CEO Corral

Jack Ma - CEO

For my final report I will use the dataset titled: The Best-Performing CEOs in the World. Here you can Download the Data Behind the Rankings.

It is a large dataset that takes several key factors into account that measure how and why a CEO is deemed successful. For anyone interested in business, it is a thorough dataset that has tracked each of these CEOs from the first day of their tenures. 

Aside from how much their companies are worth and how much their individual net worths are, this data set also factors in information such as environmental scores, to show a thorough and in-depth analysis of what makes a CEO great. 

The data set contains each CEO's: ranking, name, age, gender, company, country, industry, start year, if they are the founder, insider/ outsider, the type of degree they hold, CEO/ Chairman Split, TSR Rank and %, Market Cap Change % and rank, financial rank, ESG Score and Rank. 

It takes several factors into account, besides how much the companies are making and how much their net worths are. This dataset goes deep.

I initially had to look into the headings such as TSR, ESG, and a few other business lingo terms. They are all thoroughly explained through a simple google search. 

Here is a link to the full article in the Harvard Business Review, where you can also find the dataset. 

David A. Northern - CEO

The way the dataset ranks the CEOs is meant to signify enduring success. This brings about several questions. 

• What signifies long-term success as a CEO? It is a very industry specific question, as risk-taking and innovation only prove success However, since the CEOs are in different industries, are there industry-specific ways to measure how successful a CEO is? 

• Why is the leadership aspect not taken into account? As it can be such a vital aspect of a CEO success. 

• What does success as a CEO really entail?

• What other factors contribute to the success of a CEO?

• Is there a different way to rank the CEOs based on this dataset, other than the way they have weighted the fields? 

A goal of mine is to enter the business world and eventually lead a company, a dataset like this allows me to recognize the significance of variables that contribute to a successful tenure of a CEO.

If you still haven't, please Download the Data Behind the Rankings so you can fully understand my analysis.

By Graham Smith

Unicorns Gone Wild

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• CrunchBase a sister company of TechCrunch has created a wonderful, information packed article with multiple visualizations.
  
  
  CrunchBase has released a unicorn leaderboard, it includes detailed and interactive visualizations on which companies have reach a billion dollar valuation. It also includes the companies that have fallen below the billion dollar mark. And ones that are hot and nearly at a billion!
  It appears to be a visualization created with complete, unaltered data set complemented with a nearly perfect data-ink ratio.
  
  
  An interesting part of this visualization is the major jump one can see after 2008. From 2005-2008 Facebook and LinkedIn were alone as billion dollar players. However, after 2008 there is a steep and exciting climb in numbers, as new players enter the range. 
  
  
  The visualization is very current, and as of September 16, 2015 when it was uploaded, a total of 144 operating unicorns can be viewed. 
  
  
  CrunchBase has done an excellent job with this particular visualization because the numbers of unicorns, and the exponential growth of them can be very stimulating for an entrepreneurial or tech minded viewer. 
  
  
  As a dedicated marketing student, I have my own entrepreneurial aspirations. It is very motivating viewing visualizations revealing statistics on how international tech businesses are growing.
  
  
  Another important aspect of this visualization is the leading investor visualizations, which Sequoia Capital dominates with 75 investments in 26 different unicorns. 
  
  
  Two companies which I personally interacted with in the last year, are also new to the list. It is exciting to see BlaBlaCar.com a ride sharing platform from France, helped my brother and I get from Zurich, Switzerland to Delft, Netherlands this summer.  And shopify.com an e-commerce company whom I interviewed with last week! 
  
  
  
  
  With start-ups and tech business growing exponentially worldwide, it would be very interesting to see data from this chart used in a world map. By pinpointing where unicorns are located around the world the data may appeal to an international crowd.
  Colours were used minimally and tastefully on the charts to promote clarity and differentiation between years. 
  
  
  
  
  An issue has to do with the interactive quality of the chart. When I would run my mouse over one of the bars that measures unicorns by quarter, the pop-up box would have some of its data cut out, and one is unable to scroll through the list. Although it did function correctly at times, the problem seems to be persistent yet fixable. A usability issue like this can cause a viewer to easily lose patience with the visualization and disregard it. Try it here.
  
  

• The visualization does provide links to specific company profiles which include company details, recent activity, funding rounds, investors, and acquisitions for further reading. However, by providing links to all of the specific companies listed, the visualization would be more interactive and informative. 
  The visualization does do a good job of explaining the data clearly. New entries, exits, and a cumulative count is well laid out for the user. 
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• The entrepreneurial landscape is hot, and with booming tech companies raising capital like never before, it is important that business people new and old, stay aware of major players changing the industry and the world. 
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• By Graham Smith