Five years ago I got my domain to solve the mental issue on how to name my java packages. I connected the domain with an old blog thinking that maybe I could get to share a few ideas as I just moved to a new country.
The domain did its job for the naming, but I never really went further to write anything. I did not promise I would write and I have gone trough a lot of interesting things in these years, so I am fine with that.
I now came to a realisation that it would be nice start writing about Finance and the Data industry at large. Below are my reasons.
Welcome again, five years later.
Why start blogging now?
Five years have passed: I am not the same anymore and I started to notice that I would like to discuss and exchange ideas with a bigger number of people, that I have stronger interests and that I would like to discuss more about them.
Hopefully the sharing is going to be both giving and taking at the same time:
– giving others an honest point of view to reflect about;
– taking back feedback, good and bad, because that is what makes you better.
Forcing myself to write down or prepare a presentation has always been a good way for me to focus on a topic and organise it first and foremost in my head before I can try to work on it or expose it to someone else.
I have long done that for courses and complex subjects, to the point that if I really want to learn about something I need to write it down.
It is not easy going from private to public, sticking my neck out and throwing my thoughts out in the wild, no matter how polished, for them to be commented about. I do not know how many people will ever read and give feedback, but I am pretty confident this exercise will have value in itself.
“What does not kills you, makes you stronger” they say, so let’s give it a try!
The main drivers to start writing are described above, but I want to share with you a few other sources of inspiration that brought me here and you might find inspiring yourself:
- Swen Lorenz’s blog Undervalued Shares.
He is most probably the top inspirer, and with his recent trilogy on how he works quite surely turning the tide and kicking me into action. - Lyn Alden’s Investing Strategy.
Another financial blog that I have found really inspiring. She has an engineering mindset and I really love the way she explains even the most complex macro economic questions and puts a global picture together. - Data Vault 2.0.
About one month ago I found out that -opposed to DV 1- DV 2 has a great deal of similar ideas to what I have been developing in the last few years together with some of my colleagues. That helped most of my ideas snap into the right place, like a puzzle being completed, but also made me realise how much more quickly we could have gotten there with wider discussion and a broader reach. - OKRs.
The company I am working for is taking into use OKR, so I had to think about my own OKRs. Here is the personal “big hairy goal” that got me here:- O: Become a recognised professional in the Data industry
- KR1: start using my dormant blog to discuss more in public about the subjects of my interest and test my ideas.
Write at least twice a month during summer. - KR2: launch a Meetup to gather people interested in Data Warehousing, Data Vault 2.0 and the technologies around it.
Have a meeting in Fall, if COVID restrictions will allow it. - KR3: give a public speech by fall and a couple by year end.
- KR1: start using my dormant blog to discuss more in public about the subjects of my interest and test my ideas.
- O: Become a recognised professional in the Data industry
What subjects to write on?
This is going to be, at least initially, a single blog where I will write some “random bits” about my passions, but I aim for these bits to be interesting enough for other people to read and comment about them.
While my passions are plentiful I feel that only on two I could write something of interest for other people and worth discussing online. They are Finance and the Data industry at large.
The others like golf, squash or photography are more suited to be discussed in person in front of a glass of wine or cold beer. Even better after practicing them.
Finance
I am not a finance professional and I will never become one, but I have been interested in stock markets since I was 14 and I have an analytical and data oriented mindset with a good toolset to use.
I strongly believe that the only way to overcome our own personal bias in investing is to discuss with others or at least have your ideas questioned.
You could see it as a home made version of the system adopted by Bridgewater Associates, the famous Ray Dalio’s asset management firm that uses a “believability” weighted scoring to evaluate ideas.
The point is that all input is welcome, but the input from people most often right on the subject should weight more.
They have invested a lot to build a system to perfect the method. Here we will most probably just be able to listen each other and we will have to assess each one’s “believability” by ourselves. In my view having multiple inputs is anyway much better than just sticking with each own ideas and biases.
Data industry at large
I am a software and data engineer, so the Data industry at large and Software Development are my professional field and I am a bit scared to write about it.
The Data industry at large represent the WHAT of my interest while Software Engineering and the Agile principles represents the HOW.
Software Development is the practical activity that allows data to become alive, transforming it in useful information.
By Data industry at large I mean all the technologies, practices and supporting tools to create, store and make use of data.
A quick, incomplete list might contain: databases, data pipelines, data lakes, data warehouses, ETL, Data science, Business Intelligence, etc…
I will most probably write about what is interesting for me at the moment or because I see it as a good solution to some problem or because I have a problem and I am not sure about the best solution, so I will try to clarify the subject in my head by writing about it and hopefully by discussing about it.
Conclusion
Welcome to my blog !
I do hope I will find interesting subjects to write about and interesting people to discuss them about.
The best reward for me are a few words from you and you sharing my ideas.
In the meantime, thanks to be we with me !
Ciao, Roberto
Roberto "robmczag" Zagni 