The Accessibility of Data

The Accessibility of Data

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Wall Street is in the first inning of a research revolution driven by three forces: the proliferation of user generated content, the availability of alternative data and the ability of generative AI to explain trends.

To illustrate how this all works I’m going to use an example from my former employer, Bloomberg, a private company that doesn’t disclose much information. 

The story starts in late November when Mike Bloomberg posted a photo on Instagram. He was posing with CDC Director Dr. Mandy Cohen to promote her work combating overdose deaths, gun violence and other critical health issues. 

In the background, just above his head, there’s an electronic billboard which displays information about the company. It’s part of an internal system called Arcade. 

Two numbers jump out: the firm’s current headcount of 25,178 and the average employee tenure of 7.5 years. 

These numbers aren’t exactly state secrets, but they also aren’t normally disclosed. 

I doubt whoever took the picture gave much thought to the background.

But it illustrates how information can be derived from random online posts. 

As AI computing gets more powerful and available we will increasingly see firms harvesting insights from social media and the internet at scale. 

Knowing that the firm looks at tenure as a metric, I wondered if there was more to know about the 7.5 year average.

I asked my friend Jason Saltzman at Live Data Technologies to help. The company has a database of 90 million white collar professionals. He sent me a chart breaking down the average for engineers, sales reps and reporters. 

What jumps out is the difference between News, which averages about a decade, and Engineering, which is closer to three years. 

I uploaded the chart into Perplexity AI, which sent me this analysis: 

Key Observations:

1. News division has significantly longer tenure (9-11 years) compared to other departments

2. Engineering has shortest tenure (2-3.5 years)

3. Sales & Support (5-6 years) and Management & Ops (4-5 years) fall in the middle

Possible Explanations:

For News Division’s Long Tenure:

– Strong journalism culture and prestige in media industry

– More specialized skills that don’t transfer as easily

– Better job security and established career paths

– Competitive compensation for media industry

For Engineering’s Short Tenure:

– Highly competitive tech job market with many opportunities

– Tech companies actively poaching talent

– Rapid skill obsolescence requiring job changes for growth

– Higher salary opportunities in pure tech companies

Based on nothing more than a chart, it’s pretty good stuff.

Now, imagine all of those steps automated and running 24/7.

You build systems to scan the internet, drill into reservoirs of alt data and leverage gen AI to create insights. 

This is already happening at top hedge funds.

But it’s coming on a much larger scale. 


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BRIEF OBSERVATIONS

THE END OF FEAR: Ten years ago, Lucy Kellaway published an column in the Financial Times with this hand drawn chart illustrating the age at which she stopped being afraid at work. As you get older you both have less to lose and more perspective on life. I’m curious if other people feel the same way.

NETWORKING: Social media is where networking happens these days. StripMallGuy has a great example.

ARCHITECTURE: The front porch is something we need to revive. So many houses are built these days with the garage facing the curb.

DESIGN: I came across this bench in front of a coffee shop. It’s so clever.

FOUNDER MODE: Perspective on Bezos from BuccoCapital.





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