E297 - Data engineering is the future for moving your business to the next level | with Tarush Aggarwal

Tarush Aggarwal has been a data strategist for 11 years and the founder of 5X. He helps entrepreneurs implement computer strategies in their businesses. He’s worked with multiple brands, many different digital entrepreneurs, and with companies such as WeWork and Salesforce. Tarush built data teams for Fortune 500 companies and start-ups, helping them grow their teams from five to over 100 people. Data is the future for moving your business to the next level and Tarush is at the forefront.  

He started his career in software engineering in 2011 when data engineering was not a big thing yet, learned how Salesforce is built out and realized that it’s not just about tracking, collecting, and storing but also measuring and analyzing different data points. Looking at how to attract more customers and make more money. Understanding how effective different channels are, double down on one, or get rid of the ones that aren’t performing. Grasping how customers are using your product and knowing the different segments of customers. Personalizing your product in a way that you are targeting each segment and increasing conversion and then optimizing the business supply chain by automating some of your financial dashboards. 

His big tip is to just get started so the iterative process can be built on, it will take a few cycles to really understand the methodology. With better visibility comes asking better questions and adjusting your understanding of your business. Tarush believes it’s better to focus on the priority of the business in the beginning. Know what the business goal is and then work backward. He goes on to say that the average company has over 10 different sources of data, and you need to centralize this in a single storage layer or data warehouse. 

The infrastructure piece is one of the biggest challenges for companies, knowing what tools you need to make sense of your data. 5X makes it very simple for you, you don't need to figure out integrations or maintenance. They set this platform up in a few minutes where you get one month and they bill at the end of the month. Then there are the people, data scientists, analysts, and engineers who build these capabilities for you, helping you figure out how to take action with your high-level business goals and personalize what success will look like.

In this episode:

[02:42]  Being able to measure many different data points can become overwhelming

• It’s about measuring and analyzing different data points
• Have a real plan, collect it, store it, analyze it and work on it

[03:51]  Looking at the three broad categories of why companies invest in data 

• Attract more customers and make more money
• Know your customers and the different segments of customers in a way that you are targeting each segment, and increasing conversion
• Optimize the business, and the supply chain, and automate some of your financial dashboards

[06:19] A big tip is to just get started on building blocks of information in order to take action

• With better visibility comes asking better questions and adjusting your understanding of your business
• Expand your knowledge and have more reports

[08:27] How to avoid the initial overwhelm when you don't have a large data team

• Focus on the priority of the business to attract more customers, find out how they're engaging with your product
• Optimize the business goal and then work backward

[10:00] Tools you need in order to make sense of your data

• Centralize this in a single storage layer or a data warehouse, clean it, structure and model it, and finally do reporting
• Having a solid foundation on which you can build on