Transformed With Data Episode 11:How to Build a Data-Driven Culture: From Startup to 8-Figure Exit

The episode of Transformed with Data Podcast, Graeme Crawford sits down with Dmitri Adler, Co-Founder and Chief Solution Architect at Data Society, to discuss why most companies claiming to be data-driven actually aren't. Dmitri shares his journey from automating Wall Street work to building a bootstrapped powerhouse that achieved an eight-figure exit, revealing how the real challenge isn't in doing the analysis but in empowering everyone to use data fluently. The conversation explores why dashboards won't save your culture, what kills true data adoption, and the critical difference between companies that scale with data versus those that simply store it. Dmitri offers hard-won insights on building a culture where mistakes are learning opportunities, why small teams outperform large ones, and how successful leaders can become their own worst enemy when implementing data initiatives.

0:00 - Introduction and Data Like Water

3:02 - Why Data Initiatives Fail

7:02 - Creating a Culture of Transparency

11:23 - Measuring What Matters

14:37 - Getting Leadership Buy-In

17:41 - The Frozen Middle Problem

20:00 - Small Teams Win Big

24:04 - Delegating Decision Authority

27:00 - Technology vs Business Case

31:01 - AI and Over-Engineering

35:12 - Scaling Without Breaking

38:41 - Market-Driven Decision Making

42:13 - Embracing Being Wrong

Companies mentioned in this episode:

• Data Society
• Crawford McMillan
• Capital One
• IBM
• Accenture
• JP Morgan
• Air Force
• Amazon
• Whole Foods
• Tesla