The SD Lab acts as a hub connecting key players in the social data landscape. It serves as a resource for cutting-edge social data companies, such as Facebook, for other consumer-oriented companies eager to realize the untapped power of data, as well as for Stanford students and faculty. The Lab meets regularly to prepare for the quarterly Social Data Summit, the key event that brings together all members of the Lab.
The Lab was founded in April 2011 by current director Andreas Weigend. Our advisors include Kenneth Cukier and Rick Smolan, and its members span a wide range of constituencies, ranging from CIOs, to statisticians tasked with analyzing large amounts of data, to CMOs and social media experts seeking creative marketing strategies underpinned by rigorous analytics. Our members bring unique experiences and cross-pollinating perspectives to the group. The resulting conversations challenge existing assumptions, reveal existing roadblocks, and, ultimately, produce valuable and actionable insights.
Our Mission
To investigate and utilize the ongoing explosion of social data, the data that consumers knowingly and willingly share with each other, with companies, and with the world
To enable companies to understand and leverage the social data revolution, the game-changing shift in how consumers express themselves, relate to each other, and make purchasing and lifestyle decisions
To create scenarios and develop cutting-edge insights that are relevant and actionable for member companies
To lead and facilitate partnerships among key thought leaders and experts, social data start-ups, established consumer companies, VCs, and the Stanford community.
Our History
Founder and director Andreas Weigend has spent the last two decades working with a broad spectrum of companies to define and implement cutting-edge data strategies. Many of his clients have changed the way they think about consumer data.
For example, many companies focus on the collection and analysis of data without first defining the real problem. By leveraging the five-step process that Weigend developed when he was Chief Scientist of Amazon - PHAME (Problem, Hypothesis, Action, Metrics, Experiment) - companies expand their focus beyond technical issues. They come to realize that their beliefs about what data to collect, how to organize that data, and what to use that data for grows out of a more fundamental mindset about how they see their customers. Companies who view their customers as passive consumers tend to see data as a zero-sum game of extraction. Companies who view their customers as active contributors -individuals who proactively share information when it furthers their self-interests - see data as a positive-sum game about incentivizaton and co-creation. Working with the PHAME framework frequently impacts the way companies choose to structure their organization.
Companies often undertake similar journeys when reinventing their data strategy. This is the main reason the Social Data Lab was created. The co-creative group setting enables companies to share and learn from their collective experiences.
