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

#1

Post by vaib » Mon, Dec 12, 2016, 5:43 AM UTC

Hi, A few of my friends (and myself included) have experience in different areas of Data Science - Machine Learning, Data Analysis, NLP, Visualization, Hadoop, etc. So we are thinking of opening a company and do freelancing/consulting work in the area of AI/ML/Data Science.

Any suggestions where we should look for work and how should we go about getting our first clients? I understand that there are freelancing sites but not sure if they have good work or if they are a good place to start.

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

#2

Post by huhtenberg » Mon, Dec 12, 2016, 7:47 AM UTC

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 how well that would go. Specialization is the key, at least in the early stages.

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

#3

Post by taprun » Mon, Dec 12, 2016, 8:06 AM 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…

So, let's say that you call yourself a specialist in crunching data about agricultural matters. You go up to farmers and say "I have lots of data about estimating the ideal amount of phosphate to use. It could save you big money." Then the farmers say "Wow, I didn't want a data scientist, but I do want a guy to help me cut costs. Thanks!"

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

#4

Post by joeld42 » Mon, Dec 12, 2016, 8:06 AM UTC

Networking. Beyond that, a good first start is to do some interesting analysis on public datasets and blog about them.

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

#5

Post by probinso » Mon, Dec 12, 2016, 8:44 AM UTC

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.

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

#6

Post by santa_boy » Mon, Dec 12, 2016, 10:58 AM UTC

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 progress in small steps without necessarily focusing on any specific topic.

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

#7

Post by brudgers » Mon, Dec 12, 2016, 3:27 PM UTC

Identify potential clients. Go out and introduce yourself and your company. Ask intelligent questions about their business. Listen to their answers. Thank them for their time.

Follow up periodically so that the company stays in your deal flow pipeline and maybe it leads to work at some future date. Maybe it doesn't.

Doesn't matter what magic the consultancy sells, that's how it works: build a big enough pipeline of potential sources of work and statistically there is always likely to be enough work to keep the lights on. Statistically, if the pipeline is not big enough, there won't be.

The size of the pipeline is based on the rate at which the consultancy burns through money; the aggregated probabilities of each potential client to produce paying work each month; the rates at which clients cancel projects, fail to pay, or choose an alternate means of accomplishing their goal; and the amount of time it takes to complete a project (e.g. $10k over two years versus $10k over two weeks).

The larger the consultancy, the bigger the pipeline needs to be. My advice is to start putting numbers into Excel.

Good luck.

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

#8

Post by eb0la » Mon, Dec 12, 2016, 4:55 PM UTC

Industry.

Talk a look at your local/nearest industries. Pick a medium sized one. Get to know them and take a look at the machines they use for QA.

You'll be very surprised to see that, in some industries, quality test could take dozens of hours (you cannot speed up chemical reactions).

If you can infer the quality of a product based on easy-to-accquire inputs, then you have a customer.

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

#9

Post by vaib » Mon, Dec 12, 2016, 5:07 PM UTC

eb0la wrote: post #8

Industry. Talk a look at your local/nearest industries. Pick a medium sized one. Get to know them and take a look at the machines they use for QA. You'll be very surprised to see that, in some industries, quality test could take dozens of hours (you cannot speed up chemical reactions). If you can infer the quality of a product based on easy-to-accquire inputs, then you have a customer.

Thanks for your reply. Healthacare is definitely something I can explore.

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

#10

Post by vaib » Mon, Dec 12, 2016, 5:09 PM UTC

brudgers wrote: post #7

Identify potential clients. Go out and introduce yourself and your company. Ask intelligent questions about their business. Listen to their answers. Thank them for their time. Follow up periodically so that the company stays in your deal flow pipeline and maybe it leads to work at some future date. Maybe it doesn't. Doesn't matter what magic the consultancy sells, that's how it works: build a big enough pipeline of p…

Sounds like good advise - make a big enough potential client base and always keep in touch! Thanks for your reply.