playing with data for fun and profit
TRANSCRIPT
Kevin Ohashi
Founder, Review Signal LLCFreelance Software Developer
Amateur Digital NomadBoard Member, Affinity Lab
Playing with Data for Fun and Profit
Who Am I?Background:● MSc in Entrepreneurship● MSc in International Marketing & Brand
Management● BA in Economics● Minor in Computer Science
My First Business - Domain Names
Which Domain Names are Valuable?
Source: ICANN.org
Hint: it’s .COM
What Makes Domain Names Valuable?
● Brandability● Industry/Market● Length (shortness)● Assocations/imagery● …● -------------------------->
TRAFFIC!
Domain Name Business Model
Traffic == Money1. Buy Domain
Names with Traffic2. Redirect them to
Advertising3. Collect Checks
Disclaimer: Might be evil. Many people hate these sites. I don’t blame them.
$$$$
Data back in my day...Yahoo! Overture● Showed every query’s
popularity● Updated monthly● Unlimited Querying● ==Data Mining Jackpot
What the data taught me...
Data showed a strong correlation between search volume and trafficFinding valuable domains was limited by:● Algorithms to generate names● Registering them faster than anyone else
Automation is a form of innovation
My Master’s Thesis - Predicting Box Office Sales with Twitter Data
Why did I do this?
Why Not?The goal of my research was to show electronic word of mouth (WoM) == normal word of mouth.The byproduct was electronic WoM can be recorded and analyzed. So I explored the data...
I Love Movies, So I Studied Them
“The highest adjusted R^2 (.96) for week 3 used: Positive Buzz, Theaters and P/N Ratio, to explain box office sales. “
tl;dr: The volume of positive messages, the number of theaters playing it, and the ratio of positive to negative messages explained 96% of box office sales.
Most Important Data Skill Learned:
Sentiment Analysis
Commercialization of Thesis
How Does Review Signal Work?
Core Business: Sentiment Analysis
● Automatically analyzed over 15 million opinions
● Created a source of reviews where none existed before
● Always Up to Date (or Up to Data)
Thank You!
Remember...● Data can be fun.● Data can be profitable.● Data can unlock new information/insights.● Data is only as good as the person analyzing it.
@KevinOhashi Personal Website: KevinOhashi.com
Business Website: ReviewSignal.com