Superposition

*cue Rocky music* For 6 whole months, I’ve trained. Lived. Laughed. Loved. Learned from ancient game masters in the Himalayas. All leading up to this moment: MY GAME SHOW IS BACK, AND I WANT YOU TO BE PART OF IT! In case you live under a rock or we’ve never met (or if you’re extremely confused), let me catch you up. I think most of the content consultancies in the Data & AI world put out is boring AF. So last year, to finally fight back against that blob of sadness, I built a whole show where I pit 3-4 of your favorite nerds against each other in a series of progressively more unhinged games so they can tell you all about their expertise, projects, and passions. All while I have a minor crashout trying to hold it all together with bubblegum and a dream. The rules of the show are simple: 1. There are no rules 2. Nothing matters, and I decide the points based on how chaotic you are 3. Make David laugh, and you win 4. I change my mind every 5 mins (see rule #1) Season 1 was a huge success: 12 episodes (with two of them live!!), over 40 victims (I mean contestants), and more incredible insights about the work us Data & AI nerds do than I can count. But it wasn’t nearly enough, so we’re all the way back now with more of EVERYTHING. More ridiculous games. More illustrious guests. More nonsense scoring decisions. More hilarious moments. Maybe even a Halloween costume or two. And, if you guys are nice, maybe even more episodes hosted by my cat Plum. If you’ve ever heard me talk about it, you’ll know this show is a huge labor of love. I put a lot of care into it, but this show is really about YOU, and that’s where I need you. If you want to risk it all to play my stupid games, whether you are a Data & AI consultant (or really any type of expert in that field), someone who serves consultants, or just a huge fan of game shows, I want to hear from you in the comments. Let me know if you’d like to play, or if you know of anyone who would be a good fit for the show! (And if you want to catch up on season 1 first, the link's in the comments!) Weirdos extremely welcome, perhaps even encouraged. Bring your friends, bring your pets, bring your family. All are welcome for season 2 of the Superposition Game Show!!

Nobody ever writes a love letter to the person who actually keeps your consultancy from falling apart, so I did. Founders get all the glory, all the LinkedIn posts, all the attention. But the second banana is the one holding it all together. They do the dirty work. They keep the trains moving. They stop you from your worst instincts as a founder. They know what you can’t see before you can see it. They’re the reason your clients think you have it all together. They are the most underappreciated person in every growing consultancy. Go hug your second banana, tag them in the comments, and learn why they’re the reason it all works:

I’m not too proud to admit that, for a while now, the way I’ve talked about what I do for other Data & AI consultancies hasn’t been precise enough. And honestly, it’s driven me kinda crazy lately. I mean, sure, the current pitch works well enough to generate business. But if I want to majorly grow, I have to be real with myself that the problems a consultancy needs help with are more tied to what stage they’re in (even if they all have exactly the same expertise). I can serve all of them effectively, but they face different issues, so they need more targeted versions of my work. Seems stupidly obvious in hindsight, but I’d be lying if I said it hit me right away. It wasn’t until I talked to many of them face-to-face these past few months that I realized how awkward it felt to message the value of the different versions of my work depending on who I was talking to. So next week, I’m finally kicking off a major evolution of how I position what I offer. I’ve noticed that no matter how mature they are, every one of my clients is navigating an existential crisis. But the shape (and magnitude) of the crisis depends on their context: A founder just starting their shop (think under $100K in revenue) is usually knee deep in a gnarly identity crisis, so as someone more comfortable with technical details, you just need basic structure to get through it. A founder in my current sweet spot ($200K-$3M) is hitting their first big freak out. The type that hits you when you’ve succeeded despite yourself and you suddenly realize the things that made you initially successful don’t scale, so you need data and advice on what play to call next. And a founder leading a mature shop ($3M+) doesn’t need advice, they need alignment and a clear vision for what’s ahead in our industry, which is changing faster than any of us can keep up with. So you know what to do, but just need a vehicle to get your team (or your clients) on the same page. What’s surprised me is that the work itself looks really similar across all three. Same frameworks, same kinda advisory sessions, same workshops, same, same, same. I was saying the same thing to everyone, when I really should’ve been doing the same work, and personalizing the message instead. So next Tuesday, that’s where we’re headed. Which means if you’re running a Data & AI consultancy in its very early days (or thinking about starting one), you’re going to want to tune in 👀👀 (and if you run a more mature shop, your turn is coming in a few weeks)

Signing up for a career as a data consultant is signing up for a life of never-ending ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Why do these numbers not make sense? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Why are the dashboards always breaking? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ How did we finally make this predictive model work? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ How was this metric defined? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Will this data point help me make the right decision? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Are we ready to use AI tools? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ So if you see your fellow data nerd struggling with the answers they need, tell them the surefire key to success in our industry:

After 1000s of conversations on the matter, I can now confidently determine what type of Data & AI consultant you are based on your favorite ninja turtle. Which one specifically, what it all means, and why you should care are for you to debate in the comments. But facts are facts. I don't make the rules. (I suppose that makes me Master Splinter, which I'm not mad at)

It’s funny I spend all day trying to sell to my fellow AI consultants, and I don’t even think that job will exist in 5 years. (And yes, I’m aware of how ridiculous that sounds). As an industry, we seem to be stuck in a really weird transitional space where we’re figuring out not only exactly what people find a majorly transformative technology actually useful for, but also where the budget and time required to implement it are. In that in-between, you’re seeing so much explosive growth, but my take is that the days of the generalist “AI consultant” are numbered. Because we’ve seen this cycle before. We’ve seen it going back allllll the way to the steam engine (and probably well beyond). It happened with the internet. eCommerce. Social Media. The Cloud. Blockchain. Every single time, generalists rush in to blaze the path for the scary new thing, then the specialists replace them, and the technology just becomes good ol’ infrastructure. AI is next. It starts with the basics. That’s why you have so many people starting businesses that just do things like teaching others how to use ChatGPT or Claude or something. Laying the groundwork and preventing fear of change. As this hype cycle matures, we’ll see more specialists: people who solve a very narrow AI-flavored problem for a very specific person for a very specific business problem with a very specific tool. The logical conclusion to that in that world, there is no need for the basics anymore, because AI tools will just be a normal part of working life for everyone. Which means there is no need for AI consultants for anyone. Just your normal, run-of-the-mill, normie consultants you know and love. So if you look at this graphic and you see yourself in it (because you realized that what you sell is the *exact* same thing everyone else is selling, but under a slightly different wrapper) And that bothers you We should talk 😉

Next Thursday, my finest contribution to the consulting industry returns, but it would be pretty boring if I just told you what it is. So take your best shot and fill in the blanks in the comments: (if you manage to get it right, I'll send you a prize 😉)