Eight years of Analytics Demystified …
Eight years … eight amazing years since I told my wife I was quitting my job as a Vice President of Strategic Consulting at Visual Sciences (by that time owned by WebSideStory) and going it alone as a consultant. At the time it seemed like a somewhat risky proposition — walking away from a great salary, benefits, and team in the hopes that I could leverage the success of Web Analytics Demystified to find enough clients to pay for insurance and at least the most important bills while my daughter was still small and my son still in diapers …
The early days of Web Analytics Demystified, Inc. were surely interesting. Those of you long in the industry will recall that I was never one to shy away from an argument — web analytics is “easy” and all that nonsense. Part of me misses the spirited debate and agreement to disagree, but as I age I have become content to manage this rapidly growing consultancy and allow others to poke the bear.
I built a company on reputation, thought-leadership, and the willingness to push the boundaries of what we thought we knew about “web analytics.” Key performance indicators? Process and governance? Measuring engagement? Established hierarchies for analytical output? The need for people as a critical input? The list goes on and on and on …
Eight years is a long time.
When I started Web Analytics Demystified I honestly believed it would just be me, a solo consultant, plunging away from job to job trying to make a name for myself. I never envisioned having seven Senior Partners, especially not the caliber of John, Adam, Brian, Kevin, Josh, Michele, and Tim. I also never imagined expanding the company to include the likes of Elizabeth, Tim, Nancy, Lea, Laura, Lauren, Nicole, Leonard, Nico, and Jonas on Team Demystified, many working side-by-side with the Partners to the benefit of our growing list of Enterprise-class clients.
And, yes, I never imagined the “web” would become an anachronism in our trade …
To that end, and by now you have likely noticed, we are simply calling the company “Analytics Demystified.” So much of our work transcends the “web” of eight years ago — from big screens to small, phones to watches, and across the Internet of Things into the realm of big data, optimization, and personalization — the extended team at Analytics Demystified is working with more clients and more senior stakeholders on more interesting projects than ever before … certainly more than I ever envisioned possible.
The new web site is an extension of what we do at Analytics Demystified. Built around the collective experience of the Analytics Demystified Partners via our blogs, and laser focused on helping clients, prospects, and even our nominal competitors continue to push the boundaries of what is possible with analytics technology today. In the coming weeks we will be rolling in additional content from our Team Demystified members, further documenting the work we do to delight clients around the world.
As always I welcome your feedback and commentary.