MLOps Coffee Sessions #94 with Mark Freeman, Traversing the Data Maturity Spectrum: A Startup Perspective.

// Abstract
A lot of companies talk about having ML and being data-driven, but few are there currently and doing it well. If anything, many companies are on the cusp of implementing ML rather than being ML mature.  

As a startup, what decisions are we making today to drive data maturity and set us up for success when we further implement ML in the near future. What business cases are we making for leadership buy-in to invest in data infrastructure as compared to product development while we identify product-market-fit.

// Bio
Mark is a community health advocate turned data scientist interested in the intersection of social impact, business, and technology. His life’s mission is to improve the well-being of as many people as possible through data—especially among those marginalized.

Mark received his M.S. from the Stanford School of Medicine where he was trained in clinical research, experimental design, and statistics with an emphasis on observational studies. In addition, Mark is also certified in Entrepreneurship and Innovation from the Stanford Graduate School of Business.

He is currently a senior data scientist at Humu where he builds data tools that drive behavior change to make work better. His core responsibilities center around 1) building data products that reach Humu's end users, 2) providing product analytics for the product team, and 3) building data infrastructure and driving data maturity.

// MLOps Jobs board  
https://mlops.pallet.xyz/jobs

// Related Links
Website: humu.com
The Informed Company: How to Build Modern Agile Data Stacks that Drive Winning Insights book:
https://www.amazon.com/Informed-Company-Cloud-Based-Explore-Understand/dp/1119748003
Fundamentals of Data Engineering book by Joe Reis and Matt Housley:
https://www.oreilly.com/library/view/fundamentals-of-data/9781098108298/

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Connect with Demetrios on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dpbrinkm/
Connect with Vishnu on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/vrachakonda/
Connect with Mark on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mafreeman2/

Timestamps:
[00:00] Introduction to Mark Freeman
[01:43] Grab your own Apron merch @ https://mlops.community/!
[03:41] LinkedIn stardom!
[04:40] Followers or connections?
[05:31] Leveraging essential information platform
[08:56] Investment in time spent on creating and working on a social platform
[12:16] Put yourself out there for people to find you
[16:33] Data maturity is a spectrum that takes time to traverse
[23:43] Maturity of path
[28:43] Fundamentals for data products
[33:05] Foundational data capabilities
[37:32] Value of metrics
[41:48] writing reused code timeframe vs working with stakeholders timeframe
[44:11] Wrap up  
[45:14] Look for Meetups near you!