Building a business around Machine Learning APIs. I got a variety of reactions on Twitter following my GigaOM piece on how Data Scientists work at automating themselves. One of them I want to discuss today is about building businesses on top / around Prediction APIs such as Google's or BigML's (a.k.a. machine learning APIs). Anthony Nyström, who is Principal for Artificial Intelligence at Mashable, raises a very interesting point: is this even possible, and if you do build your business around these APIs, how are you going to differentiate yourself from others who could use the same APIs? Here's one such business The first thing that comes to my mind is Pondera Solutions, which is a company that was founded in November 2011 and that provides Fraud Detection as a Service. Ways to differentiate yourself Now, let's imagine that your business has a direct competitor, looking to tackle the same problem as you with the same Prediction API.
In the way you prepare data to send to the API. Value of technology Coming soon. How Twitter, Google, and Apple Walk a Fine Line in Platform Defense - Joshua Gans. How to Raise Investment Capital - According to VC Jeff Clavier. Jeff Clavier was the first tech investor I ever met; he was introduced to me years ago by some hip engineers in a bar as "one of the few cool VCs. " Years later Clavier's name now comes up all the time when one of his portfolio companies finds success; his exits include Mint, Tapulous, and UserPlane, other investments include Mashery (a ReadWriteWeb sponsor), Rapleaf, Fitbit, bitly, GroupOn, Twitter and many more. Clavier spoke last week at the International Startup Festival in Montreal on the topic of raising money - with a special emphasis on the numbers that a startup should keep an eye on.
My notes from his very informative presentation are below. Clavier began his presentation at the beginning of a company's lifecycle, asking how many co-founders a startup ought to have. He says that one is too lonely, two is good and three is a great number if they can combine their skills to cover design, development and distribution. How to Hack the Investment World Kedrosky: The stages of funding.
Discover The Patterns Of Successful Internet Startups In The Startup Genome Report - Startup Genome. Parisbusinessangels.com. Simon Sinek: How great leaders inspire action. Clôture de la Soirée - Entrepreneurs Ensimag - Soirée 16/05/2011.
RSA Animate - Drive: The surprising truth about what motivates us. Livre blanc : Relation Client : ce qu'attendent les e-acheteurs. Entrepreneurs-ensimag.org.