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It’s lock on data as well. On the one hand I hear all the 20-30 year olds complaining about BB on a daily basis and on the other hand we have million dollar mod

by wjnc 4y ago

It’s lock on data as well. On the one hand I hear all the 20-30 year olds complaining about BB on a daily basis and on the other hand we have million dollar models (in cost, billion dollar in value) locked-in on BB data sources. Just changing a data source is a major model change with god knows what hoops the regulator puts you through. So I just kindly explain to the youngsters there is a lot we can do for their happiness, but switching from BB is not one. Writing this I think some consultancy could specialize in the BB API. That’s all we need.

ethbr0 4y ago
BB is an excellent and well-executed business model. 1. Do something that doesn't scale: provide clean, reliable feeds for everything + whatever new thing clients want 2. Package the above in a way that's easier to explain/sell: a device (and now, API) 3. Control the interface It establishes and grows a moat by 1. It eased sales and prevented competitors from stepping in between them and the customer (and therefore eventually being able to cut Bloomberg out) via 2 & 3. Consequently, it turns any potential competitor's value calculus into either (a) attempt to reimplement a subset of Bloomberg's offering, thus inviting the "Why not buy an integrated solution?" customer comparison and fighting against integrated pricing economies or (b) reimplement the entire Bloomberg offering from ground up, which is pretty much impossible. And the entire time a competitor is spending time and effort on (a) or (b), Bloomberg is collecting use patterns and new feature requests from its actual, day-to-day users.
- apaprocki 4y ago
  … and shipping them daily :)
boppo1 4y ago
Does the BB API have public documentation? Or is that behind the paywall?
- jleahy 4y ago
  It’s public, there is also a good 3rd party wrapped on pypi that makes it much easier to use. https://www.bloomberg.com/professional/support/api-library/ https://www.bloomberg.com/professional/support/api-library/

by wjnc 4y ago

ethbr0 4y ago

BB is an excellent and well-executed business model. 1. Do something that doesn't scale: provide clean, reliable feeds for everything + whatever new thing clients want 2. Package the above in a way that's easier to explain/sell: a device (and now, API) 3. Control the interface It establishes and grows a moat by 1. It eased sales and prevented competitors from stepping in between them and the customer (and therefore eventually being able to cut Bloomberg out) via 2 & 3. Consequently, it turns any potential competitor's value calculus into either (a) attempt to reimplement a subset of Bloomberg's offering, thus inviting the "Why not buy an integrated solution?" customer comparison and fighting against integrated pricing economies or (b) reimplement the entire Bloomberg offering from ground up, which is pretty much impossible. And the entire time a competitor is spending time and effort on (a) or (b), Bloomberg is collecting use patterns and new feature requests from its actual, day-to-day users.

apaprocki 4y ago
… and shipping them daily :)

boppo1 4y ago

Does the BB API have public documentation? Or is that behind the paywall?

jleahy 4y ago
It’s public, there is also a good 3rd party wrapped on pypi that makes it much easier to use. https://www.bloomberg.com/professional/support/api-library/ https://www.bloomberg.com/professional/support/api-library/