Ask HN: How to get first clients for Data Science consultancy • Hacker News Board

Re: Ask HN: How to get first clients for Data Science consultancy

#11

Post by vaib » Mon, Dec 12, 2016, 5:18 PM UTC

huhtenberg wrote: post #2

This is not "Data Science" specific, but bootstrapping a client base for a new company with no street cred is done nearly exclusively through networking, e.g. you would start by aggressively asking your contacts for referrals, poaching clients that you've previously worked with, etc. Also, what you are describing is like opening a mechanical engineering shop and saying "we can invent anything that moves". Consider ho…

It's an interesting point you bring up - no street cred and actually that's the whole basis of my question here. Given no 'street cred', how do we get our first clients. And your comment makes sense but then we do have industry experience working in 'big firms'. Maybe we can leverage that in some way? I mean what all can we do to have some street cred before actually having a first client? What do you think? Any street smart ways to do that? :)

Re: Ask HN: How to get first clients for Data Science consultancy

#12

Post by vaib » Mon, Dec 12, 2016, 5:21 PM UTC

santa_boy wrote: post #6

Not specifically Data Science but I've had individual success directly writing to people (in companies) who are working in the area. If you are good at some domain and believe you can help someone in that domain, you can create and demonstrate your analyses with specific examples. In addition, building a decent blog with personal touch and experience can create "collateral" and it helps keep you make continuous progr…

Yes, basically try to do all things that build up confidence in you and your team. Thanks for your reply!

Re: Ask HN: How to get first clients for Data Science consultancy

#13

Post by vaib » Mon, Dec 12, 2016, 5:22 PM UTC

probinso wrote: post #5

I started by growing my personal projects to a professional level. I treated myself as a client and tracked hours. When I discussed new contracts with people I was able to show them that. When I go back down this path, I'm hoping to bootstrap with a Blog instead. Not necessarily because I think this is the best idea, but because I think it will be more fun.

Gotcha! thanks for your reply!

Re: Ask HN: How to get first clients for Data Science consultancy

#14

Post by inputcoffee » Mon, Dec 12, 2016, 7:14 PM UTC

I think data science is a little different from other consulting jobs.

For most consulting jobs, the client has a clearer idea of what they are going to get. You might promise them a working SAP system, advice on a document they might sign, a tax return they can file and so on.

With data science, you might just be promising them: hey, we will take a look around in the data and see if we can find something interesting.

This is a harder sell. I think you need a clear example of what you might find and why that is valuable to the client.

Strategy consulting firms often deal with similar issues. I do think that it is not easy to land pure strategy assignments unless you are already at McKinsey, BCG or Bain.

Re: Ask HN: How to get first clients for Data Science consultancy

#15

Post by brudgers » Tue, Dec 13, 2016, 1:08 AM UTC

vaib wrote: post #11

huhtenberg wrote: post #2

This is not "Data Science" specific, but bootstrapping a client base for a new company with no street cred is done nearly exclusively through networking, e.g. you would start by aggressively asking your contacts for referrals, poaching clients that you've previously worked with, etc. Also, what you are describing is like opening a mechanical engineering shop and saying "we can invent anything that moves". Consider ho…

It's an interesting point you bring up - no street cred and actually that's the whole basis of my question here. Given no 'street cred', how do we get our first clients. And your comment makes sense but then we do have industry experience working in 'big firms'. Maybe we can leverage that in some way? I mean what all can we do to have some street cred before actually having a first client? What do you think? Any stre…

If you have industry experience at big firms already, then targeting those firms and similar firms is the place to start.

Re: Ask HN: How to get first clients for Data Science consultancy

#16

Post by zer00eyz » Tue, Dec 13, 2016, 4:27 PM UTC

If your interested in developing a name then content marketing is the game.

There are tons of free data sets out there, find something in a vertical that you think has a large market share and blog about it. Run and crunch those numbers on your own dime, make your visualizations beautiful.

Hiring a content marketing consultant would be in your best interest and might be cheep.