Interview: Buying data is still stuck in the analog era
Originally published on World of DaaS
Nomad Data is building the Spotify of Data.
With the rapidly increasing pace of data creation, finding the right information to fuel business decisions can be like searching for a needle in a digital haystack. That’s where Nomad Data comes in - a startup that's reimagining how companies discover, access, and utilize data. Founded by Brad Schneider in 2020, Nomad Data is on a mission to become the "Spotify of data," creating a seamless marketplace where buyers can easily find the information they need and sellers can monetize their data assets.
The Discovery Dilemma: Solving the Yellow Pages Problem
One of the biggest challenges in the data industry is simply finding the right information. As Schneider explains, "When you go into another marketplace, and I'll use the Yellow Pages analogy, your toilet breaks, you're looking for a plumber. You can search the yellow pages, find plumbers and call somebody. If you need data, if you need telemetric IoT data on tractor trailers, what is that category even called? You don't even know where to look."
Nomad Data's solution is to flip the traditional marketplace model on its head. Instead of browsing through endless categories or sifting through irrelevant listings, users simply describe what they're looking for. The platform's intelligent matching engine then connects them with relevant data providers.
"Our model is you literally come in, there's no list. You literally just say, 'Hey, I need this very specific hurricane data.' That's it. And then our engine matches it to vendors and vendors respond to you," Schneider explains. This approach has allowed Nomad Data to scale rapidly, with nearly 4,000 data partners on the platform and growing. As vendors respond to these requests, Nomad’s systems learn and are able to match more effectively in the future.
Unlocking the Power of Unstructured Data
As artificial intelligence and machine learning technologies advance, the ability to extract insights from unstructured data has become increasingly valuable. Nomad Data is at the forefront of this trend, developing tools to help companies leverage these rich information sources.
"We created a tool which we call transcript chat, which allows you to basically turn that dataset into a structured dataset," Schneider says, describing their work with company earnings call transcripts. "For example, I might want to know what's every piece of equipment that server farms globally are unable to obtain? The tool will literally read 50,000 transcripts in a few minutes."
This capability to transform unstructured data into actionable insights is opening up new possibilities for businesses across industries. From analyzing customer sentiment to identifying supply chain bottlenecks, the applications are virtually limitless.
The Last Mile Challenge: Streamlining Data Procurement
While discovering the right data is crucial, it's only half the battle. The "last mile" of data procurement – negotiating contracts, ensuring compliance, and integrating the data into existing systems – can be a significant hurdle for many organizations.
Nomad Data is tackling this challenge head-on with its procurement platform. "The marketplace is only half of what Nomad data does. The other half is the procurement platform," Schneider explains. "So people that procure a lot of data and search for a lot of data, it is basically the tech stack. It's the procurement system meets CRM meets knowledge base."
This integrated approach aims to simplify the entire data acquisition process, from discovery to testing to implementation. By streamlining these workflows, Nomad Data is helping companies unlock the full potential of external data sources.
As the data landscape continues to evolve, Nomad Data is positioning itself at the intersection of supply and demand. Schneider envisions a future where "every company ultimately becomes a buyer and seller of data," with Nomad Data serving as the central hub connecting all these spokes.
The proposition seems to be resonating with the market "We've grown over a hundred percent this year. We have a shot at growing 200%."Schneider remarks.
Looking ahead, Schneider sees Nomad Data evolving into a comprehensive suite of tools that "connects a company to that world of external data."
In a world where information is abundant but not always accessible, Nomad Data's vision of becoming the "Spotify of data" could be the key to unleashing the full potential of the global data economy. As Schneider puts it, "That's what the world wants, right? You buy one thing and then you get everything, and maybe you have to pay more, but you don't have to go through compliance 50 times and DDQs 50 times with a hundred people. That is such a nightmare."
It’s high time traditional data transactions went the way of the CD.
