The Decision Education Podcast Episode 040: Mastering the Game Plan with Paraag Marathe
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Nov 5, 2025 In this engaging discussion, Paraag Marathe, Chairman of Leeds United and President of 49ers Enterprises, shares insights from his analytics-driven career in sports management. He highlights how strong leadership transformed Leeds United through data-informed decision-making while maintaining the human element. Paraag delves into the psychology behind decisions, the importance of creating a safe environment for innovation, and the challenges of aligning team goals. He also emphasizes the critical role of effective decision communication and the necessity of decision education in shaping future leaders.
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Stack Small Edges Over Time
- Winning is about stacking small edges that turn 50-50 choices into 52-48 advantages.
- Paraag Marathe frames decision-making as accumulating many slight probabilities to tip outcomes over the long run.
How A Draft Project Launched His Career
- As a Bain analyst Paraag worked on a 2001 49ers draft-value project and ended up doing most of the on-site work.
- That hands-on project connected him directly with NFL legends and launched his sports analytics career.
Draft Charts Failed To Account For Human Error
- Traditional draft-value charts assumed a perfectly efficient market and underweighted selection errors.
- Paraag's model adjusted values to account for average human error across drafts, changing exchange rates for picks.
