In today’s episode of “Next Gen Builders,” Francois is joined by Gage Sonntag, Senior Director of Data at Super.com. Their conversation hits upon the intricacies of working in a data-driven organization, how roles are evolving in the industry, and the power of experimentation.

Throughout the conversation Gage and Francois discuss creating a balance between data self-service and governance. Super.com has an innovative approach to embedding data analysts within mission-aligned teams to promote agility and deeper expertise in solving specific business problems while maintaining a centralized data engineering team to ensure robust data infrastructure. You’ll also hear about the inherent challenges and excitements in driving data quality and experimentation. Gage stresses the need for a culture that prioritizes learning and truth-seeking over just achieving expected outcomes, advocating that empowering individuals with the right tools and mindset can spur significant organizational growth.

For those looking to advance their careers in product management or data, Gage's insights offer actionable advice. He highlights the importance of creating a culture of experimentation and continuous improvement, emphasizing the need to iterate and learn from every opportunity, even failures. Overall, the interview encapsulates how having a robust data culture and a flexible, yet structured approach to data management can transform organizations and drive remarkable success.

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Guest Bio

Gage Sonntag is the Sr. Director of Data at Super.com, where he leads initiatives across analytics, business intelligence, data science, and data engineering. With a robust background in data practices, Gage has significantly enhanced the company's data ecosystem, achieving remarkable results such as accelerating testing by 4X and improving customer retention by 90%. His leadership style emphasizes rapid experimentation and democratizing data access, empowering employees to engage with data tools and contribute to innovative solutions.

Before joining Super.com, Gage held key positions at Bond Brand Loyalty and LoyaltyOne, where he honed his expertise in analytics and engineering. He holds a Master’s Degree in Management Analytics from Queen's University and degrees in Chemical Engineering and Chemistry from the University of Saskatchewan. Gage's diverse career path also includes a brief stint as a Brewer, reflecting his multifaceted interests and commitment to blending creativity with data-driven decision-making.

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Guest Quote

“What didn't work for us was to be a part of every single experiment you run. The more that someone can come up with an idea and then, as frictionless as possible, go from that idea to that in-market and getting data, was really powerful for us. We found it's not always the people at the top of the org chart that have the best ideas, but it's really about making it easy for anyone to take an idea from inception to, it's live. 

A good colleague of mine kind of came to me one day and was like, ‘Gage, running experiments is really hard. There's so many buttons to configure. I'm not super sure if I'm doing it right.’

And after that conversation, I made it my mission to be like, ‘Okay, it being hard to run an experiment is not an acceptable barrier to testing something.’ Cause the alternative is you just roll out the things you think are best and likely not what your users think are best.’” – Gage Sonntag

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Time Stamps  

00:00 Episode Start

01:39 Gage's Background

03:12 Oil, beer, data

05:58 What is Super.com?

09:10 Balancing self-service with data governance

11:23 Experimentation at Super.com

14:54 Diving into data quality

16:44 Perfection vs. Speed

20:04 Gage's Oh Shit Moment

24:30 The people side of data

27:36 How to make data teams thrive in a smaller organization

31:02 When small tweaks have large impacts

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Links

• Connect with Gage Sonntag on LinkedIn
• Check out Super.com
• Connect with Francois Ajenstat on LinkedIn
• Check out Amplitude