Predicting the Impact of Competitive Entrants With Synthetic Controls with Evan Wimpey of Elder Research

This week on The Data Stack Show, Eric and John welcome Evan Wimpey, Director of Analytics Strategy at Elder Research. During the episode, Evan shares his diverse background, including his Marine Corps experience, and delves into the concept of synthetic controls in data science. Evan explains how synthetic controls create theoretical models to measure the impact of new competitors on existing businesses. The conversation also covers the importance of qualitative context in data analysis, challenges in communicating data insights, and Evan's unique venture into data-related comedy, highlighting his book "Predictable Jokes." Trust us, you won’t want to miss this episode! 

Highlights from this week’s conversation include:

• Evan's Background and Journey in Data (0:40)

• Discussion on Synthetic Controls (1:04)

• Evan's Educational Journey and Marine Corps Experience (2:54)

• Joining Elder Research (4:38)

• Synthetic Controls Explained (6:54)

• Measuring Impact with Synthetic Controls (9:05)

• Building the Control Group (12:54)

• Qualitative Context in Data Analysis (14:50)

• Final Steps with Synthetic Controls (16:29)

• Client Analytics Maturity (18:56)

• Outsourcing Decisions in Analytics (21:09)

• Cohesion Between Analytics Teams (24:18)

• Validation of Predictive Models (26:37)

• Confidence in Marketing Predictions (29:01)

• Setting Expectations for Data Science (36:09)

• Evan's Background in Data Comedy (39:44)

• The Journey to Award-Winning Jokes (41:29)

• Creating New Jokes (46:22)

• Get the Joke Book and Final Thoughts in the Episode (48:46)

The Data Stack Show is a weekly podcast powered by RudderStack, the CDP for developers. Each week we’ll talk to data engineers, analysts, and data scientists about their experience around building and maintaining data infrastructure, delivering data and data products, and driving better outcomes across their businesses with data.

RudderStack helps businesses make the most out of their customer data while ensuring data privacy and security. To learn more about RudderStack visit rudderstack.com.