In partnership with

^{READ TIME: 5 MINUTES}

84% Deploy Gen AI Use Cases in Under Six Months – Real-Time Web Access Makes the Difference

Your product is only as good as the data it’s built on. Outdated, blocked, or missing web sources force your team to fix infrastructure instead of delivering new features.

Bright Data connects your AI agents to public web data in real time with reliable APIs. That means you spend less time on maintenance and more time building. No more chasing after unexpected failures or mismatches your agents get the data they need, when they need it.

Teams using Bright Data consistently deliver stable and predictable products, accelerate feature development, and unlock new opportunities with continuous, unblocked web access.

Power Your AI

₍🙏 _{checking out ads helps me keep this newsletter alive and free)}

 🧠 The entrepreneurial mindset

If you want to become a genuinely influential data leader, perhaps it’s time to start thinking like an entrepreneur.

Entrepreneurs create value where none existed before. The best data leaders do exactly the same. They take raw and unorganised data and turn it into something that either makes the business more money, saves the business money, or stops the business from making huge mistakes.

This mindset shift matters because organisations are finally waking up to the fact that technical delivery is not enough. Anyone can build a dashboard. Anyone can buy a modern data stack. Very few people can turn those investments into a commercial advantage. Those who can are the ones who get invited into the decisions that actually shape the business.

Unfortunately, most data leaders are still stuck behaving like caretakers instead of creators. They prioritise platforms over profit, pipelines over performance, and dashboards over decisions. They spend their careers trying to perfect the back end when the real influence sits at the business end. And yes, this absolutely limits your career. You cannot climb the ladder if the exec team only sees you as the person who delivers dashboards on time. You rise when they see you as the person who helps the company win.

Here is how to shift into an entrepreneurial mindset and start making yourself indispensable.

😩 What happens when you lack an entrepreneurial mindset

• You become the caretaker of data instead of the creator of value.

• You get stuck in technical delivery while the commercial conversations happen without you.

• You become known for dashboards instead of decisions.

• You miss opportunities to tie your work to revenue, margin, customer value, or risk reduction.

• You struggle to get budget because you cannot demonstrate commercial impact.

• You quietly fall behind peers who are more comfortable playing in the business playground.

The good news is this mindset can be learned. And once you embrace it, doors open that have been welded shut for years.

💪🏻 How to become a more entrepreneurial data leader

1. Start with value, not requirements
Before you ever discuss data sources or pipelines, ask a simple question: what commercial outcome are we trying to unlock and what strategic pillar does it align with. Entrepreneurs start with value and work backwards. You should too.

2. Create a product vision for your data capability
Treat your data function like a portfolio of products. Position it clearly. Sell it internally. Show stakeholders what problems you solve, how you reduce pain, and how you generate upside. Speak in terms of commercial outcomes where possible.

3. Tell commercial stories, not technical ones
Swap talk of joins and warehouses for narratives that matter. Faster sales cycles. Lower churn. Reduced acquisition costs. Better underwriting decisions. More transactions. Executives do not want features. They want outcomes they can take to the bank.

4. Spend more time with the business than with your dashboard backlog
Entrepreneurial leaders understand their partners deeply. For you, those partners are the commercial teams. Sit with them. Shadow them. Learn their world. They will tell you exactly where the money leaks out, so you can set about solving it.

5. Seek out revenue generating opportunities
An entrepreneurial data leader is constantly scanning the business for underused assets, pricing inefficiencies, funnel drop offs, process bottlenecks, or places where the company flies blind. Then they pounce.

6. Optimise for speed, not perfection
Entrepreneurs get value in front of customers quickly. You should do the same. Ship useful insights fast rather than waiting six months for the perfect model. Commercial teams reward speed.

7. Influence through confidence, clarity and conviction
Entrepreneurs sell. They pitch. They persuade. They help others see what they see. The best data leaders do the same. They champion their vision and make it very clear why the organisation should listen.

If you want to be influential, get promoted, and have a seat at the table for the decisions that matter, adopt this mindset. Stop running the data factory. Start acting like the founder of a value generating business that just happens to sit inside your company.

If you need help figuring out how to do this, then I’m your guy.

Tristan Burns

Find me on LinkedIn or Book a 1:1 call

⚡️ Previous poll results

Last week I asked you: How far along is your organisation when it comes to data democratisation?

Here is how you responded: