Extract

Data stories worth sharing

Web data extraction: Custom, commercial offerings ease the task

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In a article for TechTarget’s SearchITChannel, Moshe Kranc, chief technology officer at Ness, describes how custom and commercial offerings, bolstered by machine learning, can now facilitate web data extraction. He offers Import.io a commercial solution. Import.io’s point-and-click interface enables the user to teach the system how to extract data for a given website, enhanced with machine learning to infer extraction patterns […]

Company, Extract

Epic rain in San Jose, CA last night, or was it?

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  My CEO messaged the team from Los Gatos last night and asked, “Anyone ever seen rain as heavy as that in California before. Whoa.” That got me thinking. Even though I was a toddler, I can remember 1968 at my parents’ house in Los Gatos. The ground was so saturated with water our backyard […]

Data, Extract

Using data for product development by Steven Sinofsky (Andreessen Horowitz)

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Want to know how successful companies like Microsoft got to where they are today? By using data in smart, innovative ways. 

In this interview with Editor-in-Chief of ReadWrite, Owen Thomas, Steven Sinofsky draws on his experience at Microsoft and Andreessen Horowitz to tell you how to use data to drive product development. This fun and engaging interview will teach you how to use data, what pitfalls to be aware of and how to align customer support and product development. 

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Managing ethics in the age of big data

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The Big Data revolution has raised a myriad of ethical issues related to privacy, confidentiality, transparency and identity. Who owns all that data that you’re analyzing? Are there limits to what kinds of inferences you can make, or what decisions can be made about people based on those inferences?

Navigating the fast-paced world of data isn’t easy. So it’s important that we put a good framework in place because the consequences of a slip-up can be severe.

Andrew Fryer, a Data Evangelist at Microsoft, talks you through some common ethical scenarios. He discusses good and bad usages of data, teaching you how to tell the difference. Finally, he gives you three things you should be doing to manage data ethically in your company.

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5 innovative tech trends not to miss this year

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Tapping into what consumers want next is a startup founder’s Holy Grail. Being on the cusp of a budding trend is what makes the Airbnbs and Uber’s of this world so successful.

But how can you find out what the next big thing is going to be? By studying trends of course!

Head of Trends and Insights at TrendWatching, David Mattin, walks you through the latest tech trends and shows you how to interpret them. Where will you find your lightbulb moment? Watch the video to find out!

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The secret ingredient for data driven decisions

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In our quest to make every business decision data-driven, getting the data is only half the battle. Next you’ve got to get people to actually use it. 

In this short video, Daniel Frank from Stripe gives away his secret ingredient for getting the team at Stripe to love quality data reporting. 

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The art of hiring data scientists

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The Data Scientist is one of the most sought after positions in tech – and much of the business world. But the demand is very quickly outstripping the supply.

McKinsey estimates that by 2018, the U.S. economy will have a shortage of 140,000 to 190,000 people with analytical expertise. And if you’re a startup or business that’s looking to expand your data science operations, that might sound a little scary.

How can you attract top talent in such a competitive market?

We’re not saying it’s going to be easy, but with these tips from Data Scientist at Insightly, Sara Vera, it’s certainly going to get a lot easier.

In her keynote at Extract SF 2014, Sara gave us her top three tips for hiring great Data Scientists. And now, she’s sharing them with you! Watch the quick 10 minute video of her talk and then read on for a more in depth look at her insights.

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Data scientists vs data analysts: Why the distinction matters

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s a relatively new – but already highly sought after – position, it can be hard to know where Data Analytics ends and Data Science begins. Is it science? Statistics? Programming? Analytics? Black magic? Or some strange and wonderful combination?

Luckily for us, Thomson Nguyen is here to help. In this quick 10 minute presentation, the CEO and Co-founder of Framed Data clearly outlines what makes a true Data Scientist and discusses how they differ from a traditional Analyst.

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How Lyft grew by 5x in less than 12 months

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In just one year (2014 – 2015), popular ride sharing app Lyft grew five-fold. From it’s humble beginnings as a small peer-to-peer ride app called Zimride in 2012, Lyft’s popularity has literally exploded since their relaunch in 2013.

Now you can find their fuzzy pink mustache cars in more than 65 US cities where users can get picked up by one of their 100,000+ drivers. This astonishing growth has earned them a $2.5 billion valuation and more than $1 billion in funding.

How has Lyft pulled off this massive growth spurt? And what can you learn from their success?

That’s exactly the question we put to Lyft CTO Chris Lambert who will be speaking (on exactly this topic) at Extract in October.

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10 minute growth hacks that will jumpstart your marketing strategy

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Every business is different. And every business can benefit from data. I could write a generic post about the usefulness of data and hope that you know how to apply those principles to your own business. But, that’s not what you want. You want specific, targeted ideas that you can walk away and action immediately and that are relevant for your business and your market.

Writing that post would be impossible, I’d have to write 1,000s of them. So, let’s launch a business together.

I’ve always wanted to build an iPhone app – something I’m sure many of you have thought about. So, let’s do it. Together.

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How to do automated marketing like a human (not a robot!)

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There’s no denying that Matt Ellsworth has a unique style. A certified email marketing genius, and all-around funny guy, his insights never disappoint. In “I are not a robot”, Matt walks you through how to apply the Four Organ Theory to your headlines to give them greater mass appeal.

Drawing on his experience as a standup comic, Matt gives you a crash course on enlivening dull subjects. Through hilarious examples like his “cloud to butt” Twitter bot, to his DJPW (dick jokes per week) graph and some touching success stories from example.com, Matt injects a new human element into content and email marketing.

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The complete list of big data conferences you should attend

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Here at import.io, we’re big believers in learning. Whether it’s taking classes, watching videos, or getting together with other data scientists, we sincerely believe that you should never stop sharpening your skills and exploring new technologies. With that in mind, this year is a big one for data science conferences, all across the US. No […]

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Can you really trust Airbnb reviews?

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How the sharing economy uses data to build trust

Not using your apartment for the weekend? Rent it out on Airbnb. Traveling across country? Offer someone a ride on BlaBlaCar. Got some free time on your hands? Offer your services on TaskRabbit.

The “Airbnb model”, also known as the sharing economy has fundamentally changed the way we think about ownership. Just as peer-to-peer businesses like eBay allow anyone to become a retailer, sharing sites let individuals act as an ad hoc taxi service, car-hire firm or boutique hotel as and when it suits them.

But, how can you trust your stuff (or your life) with a complete stranger?

Extract

7 ways to make your next conference a complete success

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Last Friday (May 29th) we hosted our second annual User Conference, Extract, in London, and while we don’t want to toot our own horn – we have to say, it went pretty well. This is our third conference of this type (we did one in London last year and one in San Francisco) and after all that, we’re getting to be pretty old hands at this. Now that all the stress and frantic running around has passed, we thought we’d share our “lessons learned” – the good and the bad, so you can learn from our experience when planning your own conference!

Extract

Visualizing flux: storytelling with time, space, and torque

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Extract Conf is a day of awesome data stories worth sharing. We’re gathering 500 of the best minds in the dataverse on 29 May, at The Brewery in London where thought leaders will share inspirational stories and teach you how to use the coolest data tooling on the market. In the run-up to the event, we’re introducing you to a few of the magnificent people who will be blowing your mind on the main stage. Check out the conference.

NOW, time to get up close and personal with one of our favourite viz companies . . .

Extract

Hunting unicorns with superpowers

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Extract Conf is a day of awesome data stories worth sharing. We’re gathering 500 of best minds in the dataverse on 29 May, at The Brewery in London where thought leaders will share inspirational stories and teach you how to use the coolest data tooling on the market. In the run-up to the event, we’re introducing you to a few of the magnificent people who will be blowing your mind on the main stage. Check out the conference.

Our third speaker profile in the lead up to the event is . . . drumroll . . . John Sandall, Lead Data Scientist at YPlan!

Extract

Fashematics – The science of color

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Extract Conf is a day of awesome data stories worth sharing. We’re gathering 500 of best minds in the dataverse on 29 May, at The Brewery in London where thought leaders will share inspirational stories and teach you how to use the coolest data tooling on the market. In the run-up to the event, we’re introducing you to a few of the magnificent people who will be blowing your mind on the main stage. Check out the conference.

Our second speaker profile in the lead up to the event is… Eddie Bell, Head of Data Science at Lyst who will wow you with his talk: ‘Fashematics: The Science of Colour’.

Extract

Sex by numbers

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Extract Conf is a day of awesome data stories worth sharing. We’re gathering 500 of best minds in the dataverse on the 29 May, at The Brewery in London where thought leaders will share inspirational stories and teach you how to use the coolest data tooling on the market. In the run-up to the event, we want to start introducing you to some of our awesome speakers. Check out the conference & tickets.

First up, Sir David Spiegelhalter OBE a Professor for the Public understanding of Risk Centre for Mathematical Sciences at University of Cambridge and author of the magnificently titled book Sex by Numbers.

Extract

The much awaited data event of the season is here

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Team import.io is absolutely thrilled to be able to announce that we have a brand new (and much improved) design and name for our annual User Conference! And of course, we wanted you to be the first to know.

Everyone. Get ready.                     

Drumroll, please……

Extract

Fireside chat with Vinod Khosla (Khosla Ventures) and Ryan Lawler (TechCrunch)

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The final pieces of the Data Summit SF have finally come together. We’ve got the venue, the guests, the food, the drinks and an amazing line up of speakers. And now we’ve got the cherry on top! We’ll be closing the Summit with none other than Technology Titan Vinod Khosla, founder of Sun Microsystems and head of his own fund Khosla Ventures. He’ll be joined on stage by Ryan Lawler from TechCrunch who will grill him on his controversial views on the future of data. Before you are wow-ed on stage on the 30th, lets take a quick look back in time and see what makes a super successful tech legend!

Extract

Smokin’ hot topics at Extract

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Everyone loves a good conference, but there’s no denying that all day events tend to drag on a bit. You know the feeling. You’ve been sitting in the same position for several hours, your mind starts to wander, your legs get restless, your phone suddenly appears in your hand and you start texting or reading email. Don’t worry, we’ve all been there.

That’s why we’ve been working extra hard to make sure the Data Summit SF is absolutely action packed and varied enough to entertain even the most concentration challenged among you.

To keep you entertained throughout the day, we’ve lined up a variety of quick 10-20 minute talks that will be fast paced, fun, exciting AND insightful. That’s right, you won’t find any hour-long lectures here! We’ve also built in plenty of break time for you to get up, stretch your legs, nibble on some tasty snacks and meet your fellow data punk.

Extract

Fireside Chat with Owen Thomas (ReadWrite) & Steven Sinofsky (Andreessen Horowitz) at Extract

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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, and I wanted to take this opportunity to introduce them and their impressive accomplishments.

Extract

Create data tooling people ACTUALLY care about

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The Data Summit SF edition is coming along nicely. We’re going to have great food from some of San Fran’s best food trucks, delicious cocktails and of course free swag! I feel like I’m forgetting something….oh right! The actual Summit! Don’t you worry – there’ll be more data-based learning then you can shake a stick at.

To give you a little taster of what’s in store, I want to introduce you to Daniel Frank from Stripe, who is going to tell you how to create data tooling that people will actually care about.

Extract

Meet Plot.ly Founder & COO Matt Sundquist

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The Data Summit SF is shaping up to be an amazing event, full of first class speakers. I’ll be introducing them to you one by one in a series of blog posts to get you prepped and excited to see them in person on Oct 30th. First up is the lovely, Matt Sundquist, COO and Founder of popular data graphing and analysis platform Plot.ly. Find out all about him and why he’s excited to be speaking at the Data Summit SF.

Extract

10 things we learned at Extract

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The end of June marked our 2nd Birthday; and to celebrate, we thought we’d host a series of talks, seminars and workshops all about our favourite thing: data! So we invited all our wonderful users to Level 39 at Canary Wharf to our first ever Data Summit for a full day of top notch speakers, informative workshops, delicious food and of course stylish data punk swag. It was a great day; full of some really stellar presentations, networking and fun. Here are 10 things we learned on the day:

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