Paul Kongshaug, founder and CEO of BlendCard, presented The Quest for the Best: Not All Data is Created Equal during the breakout sessions of the Loras College Business Analytics Symposium. There is little doubt that data has changed everything. But not all data is created equal. This is the story of one startup’s journey to innovate by collecting and connecting the best possible data available in the local marketplace. Through this session, entrepreneurs or anyone considering a career in data analytics gained perspective about the importance and challenges of collecting the right data.

1. The quest for the best:
One entrepreneur’s journey to
collect the best local data.

2. BlendCard

3. Shameless ploy

4. My
Journey

5. The beginning:
Luck. Inspiration. Fail... Learn. Repeat.

6. BrightSpot Media

7. Which comes first?

8. Which comes first? Neither.

9. Lessons:
- You must be solving a problem.
- Being “right” is less than half the battle.
- There has to be a market for your data.
- It’s insanely hard / costly to get users.
- The most important work occurs before you begin.

10. Lessons:
- You must be solving a problem.
- Being “right” is less than half the battle.
- There has to be a market for your data.
- It’s insanely hard / costly to get users.
- The most important work occurs before you begin.
- I have no interest in chicken farming.

11. “We are working to avoid
trading analog dollars for
digital pennies.”
- Jeff Zucker NBC

12. (n)Torus Technologies

13. Lessons:
- Being “right” is less than one third of the battle.
- Disrupting huge markets with powerful gate-
keepers who fundamentally resist change, is hard.

14. Lessons:
- Being “right” is less than one third of the battle.
- Disrupting huge markets with powerful gate-
keepers who fundamentally resist change, is hard.
- Find a market desperate for a solution. Build one.

15. Daily
Deals

16. “I know half the money I
spend on advertising is
wasted, the trouble is I
don’t know which half.”
- John Wanamaker

17. Identify Attract Buy
Online marketing
Visit / Retarget

18. Identify Attract Visit Return Promote
Offline marketing
?

19. So what do you do next?
Launch OfferDogg!

20. No, you get a job.

21. Iteration:
- App! Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes? No…. Not yet.
- Deals. Check in. Loyalty. Gift Cards.
- Validation behind the counter is a requirement.

22. Iteration:
- App! Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes? No…. Not yet.
- Deals. Check in. Loyalty. Gift Cards.
- Validation behind the counter is a requirement.
- I had to integrate with existing systems.

23. Identify Attract Visit Return Promote
Building a marketing platform

24. BlendCard

25. 193,640 swipes earned
34,680 deals redeemed
20k cardholders
180 businesses
$2.5M in transactions
$250k gift card sales

26. What’s Next:
Mobile App
Fundraising / HR program
Integration with POS
Tracking all ad-units

27. The best data:
Deterministic. Voluntary. Actionable.

28. Thank you.
paul@blendcard.com