DataTalks.Club From Simulations to Freelance Data Engineering: Orell's Journey Out of Academia and Into Consulting - Orell Garten
Aug 1, 2025
Orell Garten is a freelance data engineer with a rich background in electrical engineering and simulation algorithms. He dives into his journey from academia to freelancing, sharing lessons learned from startup life and the intricacies of working with messy industrial data. Orell discusses his early challenges in freelancing, including client acquisition and project management. He emphasizes the importance of practical tools like Python and DuckDB, and offers valuable advice on maintaining a cash runway and focusing on problem-solving over perfect tech solutions.
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Startup Failure in Medical Imaging
- Orell and friends tried building a startup monetizing synthetic data for AI training in medical imaging.
- They failed to commercialize it due to market dynamics and misjudging problem relevance.
Start Small with Data
- Startups should keep data solutions simple and manual at first, focusing on current needs.
- Avoid over-engineering data infrastructure before understanding customer needs.
First Freelance Project Spark
- Orell’s first freelance project came from a startup contact on LinkedIn asking for IoT data engineering help.
- This small win boosted his confidence to pursue freelancing seriously.