Some of the world’s biggest tech companies from Google to Facebook are data-driven, but few startup founders have any idea what a data scientist does, never mind whether they should hire one. Here is VentureBeat’s guide to data science for startups.

What does a data scientist do?

DJ Patil led LinkedIn’s data science team and is now the Data Scientist in residence at Greylock Partners. His free ebook “Building Data Science Teams” provides an excellent introduction to the basic areas of data science and how to build a team.

For startups, the most relevant applications of data science are probably decision science and product and marketing analytics. Decision science, as the name implies, allows you to identify and monitor key metrics for your business and answer strategic questions like “Which country should we expand into next?” or “What is the impact on the business if we lose this client?”. Google’s data science team even drives its HR policies.

Product analytics covers anything from how users are reacting to new features to developing standalone data products. LinkedIn’s “People you may know” feature and Amazon’s recommendation system are data-driven features that attempt to keep users on the site longer or drive more sales.

Using data to showcase or market a product is the domain of marketing analytics. One of the best known examples is okCupid’s okTrends blog, which features posts like “The case for an older woman” or “The 4 big myths of profile photos”. The blog drives massive traffic to the site and is regularly covered in the media.

Who are the data scientists?

Since data science is a new area, practitioners often migrate from other fields. You may see maths, statistics, machine learning or computer science on their resumes or a data-intensive field like meteorology. Data scientists want to be of central importance to a business, especially when it’s a startup. The best data scientists are both intensely curious and great communicators. They answer important questions and tell good stories using data.

What is data infrastructure? 

Data scientists need specialized tools to manage and process large amounts of data. The minimum you need to get started is simple data access, usually via a database. Larger-scale or less uniform data may require a tool like Hadoop, an open source platform for distributed processing of large data sets across clusters of computers, as well as someone with the technical expertise to use it. Data stores like Cassandra are designed to perform well on very large datasets. These are some of the most commonly used tools, but there are many others for tasks such as streaming data collection, querying non-relational databases and job scheduling.

When do you need to hire a data scientist?

VentureBeat talked to data scientist Cathy O’Neil, who herself works for a startup (Intent Media), about when you need to hire a data scientist. If your data volume is growing, you don’t know if you are seeing noise or information in your data, or in general, if you are not running your business sufficiently quantitatively, then you may need to consider hiring.

Read the interview with Cathy O’Neil.

Here’s a great tribute from Wired:

An article in today’s HBR Blog Network caught my eye: Work and Vacation Should Go  Together, by Ron Ashkenas. Catchy title aside (guaranteed to lure anyone who’s snuck in some work during vacation time, myself included and I suspect many of you), the article has an interesting and novel perspective on how we manage work and personal life. For years I’ve been trying to achieve that elusive ‘balance’ that’s supposed to be optimal, and have been failing. Which is why this phrase got my attention:

The reality for many of us these days is that our professional lives bleed into our personal lives. The boundaries are increasingly permeable and movable. We check our emails in the evenings and weekends. We delay or miss family events because we can’t leave the office. And when we do, we take our communications devices with us so that we can stay connected to work.

Guilty as charged. But the thing is, I really *like* what I do. I love my job. It energizes me and gives me a lot of personal satisfaction. I also believe that it makes me smarter, which is important to me. Granted, I need a break now and then and vacations are wonderful. But my ideal vacation is having free time to do what I want to do, when I want to do it. Which includes thinking about interesting projects I’d like to start, working out challenging problems in my work, and talking to the many interesting people who are part of my work life. Increasingly, I am unable to separate the people in my life into categories: I am fortunate to work with people who have become dear friends, and even had the pleasure of having friends who have become colleagues as well.

Here’s an approach I can get behind:

Focusing on work-life “integration” instead of work-life “balance” has at least a couple of implications: First (and the one that I like the most) is that we can stop feeling guilty about scheduling calls during our vacations or checking our emails at night; and by the same token not feel guilty about talking with our spouses, friends, and family members during work time.

The second implication is that we no longer split up our time so rigidly between “work hours” and “non-work hours.” Instead, let’s be flexible about when and how we accomplish both our work goals and our personal goals. Obviously some of this has to be negotiated with others, both at work (who is on call for customers?) and home (who gets to use the car?). But the point is to make this a natural part of how we organize our lives instead of a special perk or exceptional situation.

While I’m very lucky to have a workplace that supports this kind of integration, not every employer has seen the light. But I think we’re getting there. At least, I hope so. Because one thing we know is that happy employees are capable of incredible things.

I encourage you to read the entire article, and the comments, too.

A similar video was created by students at UBC in the spring and has received over 1.2 million hits on YouTube since April. Many other universities have produced Lip Dub videos, for example, Boston University and Universitat Pompeu Fabra in Barcelona.

The organizers are hoping to gather 30-40 members of the UTL community to participate. Participants would be filmed walking down College Street pushing book carts, holding books and assisting students regarding library inquiries.

All members of the UTL community are invited to participate! The filming schedule will be:

• 12:10PM – 1:30PM: SECTION CHOREOGRAPHY
• 1:30PM – 3:00PM: WALK-THROUGH
• 3:00PM – 4:00PM: RUN-THROUGH
• 4:00PM – 5:00PM: FILM

Participants’ time would be required from 12:10 – 5:00 pm.

If you would like to be part of the UofT Lip Dub video please let me know or contact the project coordinator, sandra.zhou@utoronto.ca, directly.

Proceeds from student-secured sponsorship of the video will be donated to The Hospital for Sick Children.

Amidst recent public outcry against proposed Toronto Public Library cuts, City Councillor Doug Ford said he “wouldn’t have a clue” who Margaret Atwood was if he saw her. He has since backtracked. He also complained that “I’ve got more libraries in my area than I have Tim Hortons.” Actually, Etobicoke has 39 Tim Hortons and 13 library branches. It doesn’t really matter whether Doug or his brother Rob, the Mayor, would recognize a Canadian literary icon. What matters is that we Torontonians love and use our library, at a very reasonable cost.

One of Rob Ford’s election mantras was that he would run Toronto like a business. Now that he’s mayor, the city is “dedicated to delivering customer service excellence.” That’s the new tagline on the city’s press releases. Meanwhile, all City of Toronto departments have been directed to cut 10 per cent from their budgets. Respect the taxpayer, remember? So perhaps we must simply accept library cuts as business restructuring.

What about the 72 per cent of Torontonians who access the library’s 11 million items, making it the busiest urban library system in the world? Or the 55 per cent who said in a July survey that, if their local councillor supported closing library branches, it would affect their municipal vote “a great deal”? Tough cookies. Business is business.

But wait a minute! If this city is to be run like a business (a Ford mantra, not mine), shouldn’t our Mayor and city council prioritize, strategize and allocate money efficiently? Shouldn’t it cut high-cost, underperforming parts of the organization, and preserve or even strengthen the low-cost, high-value portions, seeking value for money? No intelligent business restructuring cuts 10 per cent blindly from all parts of the enterprise.

The Toronto Public Library runs on 19 cents per day per citizen. For this reasonable sum, 32 million items are borrowed each year. For context, the Toronto Police Service costs $1 per citizen per day, five times as much as the library. Waste management costs 37 cents. The Vancouver Public Library costs $80 per citizen per year; the Toronto Public Library comes in at $68. If I were running this city as a business, I would say the library looks like it is delivering excellent value.

Where would the 10-per-cent budget cuts come from, anyhow? Would it be from our library’s settlement and housing seminars for newcomers to Canada? From the library’s workshops on résumés and interviewing skills for those seeking employment? Perhaps some brave councillor would like to explain the axing of Homework Help for Teens, a free evening tutoring program, or the popular Business Seminar Series, which helps new entrepreneurs get off the ground? There’s no good place to cut when an organization is already delivering high-value services at a reasonable price.

Meanwhile, there are two priceless features of each of the 18 million annual library visits in this city. First, sharing wisdom through the library and its programs increases the wealth of our community. We learn, innovate and enrich our city by sharing knowledge through books, films, lectures and discussion. Second, the library is completely democratic. It provides access to information, culture and leisure for new immigrants and established Canadians, to children and the elderly, and to all Torontonians whether they’re rich or going through tough times.

Speaking of tough times, in which we’re told that all belts must tighten: Such are the precise times in which those with less disposable income need access to good libraries more than ever. Those who can’t buy books need to access the library’s collections, not to see acquisitions or library hours cut. The destruction of the ancient Library of Alexandria is one of the intellectual tragedies of antiquity.

The public anger in Toronto over proposed library cuts shows that modern citizens also know a library’s worth. The Fords might pay attention to former Chicago mayor Richard M. Daley, who once said: “If you cut funding to libraries, you cut the lifeblood of our communities.”

Of course, with 10 per cent off the library budget, each Torontonian would be $6.80 richer. Every year! What would I do with my savings? I could console myself by going to Tim Hortons. I’d have a large iced cappuccino, a yogurt and two Timbits, please. Oops – $6.80 isn’t enough for that. If someone is going to claim to use their business smarts to run this city better, they’d better not gut my library without even saving me enough for a snack at my favourite coffee shop.

Vincent Lam is a writer and ER physician. His book Bloodletting & Miraculous Cures won the 2006 Giller Prize. He is participating in the “Why My Library Matters to Me” contest for lunch with one of 11 distinguished Toronto writers, sponsored by the Toronto Public Library Workers Union. (Toronto residents can enter at ourpubliclibrary.to/contest.)

The Jack Layton I Bike T.O. Shirt | Biking Toronto.

The Jack Layton I Bike T.O. Shirt

August 25, 2011 By Joe T.Leave a Comment

On my way to work this morning I had a little brainstorm about making a Jack Layton I Bike T.O. shirt, so that’s what I did.

It’s orange, it memorializes Jack (who LOVED biking Toronto), and it includes the end of his final letter to Canadians.

The shirt is $24.95, and 100% of the profits ($6 per shirt) will go to Bikes without Borders to support their excellent work.  I think Jack would approve.

TEDxLibrariansTO Speaker: Amy Buckland – TEDx LibrariansTO.

Amy Buckland is the eScholarship, ePublishing & Digitization Coordinator at McGill University Library, where she is responsible for scholarly communication, publishing initiatives, and making rare items from special collections available to the world through digitization.

For more information, please visit her speaker’s page.

Berkeley Public Library :: About The Library :: Neighborhood Branches :: Tool Lending Library.

Tool Lending Library offers thousands of tools free to Berkeley residents and people who own property in Berkeley. First time borrowers must present photo ID, a Berkeley Public Library card, and a recently received utility bill their name. Berkeley Marina liveaboards should provide proof of residency showing their current MFLAT berth rental coding. Berkeley property owners who do not live in Berkeley must present their property tax bill. These policies are strictly enforced.

Why Most People Dream and Only Some Do: The Go-Getter Theory by Davy Kestens

I remember it like it was yesterday. I just won the biggest marble from a boy three years younger than me, and my “best buddy” back then was talking to me on how much he liked his new moped. (He wasn’t legally old enough to drive it on the street, yet he did).

He got it from his father who, I believe, up till now still has a bicycle shop.

We used to talk about things we’d like to do. He was going to have his own motor-shop one day, while all I could think about at that time was my new marble. (It was huge!) I wanted to win more marbles, get rich and …

Now let’s fast forward to present tense. My best friend isn’t my friend anymore since we went our separate ways towards different schools and places. Recently, I saw a different classmate from back then and he told me my friend is now working eight to five at the assembly line of a car factory, doing the most repetitive job possible, for no specific reason whatsoever.
Not really what he had hoped for at first.

What differs those who are naturally set to succeed, from others who are not?
Why does one “just do it” and complete a job, while the other never even gets to it, or quits at the first speed bump?

It boggles my mind why some entrepreneurs make it big while others settle for mediocre or close to nothing results!
What differentiates each of them?

Lately, I’ve met a lot of business men and students set to create a startup, and I started noticing a few differences…
It’s not education, skills or talent; It’s passion, drive and motivation. Go-getters are passionate about what they do. They wake up in the morning fired up with enthusiasm coupled with unshakeable belief that they will make life work the way they want.

People who get stuff done strive for “good enough” and go on to the next. Quit being a perfectionist…

I believe that perfectionism is a bad “quality” to have and shouldn’t be in the dictionary of any entrepreneur. If you are a perfectionist, you will try to turn every detail into a Sistine chapel and burn out. Good enough is key in getting things done. If you try to deliver “perfection”, you’ll never reach your goal.

People who do things that are good enough end up accomplishing much more than those who chase after the illusion of perfection.

Coincidentally, most successful entrepreneurs I’ve met so far are the ones who didn’t pass school with flying colours but are the ones who barely or didn’t get through. The ones who had just enough grades to go on to the next year. Why would you want to put in all this effort to obtain an excess of grades that are useless to you? Just get enough and spend the rest of your time on stuff you enjoy.

The Go-Getter is the person who acts now, not tomorrow, and thinks in short-terms.

They are proactive, not reactive. They shape their own destiny and never allow themselves to fall prey to the so-called external circumstances.
Always be asking yourself: “What is the smallest next step”, “What do I need to do now, to get things going”

People who can think of the next actionable task and are able to be specific about it, are the ones who will get to it and deal with it.
They act now and execute specific steps.

The best time to plant a tree is twenty years ago.
The second best time is now.

Example: Don’t think “I need to market my product to bloggers” but think in multiple specific steps:

1. I need to get 10 names of bloggers relevant to my subject
2. I’m going to get the names at website x
3. What are the top 2 specific key features of my startup?
4. Write 3 custom mails about those features
5. Send it to them TODAY

Achievers hate to let themselves down

I’m not talking about failing. Fail big & fast. Fail forward. Don’t sweat it.

I’m talking about the mental state of those people who’d rather die trying, than give up half way. The main motivation of achievers comes from within and is not nourished from the outside. For most people, it’s easy to give up promises you make to yourself (look at all the failed new year’s resolutions) but for achievers, that’s the hardest thing to do. Walking around with the feeling that they didn’t give it all they’ve got. The feeling of “what if I went all the way”, “what if…”

The Go-Getter loves what he does (and delegates the rest)

Key to getting off your feet and kicking some ass is simply doing what you’re good at and what you love. Dump/outsource/delegate the rest. Be able to set your ego aside and let someone better than you take over the parts you suck at.

For example, if you want to build an online business and you discovered that marketing is your true passion but writing is not your cup of tea, buy content and spend all your time on marketing. Similarly, if you dread web design, then yours truly will be happy to help out .

It is not education, skills nor talent; It is passion, drive and motivation.

Go-getters are passionate about what they do. They wake up in the morning fired up with enthusiasm coupled with an unshakable belief that they will make life work the way they want.

Are you a go-getter or a star-gazer? Are you going all the way or already preparing a plan B? Are you constantly talking about your idea, your exit strategy or why something just won’t work, or are you the one kicking it and working it out?

Either way, whatever is happening to you, your business, your life or your idea, whether good or bad, most likely…

It’s all your fault.