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Oct 25, 2019 · 24m · mad

Data Science Is A Literacy, Not A Job // Peter Wang, Anaconda (FirstMark's Data Driven NYC)

Peter Wang · 20m spoken Matt Turck · 23s spoken
0:00 / 0:00
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gold bands on the timeline = statements, start to end. Hover to read, click to jump. CC turns on captions

At FirstMark's Data Driven NYC event, Anaconda CEO Peter Wang argues that data science is a fundamental analytical literacy rather than a job title, reframing Python as human thoughtware while addressing open-source sustainability, data liabilities, and the ethics of artificial intelligence.

How this conversation actually went

Every chapter scored 0–10 on four independent dynamics. Hover any point for the reasoning behind the score. Matt holds 1.6% of the talking time here. How this is scored →

Matt as informed peer 0.5 Guest teaching 5.3 Guest disagreement 3.3 Matt pushing back 0.5
05100:0010:0020:000:36–5:52 · Matt as informed peer 0/10 Open Source Ecosystem and Enterprise Offering Because this is a monologue presentation segment where host Matt Turck does not speak, host scores are set to zero. Peter Wang educates the audience on open source funding models and forcefully dismisses the industry term 'citizen data science' as bogus using download metrics.5:52–9:52 · Matt as informed peer 0/10 Python as Thoughtware and Human Language Host does not speak in this monologue segment. Wang presents Python as 'thoughtware' rather than mere software, contrasting expressive natural programming with rigid point-and-click BI tools.9:52–14:23 · Matt as informed peer 0/10 Reframing Data: Toxic Waste vs. Value Asset In this host-free presentation segment, Wang educates the room by reframing data from a valuable asset like oil into dangerous radioactive material that risks going critical when hoarded.14:23–24:21 · Matt as informed peer 2/10 Ethical AI and Business Ethics Host Matt Turck joins to moderate Q&A, asking basic business questions and teasing Wang when he goes off on macroeconomic rants. Wang shows high combativeness towards regulators and VC valuation models while educating the audience on business ethics.0:36–5:52 · Guest teaching 5/10 Open Source Ecosystem and Enterprise Offering Because this is a monologue presentation segment where host Matt Turck does not speak, host scores are set to zero. Peter Wang educates the audience on open source funding models and forcefully dismisses the industry term 'citizen data science' as bogus using download metrics.5:52–9:52 · Guest teaching 5/10 Python as Thoughtware and Human Language Host does not speak in this monologue segment. Wang presents Python as 'thoughtware' rather than mere software, contrasting expressive natural programming with rigid point-and-click BI tools.9:52–14:23 · Guest teaching 6/10 Reframing Data: Toxic Waste vs. Value Asset In this host-free presentation segment, Wang educates the room by reframing data from a valuable asset like oil into dangerous radioactive material that risks going critical when hoarded.14:23–24:21 · Guest teaching 5/10 Ethical AI and Business Ethics Host Matt Turck joins to moderate Q&A, asking basic business questions and teasing Wang when he goes off on macroeconomic rants. Wang shows high combativeness towards regulators and VC valuation models while educating the audience on business ethics.0:36–5:52 · Guest disagreement 3/10 Open Source Ecosystem and Enterprise Offering Because this is a monologue presentation segment where host Matt Turck does not speak, host scores are set to zero. Peter Wang educates the audience on open source funding models and forcefully dismisses the industry term 'citizen data science' as bogus using download metrics.5:52–9:52 · Guest disagreement 2/10 Python as Thoughtware and Human Language Host does not speak in this monologue segment. Wang presents Python as 'thoughtware' rather than mere software, contrasting expressive natural programming with rigid point-and-click BI tools.9:52–14:23 · Guest disagreement 3/10 Reframing Data: Toxic Waste vs. Value Asset In this host-free presentation segment, Wang educates the room by reframing data from a valuable asset like oil into dangerous radioactive material that risks going critical when hoarded.14:23–24:21 · Guest disagreement 5/10 Ethical AI and Business Ethics Host Matt Turck joins to moderate Q&A, asking basic business questions and teasing Wang when he goes off on macroeconomic rants. Wang shows high combativeness towards regulators and VC valuation models while educating the audience on business ethics.0:36–5:52 · Matt pushing back 0/10 Open Source Ecosystem and Enterprise Offering Because this is a monologue presentation segment where host Matt Turck does not speak, host scores are set to zero. Peter Wang educates the audience on open source funding models and forcefully dismisses the industry term 'citizen data science' as bogus using download metrics.5:52–9:52 · Matt pushing back 0/10 Python as Thoughtware and Human Language Host does not speak in this monologue segment. Wang presents Python as 'thoughtware' rather than mere software, contrasting expressive natural programming with rigid point-and-click BI tools.9:52–14:23 · Matt pushing back 0/10 Reframing Data: Toxic Waste vs. Value Asset In this host-free presentation segment, Wang educates the room by reframing data from a valuable asset like oil into dangerous radioactive material that risks going critical when hoarded.14:23–24:21 · Matt pushing back 2/10 Ethical AI and Business Ethics Host Matt Turck joins to moderate Q&A, asking basic business questions and teasing Wang when he goes off on macroeconomic rants. Wang shows high combativeness towards regulators and VC valuation models while educating the audience on business ethics.

speaking balance: gold is Matt, purple is the guest (3 minute bins)

0:00 · Matt 0% · guest 100%0:00 · Matt 0% · guest 100%3:00 · Matt 0% · guest 100%3:00 · Matt 0% · guest 100%6:00 · Matt 0% · guest 100%6:00 · Matt 0% · guest 100%9:00 · Matt 0% · guest 100%9:00 · Matt 0% · guest 100%12:00 · Matt 0% · guest 100%12:00 · Matt 0% · guest 100%15:00 · Matt 11.1% · guest 88.9%15:00 · Matt 11.1% · guest 88.9%18:00 · Matt 0.3% · guest 99.7%18:00 · Matt 0.3% · guest 99.7%21:00 · Matt 1.4% · guest 98.6%21:00 · Matt 1.4% · guest 98.6%24:00 · Matt 5.9% · guest 94.1%24:00 · Matt 5.9% · guest 94.1%
Sharpest disagreement ▶ 21:35 Dismissing regulators and VC logic

Wang aggressively mocks government regulators for not understanding basic math like the central limit theorem and attacks VC valuation models built on surveillance capitalism.

 Hardest push from Matt ▶ 22:18 It was a friendly chat

Host Matt Turck humorously interjects to break Wang's bleak macroeconomic tirade, gently pushing back that the session was supposed to remain friendly.

 Biggest teaching moment ▶ 10:05 Data is radioactive material, not oil

Wang completely dismantles the popular tech trope that data is the new oil, schooling the room on how ambient location tracking turns data into hazardous liability.

 Matt holds his own ▶ 15:16 Grounding presentation in business realities

Host Matt Turck asserts control over the presentation by steering Wang away from high-level theoretical concepts toward Anaconda's concrete business model and monetization strategy.
the scores for every segment, with the reasoning behind each
ChapterTopicMatt as informed peerGuest teachingGuest disagreementMatt pushing backWhy
Open Source Ecosystem and Enterprise Offering 0530 Because this is a monologue presentation segment where host Matt Turck does not speak, host scores are set to zero. Peter Wang educates the audience on open source funding models and forcefully dismisses the industry term 'citizen data science' as bogus using download metrics.
Python as Thoughtware and Human Language 0520 Host does not speak in this monologue segment. Wang presents Python as 'thoughtware' rather than mere software, contrasting expressive natural programming with rigid point-and-click BI tools.
Reframing Data: Toxic Waste vs. Value Asset 0630 In this host-free presentation segment, Wang educates the room by reframing data from a valuable asset like oil into dangerous radioactive material that risks going critical when hoarded.
Ethical AI and Business Ethics 2552 Host Matt Turck joins to moderate Q&A, asking basic business questions and teasing Wang when he goes off on macroeconomic rants. Wang shows high combativeness towards regulators and VC valuation models while educating the audience on business ethics.

Statements from this episode (11)

Assertion Not checkable as stated
Wang: Anaconda reached 18 million users on trailing 12-month basis
“Although we hit, we now hit eighteen million users on a trailing 12 month basis”
Peter Wang Oct 25, 2019 ▶ 0:27
Disclosure
Wang: Anaconda pays core Pandas and scikit-learn maintainers full-time
“Our fix for that is we just pay developers. So, like, we have a couple of a couple of the core maintainers for Pandas are full-time developers, and they're just paid to work on Pandas, and same thing with scikit-learn.”
Peter Wang Oct 25, 2019 ▶ 1:02
Opinion
Wang: 'Citizen data science' is a completely bogus corporate term
“Citizen data science is, is kind of, it's a bogus term.”
Peter Wang Oct 25, 2019 ▶ 3:30
Insight
Wang: Data science is an analytical literacy rather than a job role
“Data science is not actually a job or a role. It's a literacy”
Peter Wang Oct 25, 2019 ▶ 5:04
Disclosure
Anaconda survey: Under half of users have 'data scientist' in job title
“Out of the, whatever, thousands of thousands of respondents of people who use the Anaconda, less than half actually had data scientists in their title, and most people actually were learning data science to use it in their current job function.”
Peter Wang Oct 25, 2019 ▶ 5:09
Insight
Wang: Graphical BI tools degenerate into useless complexity compared to code
“Point-and-click graphical tools are really very impoverished when it comes to expressing the full plethora of opportunities and possibilities. And what we, in fact, see is a lot of the graphical tools for, you know, advanced BI++ kinds of tools, they ultimatel…”
Peter Wang Oct 25, 2019 ▶ 6:59
Prediction Not checkable as stated
Wang: Python notebook literacy will create a sharp divide in career outcomes
“In the world to come, in any line of business, any title you have, any branch of science, the people who can hack a Python notebook versus the people who cannot is going to be a very sharp divide in terms of your career outcomes.”
Peter Wang Oct 25, 2019 ▶ 8:26
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Wang: Python is one of the few programming languages designed for teaching
“One of the things that's really interesting about Python as a language is that it is actually one of the very few languages in the world that has a history or a pedigree, a legacy of being developed with the intent of being taught.”
Peter Wang Oct 25, 2019 ▶ 8:39
Insight
Wang: Individual data privacy depends entirely on societal herd immunity
“Data privacy and anonymity and the, kind of, the idea that we can live private lives, that is contingent, it's kind of a herd immunity, right? So even if you turn off all your tracking stuff and you're a super, like, crypto nerd about all this stuff, if everyo…”
Peter Wang Oct 25, 2019 ▶ 11:54
Insight
Wang: Businesses cannot simply purchase off-the-shelf ethical AI
“You cannot buy off the shelf ethical AI. You can buy effective AI, but if you're not doing ethical things as a business, you're not going to have ethical AI.”
Peter Wang Oct 25, 2019 ▶ 14:18
Prediction Not checkable as stated
Wang: Regulating venture-backed data monetization models will trigger a market crash
“Any regular that comes in and blows up the business model of a ton of, like, high valuation VC stuff, they're gonna trigger a pretty bad situation.”
Peter Wang Oct 25, 2019 ▶ 21:59
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