Goliath's Revenge

Chapter 6 Rule 3: Use Your Data as Currency

Data is the new oil. Companies that will win are using math.

—Kevin Plank, Under Armour CEO

As the world moves from analog to digital, data is the new currency. Data-rich companies are tapping into vast new revenue streams and profit pools. Data-poor ones are facing diminished market power, industry relevance, and profitability.

Back in Chapter 3 we showed you how securing a perpetual algorithmic advantage drives these winner-takes-most dynamics. Claiming a spot on the right-hand hump (Figure 3.1) of your industry’s future profit distribution requires focus across three areas: building your data balance sheet, valuing data optionality, and maximizing return on data.

Those three actions will add a new crown jewel to your arsenal. They will position your company to deliver the step-change customer outcomes you committed to under Rule 1 and accelerate the Big I and Little I innovations you prioritized under Rule 2.

Some Historical Context

Before we jump into how you can treat your data as currency, some historical context is in order. The lasting value of data is what makes the digital age fundamentally different from the industrial age and the agricultural age that preceded it.

During the agricultural age, control over arable land determined economic wealth as hunter-gatherer labor was gradually replaced with mechanized farming. While the Earth has a surface area of about 200 million square miles, just 57 million square miles consist ...