ahead. In many other cases, we have just been wrong.
What resources do you rely on to help your company grow?
We have found that our current customers are the best path to growth, whether it is playing a more significant part in their business growth or referrals.