On the TechTO stage ×2
Data as an Asset
Watch on YouTube ↗The emerging data economy and how Toronto can lead it
Watch on YouTube ↗First seen on a TechTO stage in 2017. Every TechTO talk is searchable — ask the archive about Abraham ↗
In their words
There's an old Silicon Valley joke about a startup with great product, tons of users, zero revenue. How are they gonna make money? Oh, we're going to sell the data. And it is a joke, because it's really hard to do.
Data has to be identified and mined and cleaned and extracted and merged with other datasets and packaged and analyzed, and you have to draw insights from it before you get value.
In Silicon Valley, where I go to quite often, they say things like 'move fast and break things', 'better to ask forgiveness than permission'. I prefer a different philosophy: with great power comes great responsibility.
More from TechTO ×1
Quick answers
What is Abraham Thomas known for?
Co-founding Quandl with Tammer Kamel and running it as chief data officer. Quandl built a data marketplace and pioneered the category of alternative data for finance; Nasdaq acquired it in December 2018.
What does Abraham Thomas do now?
He works independently — angel investing in early-stage technology startups, sitting on boards and advising investment firms — and writes Pivotal, a newsletter about data, investing and startups.
What did Abraham Thomas talk about at TechTO?
Twice on the data economy: in November 2017 that data is becoming a tradeable asset with a value chain like gold or oil, and in March 2019 that Toronto's governance, talent diversity and mix of industries position it to lead that economy.