May 28, 2014 · 21m · mad
Noah Breslow & Abhra Mitra, onDeck // Data Driven #27 // May 2014 (Hosted by FirstMark Capital)
gold bands on the timeline = statements, start to end. Hover to read, click to jump. CC turns on captions
In this FirstMark Capital presentation, OnDeck CEO Noah Breslow and Data Analytics Manager Abhra Mitra detail how OnDeck leverages big data, entity resolution, and machine learning to address the $100 billion small business lending gap. They showcase OnDeck's integrated platform, proprietary scoring model, and data science architecture followed by an audience Q&A.
How this conversation actually went
Every chapter scored 0–10 on four independent dynamics. Hover any point for the reasoning behind the score. How this is scored →
speaking balance: gold is Matt, purple is the guest (3 minute bins)
Abhra Mitra politely demurs on sharing proprietary sector loss rates when asked directly by an audience member, marking the only mild boundary-setting in an otherwise collaborative presentation.
Hardest push from Matt ▶ 16:36 Audience question probing risk pricing and default metricsVictoria from the Economist Intelligence Unit presses the speakers on whether they use variable interest rates based on model output and demands specific sector default data.
Biggest teaching moment ▶ 12:10 Explaining entity resolution and fuzzy logic algorithmsAbhra Mitra delivers an educational breakdown of how OnDeck uses machine learning and human intuition to resolve inconsistent business identity records across multiple data sources.
Matt holds his own ▶ 18:56 Audience analyst offering Google Flu comparison and business model extensionTony Baer demonstrates domain expertise by framing OnDeck's data as an early macroeconomic indicator akin to Google Flu Trends and questioning whether they plan to launch a data product business.
the scores for every segment, with the reasoning behind each
| Chapter | Topic | Matt as informed peer | Guest teaching | Guest disagreement | Matt pushing back | Why |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Presentation Agenda Overview | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | Noah Breslow provides a structured overview of the presentation agenda and introduces the small business lending gap. As this is a pure presentation monologue without host participation, host scores are zero. | |
| Disrupting Traditional Financial Services | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | Breslow explains how traditional banking models fail small dollar loans and details OnDeck's consolidation of origination, servicing, credit bureau, and scoring functions. This is a solo presentation monologue. | |
| The Small Business Digital Footprint | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | Breslow discusses the heterogeneity of small business digital footprints compared to standardized consumer data. The segment is a solo speaker presentation. | |
| Personal Credit Score vs. The OnDeck Score | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | Breslow contrasts negative personal credit indicators in consumer FICO scores with positive business cash flow metrics evaluated by OnDeck. The host does not participate. | |
| Data Aggregation and Model Performance Evolution | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | Abhra Mitra takes over to present OnDeck's data aggregation platform and entity resolution techniques using a practical Mags Plumbing example. This is an uninterrupted technical presentation. | |
| Multi-Source Voting in Predictive Credit Models | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | Mitra explains multi-source data voting across different business verticals like restaurants versus sparse footprint businesses like funeral homes. The segment is monologue presentation. | |
| Audience Q&A Session | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | The event host facilitates Q&A while audience members ask about risk pricing, sector default rates, data monetization, and human data verification. The dynamic is collaborative and informational throughout. |