We’ve secured some pretty amazing speakers for the Data Summit SF, but these next two are absolute legends. Our opening fireside chat stars Owen Thomas, Editor-in-Chief at ReadWrite, who will be speaking to Steven Sinofsky, Board Partner at Andreessen Horowitz. Words cannot describe how honored we are to have them, but I’ll give it a go anyway. Here’s a quick introduction to their impressive accomplishments.
The Interviewer: Owen Thomas
Own has spent his career devoted to crafting narratives and telling stories in ways that are uniquely suited to the online world, as well as managing some of the Web’s best editorial teams.
Prior to joining ReadWrite, Owen was West Coast editor of Business Insider and founding executive editor of the Daily Dot. He’s also held editorial leadership roles at VentureBeat, NBC Universal and Gawker Media, where he transformed Valleywag into the Silicon Valley’s authority on tech gossip.
In addition to covering how entrepreneurs use data to transform industries, Own takes a personal interest in how he can use data in the practice of journalism.
“Right now, most journalists view data as a source of insights for storytelling, but they’re not good at using data about their own work—website analytics, social engagement, and other forms of data exhaust generated by the act of publishing online—to create a feedback loop that lets them continuously improve their storytelling.”
The interviewee: Steven Sinofsky
Steven is a Board Partner at the venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz where he serves on the board of several investment companies. He’s also an Executive in Residence at Harvard Business School and advisor to Box.
“I am passionate about working with entrepreneurs building the next generation of software-driven technology.”
He began his illustrious degree in tech as a software design engineer in development tools for Microsoft in 1989. As a Senior Executive at Microsoft, he oversaw six major releases of the full range of Office apps and servers. Most recently, he was President of the Windows division through 2012 working on Windows 7, Windows 8, and Surface as well as services such as Outlook.com and SkyDrive.
After leaving Microsoft, Steven developed a special interest in the use and role of technology in developing markets. He has spent significant time traveling outside the US, first in China and most recently in Africa.
A proficient writer and thought leader, Steven co-authored the book “One Strategy: Organization, Planning, and Decision Making” with Harvard Business School professor Marco Lansiti; based on internal blog posts written throughout the transformation of the Windows team and business.
You can hear more from Steven by checking out his blog Learning by Shipping, or following him on Twitter: @stevesi.
By the Fireside
These two tech titans will sit down and chat about how and when to use data to shape and improve your product. Owen will ask Steven about how he’s taken his data-driven approach from the software industry and applied it to technology investing. The majority of their chat will center around how to have an open dialog with your customers and other stakeholders about data-driven product development.
The Data Summit SF
The Data Summit is a day-long conference, packed with amazing speakers, live workshops, great food and tons of cool swag. We’ll be talking about how people use data to build products, companies, inform business decisions and create cool visualisations.
It’s all about learning and exchanging amazing stories. Come meet your fellow #DataPunks and the whole import.io team (you can even book in individual sessions in our import.io labs to learn more about the product!). We round off this great day of data with drinks and some sweet dance moves.
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