Marc Andreessen famously said: “software will eat the world.” I would like to go one step further, and say: “data is eating software.” Everywhere you look, we are collecting, storing and processing more and more information.
As we march into 2014, it is fruitful to think about what is \not\ yet fully information, but has the potential to be. Healthcare. Education. Behaviorial economics (or how humans actually make decisions). All of these areas contain magnificent landscapes of measurements; but for concerns of privacy or monopoly, we have not opened up the floodgates just yet.
Mary Meeker’s curves remind us that the amount of information that we are collecting and generating is skyrocketing. We stand at the foot of this mountain, and going forward, we will need skilled and talented pioneers—people who have the curiosity and tenacity to summit three separate mountains of knowledge: about programming, about statistics and about something they care passionately about.
Those who will lead the charge have been given some sexy titles — Data Scientists, Data Engineers —but they need all the help and feedback they can get. Because whether they come from academia’s graduate programs or industry’s software trenches, there is a tremendous amount to learn and high bars to entry. To help provide a roadmap for this difficult transition, and to inspire those who are considering taking the plunge, we have been working on a labor of love.
Today, I am very happy to announce it for the first time. We call it informally the Data Science Handbook. We hope that it will be equal parts Founders at Work and Cal Newport, created for the data immigrant as a companion for the journey. Something that you can pick up, and instantly put fire into your spine. Something you can return to, and find quiet wisdom among the dog-eared pages. Its still in progress, but we’ve had some amazing interviews with amazing people so far, and over the next few weeks, we’ll be releasing snippets of thought to inspire and guide those who are currently seeking the path to become a data scientist.
So if you are intrigued, sign up at our website to learn more, and bookmark this blog to get more updates.
-Max, Carl, Henry & William
