2023 Wrapped!
Hi friend,
It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year, a Christmas classic by Andy Williams has been stuck in my head. 2023 has been a rough year (for most people, including me) but I still like to remind myself that this is indeed the most wonderful time of the year – just look at this picture from Calcutta (where I live).
This is Park Street which lights up like this every year for Christmas. And there's music and food stalls lined up, among a sea of restaurants and bars. What's not to love about that?
Besides the merry-making, this is also a good time to reflect on what worked and what didn't, and allocate resources to areas that need improvement – both in work and life. After all, what's the point in collecting all this data (whether in our heads or in the cloud) if we're not going to derive insights and decide the next steps?
Keeping that in mind, instead of making predictions for 2024 (a futile activity in my view), I spent some time reflecting on the past year (a lot actually) and came up with answers to some questions I get asked quite often. And I thought it made sense to share them with you, so here you go:
What is databeats?
databeats is the final destination for honest, accessible data content tailored for business leaders and growth practitioners.
If you've been a long-time subscriber, you've probably seen how much databeats has evolved only in the last 12 months. I've experimented with several content formats and a couple of revenue models, and spent a lot of time figuring out what exactly I want databeats to be. I think I have a pretty good idea now and hope the new messaging resonates with you.
So, what's next for me and databeats?
A couple of things:
Once I finish writing the GDG book (hopefully by the end of Feb), I will be offering new ways to work with me, including a paid community for growth practitioners. Hit reply if you're curious – I'd love to tell you more!
databeats will feature more voices, many of whom are deeply knowledgeable but less known in the data communities. And I will continue to partner with technology brands building tools that empower semi-technical people to build with data. Hit reply if you'd like to contribute or collaborate!
I will keep you posted about everything through this newsletter, which I'll continue to send every two weeks.
Finally, why do I do what I do?
Because I'm deeply passionate about enabling teams to leverage data in their everyday tools to drive business growth (which I refer to as data-powered growth).
And at the same time, I'm fiercely passionate about the tools that empower semi-technical people to build with data.
My time at Integromat (Make) and Trifacta, followed by the years of learning and creating content has give me the conviction that a combination of the right tools and the right motivation, coupled with an intricate understanding of the business and empathy for the user is all one needs become a Growth Maverick – someone who is obsessed with growth but isn't willing to settle for hacks and best practices.
And I want more people to become Growth Mavericks!
It's worth mentioning that it's taken me almost 4 years of creating data content to really know that this is something I wish to keep doing for the foreseeable future. I wouldn't be saying this if the data/martech space hadn't experienced such incredible innovation by folks building technology – I have learned a lot from many of you and for that, I'm grateful, so thank you! 🤝
Finally, a little trivia about not one, but two of my all-time favorite bands:
When Pink Floyd was recording Piper At The Gates Of Dawn in the Abbey Road studios (in 1967), at the same time, The Beatles were recording Sgt. Peppers' Lonely Hearts Club Band in a studio next door – yes, next door! What a time to be alive!
In fact, John Lennon would often pop into Pink Floyd's recording sessions for inspiration, which eventually led to Sgt. Peppers becoming The Beatles' first album that had a psychedelic sound.
I know this from watching several documentaries about Pink Floyd (that gave me jitters) and I can only imagine the glee of a studio employee who had the opportunity to work with two of the most influential bands of the sixties. I'd give anything for an opportunity like that!
Talking about Pink Floyd, I first heard them in late 2006 (Coming Back To Life), became obsessed with their sound in 2010 (The Wall, in particular), and in 2023, found myself deriving a lot of inspiration from their creative process. In fact, besides the time spent watching documentaries and reading about the band's history, I spent 40.6 hours listening to their music over the first 10+ months of 2023 (which put me in the top 0.5% of listeners worldwide).
With Wrapped, Spotify does a brilliant job of leveraging data to create a hyper-personalized experience (both for free and paying users). However, to launch their campaign in time for the holidays, Spotify is only able to account for usage data for the period starting Jan 1st and ending a few weeks before the launch in late Nov (source). I believe Spotify can elevate the user experience by making this additional context about the data explicit rather than leaving people guessing.
Alright, that's it for this year. I'll leave you with a playlist of my top songs from 2023 – feel free to share yours with me!
Here’s wishing you and your family a fantastic 2024, full of good health, great opportunities, and of course, soulful music! 🥁🎷🎻🎸
If you’ve derived any value from databeats in 2023, my only ask is to share it with a friend (or two). Thank you! 🍻