Category Archives: Startups

Mind the Gap

Posted on April 2, 2012 by Chris

I was recently invited by one of the Hadoop vendors to give a talk on my experiences at Aster Data and the challenges we faced when making the leap from our early, tech-centric customers to the broader, traditional enterprise market.  … Continue reading →

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A Long Walk Off A Short Pier

Posted on November 21, 2011 by Chris

Back in April, I left Aster Data following the close of our acquisition by Teradata in order to embark on a new adventure.  As part of my journey, I launched this blog with a promise that I would try to … Continue reading →

Posted in Aster Data, Cloudera, Hadoop, HortonWorks, Startups, Teradata | Leave a comment

Thoughts on Hadoop World 2011

Posted on November 14, 2011 by Chris

Before I recap last week’s Hadoop World conference, a quick acknowledgement that, yes, it’s been awhile since I last posted (almost four months by my count ).  In the next couple of days, I’ll let you all in on what … Continue reading →

Posted in Cloudera, Hadapt, Hadoop, HortonWorks, MapR, MapReduce, Startups | 2 Comments

Go Where The Talent Is (Lessons from MySpace)

Posted on July 25, 2011 by Chris

Several weeks ago, MySpace announced that it was being acquired by Specific Media, with the purchase price rumored to be a paltry $35 million.  Both MySpace and Specific Media were early customers of Aster Data, and if you had told … Continue reading →

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A Case Study In Word-Of-Mouth Advertising

Posted on July 11, 2011 by Chris

Everyone knows that in business, the best advertising is the advertising you don’t pay for: word-of-mouth.  Good entrepreneurs develop a culture that focuses on making customers happy, in order to create vocal advocates for our endeavors.  Truly wise entrepreneurs realize … Continue reading →

Posted in Restaurant Reviews, Startups | 1 Comment