Kevin Ohashi
Founder, Review Signal LLCFreelance Software Developer
Amateur Digital NomadBoard Member, Affinity Lab
Playing with Data for Fun and Profit
Who Am I?Background:● MSc in Entrepreneurship● MSc in International Marketing & Brand
Management● BA in Economics● Minor in Computer Science
My First Business - Domain Names
Which Domain Names are Valuable?
Source: ICANN.org
Hint: it’s .COM
What Makes Domain Names Valuable?
● Brandability● Industry/Market● Length (shortness)● Assocations/imagery● …● -------------------------->
TRAFFIC!
Domain Name Business Model
Traffic == Money1. Buy Domain
Names with Traffic2. Redirect them to
Advertising3. Collect Checks
Disclaimer: Might be evil. Many people hate these sites. I don’t blame them.
$$$$
Data back in my day...Yahoo! Overture● Showed every query’s
popularity● Updated monthly● Unlimited Querying● ==Data Mining Jackpot
What the data taught me...
Data showed a strong correlation between search volume and trafficFinding valuable domains was limited by:● Algorithms to generate names● Registering them faster than anyone else
Automation is a form of innovation
My Master’s Thesis - Predicting Box Office Sales with Twitter Data
Why did I do this?
Why Not?The goal of my research was to show electronic word of mouth (WoM) == normal word of mouth.The byproduct was electronic WoM can be recorded and analyzed. So I explored the data...
I Love Movies, So I Studied Them
“The highest adjusted R^2 (.96) for week 3 used: Positive Buzz, Theaters and P/N Ratio, to explain box office sales. “
tl;dr: The volume of positive messages, the number of theaters playing it, and the ratio of positive to negative messages explained 96% of box office sales.
Most Important Data Skill Learned:
Sentiment Analysis
Commercialization of Thesis
How Does Review Signal Work?
Core Business: Sentiment Analysis
● Automatically analyzed over 15 million opinions
● Created a source of reviews where none existed before
● Always Up to Date (or Up to Data)
Thank You!
Remember...● Data can be fun.● Data can be profitable.● Data can unlock new information/insights.● Data is only as good as the person analyzing it.
@KevinOhashi Personal Website: KevinOhashi.com
Business Website: ReviewSignal.com
