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Great write-up, Trevor. It was actually an eerie read for me because I'm the co-founder of BuzzData.com, and we're building something that could be fairly desc

Great write-up, Trevor. It was actually an eerie read for me because I'm the co-founder of BuzzData.com, and we're building something that could be fairly described as a superset of the app you demoed right now in Toronto. So I guess the real question is whether you believe in the idea enough that you'd come and work with us on it? The primary difference between between BuzzData and TheoryVille appears to be that we're a funded, happy team of seven and we're getting a lot of traction from our soon-to-be launch partners. Perhaps your vision doesn't die here.

TrevorBurnham 16y ago
I certainly can't claim to have been the first to have the idea behind Theoryville. What's now StatCrunch began as a project created by a stats professor in the ye olde mid-1990s. So the dream of moving data analysis and visualization onto the web is about as old as the consumer web. It's been kind of a graveyard for startups, though. Look at Swivel, which TechCrunch called "a YouTube for data" way back in '06, built some fairly impressive tech... and shut down completely a few months ago. Also, there was a stats PhD student who posted a "web-based SPSS" demo on HN shortly after I applied that was, from a technical standpoint, more impressive than the demo my team hacked together. YC has since funded a more specialized web-based data analysis startup, aimed specifically at those running clinical drug trials: http://techcrunch.com/2011/02/27/comprehend-systems/ http://techcrunch.com/2011/02/27/comprehend-systems/ Anyway. I'm not really interested in moving to Toronto (though I am a fan of Scott Pilgrim...), but I wish you luck and look forward to beta-testing your service.
- peteforde 16y ago
  Right on, man. We'll keep you posted. To be clear, we have more in common with GitHub or Quora than we do with Swivel, but I agree there are lots of bones on Everest. You know what they say: too early, too early or too late?

TrevorBurnham 16y ago

I certainly can't claim to have been the first to have the idea behind Theoryville. What's now StatCrunch began as a project created by a stats professor in the ye olde mid-1990s. So the dream of moving data analysis and visualization onto the web is about as old as the consumer web. It's been kind of a graveyard for startups, though. Look at Swivel, which TechCrunch called "a YouTube for data" way back in '06, built some fairly impressive tech... and shut down completely a few months ago. Also, there was a stats PhD student who posted a "web-based SPSS" demo on HN shortly after I applied that was, from a technical standpoint, more impressive than the demo my team hacked together. YC has since funded a more specialized web-based data analysis startup, aimed specifically at those running clinical drug trials: http://techcrunch.com/2011/02/27/comprehend-systems/ http://techcrunch.com/2011/02/27/comprehend-systems/ Anyway. I'm not really interested in moving to Toronto (though I am a fan of Scott Pilgrim...), but I wish you luck and look forward to beta-testing your service.

peteforde 16y ago
Right on, man. We'll keep you posted. To be clear, we have more in common with GitHub or Quora than we do with Swivel, but I agree there are lots of bones on Everest. You know what they say: too early, too early or too late?