StartUs Presents: Profusion

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The data science consultancy Profusion helps people understand and improve their relationships in business. CEO Mike Weston explains how and why!

Describe Profusion in 50 words or less.

Profusion is a data science consultancy. We help our clients to understand – and improve – their relationships with people. Profusion has more than 60 team members, with offices in London and Dubai. Our experience includes making sense of data for online and offline marketing, smart cities and employee well-being programs.

Describe your typical working day from coming to the office to leaving it.

I don’t think there’s such a thing as a ‘typical’ working day in Profusion, however, I usually arrive at the office early in the morning before it gets busy. This allows me to catch up on my emails over a cup of tea and plan my day. The pace of the day quickly picks up just before 9am when the rest of the office arrives.

Normally, my day is punctuated by meetings either with clients, prospective clients or colleagues. Although we try to keep meetings to a minimum I find it’s best to catch up to people face to face rather than over email chains.

After I break for a quick lunch I like to read about the latest industry news and developments. I also respond to any messages I’ve received through my Twitter and LinkedIn accounts.

My afternoons are usually taken up with emails and calls, or preparing for the next day’s meetings.

In what ways do you measure your success and how do you make sure you don’t lose track?

Primarily, our success is measured vicariously: through the success of our clients. I think of our data science consultancy as a problem solving machine – and those problems cover a lot of different topics, from increasing our clients’ sales and profitability, through to solving logistic challenges and providing guidance on preventative maintenance.

Beyond that, we have an underlying mantra at Profusion: what was brilliant yesterday won’t be good enough for tomorrow – in other words, we have to keep innovating all the time.

Part of that is wrapped up in finding serendipity – I’m at my happiest when we find the unexpected in the data we are exploring, and can turn that into genuine business benefit for our clients.

Bootstrapped or financed: What fuels your startup now and what will in the future?

Profusion was bootstrapped by its two founders. Currently, we are making a profit and expanding rapidly. My aspiration for the future is for Profusion to be listed on the London Stock Exchange within the next three years.

With ferocious competition and a booming trend to build new companies: How do you make sure you don’t get lost in the shuffle?

We offer a cutting edge service that is quickly growing in demand – data science. Nearly every major new technology will be fuelled or supported by data science. This includes driverless cars, smart cities, wearable devices and the Internet of Things – and even 3D printing. As we are at the vanguard of these developments and consequently our team is quickly gaining experience and a track record that few other companies can match.

This experience matched with Profusion’s culture of intellectual curiosity and innovation means that we will always pursue work that pushes boundaries. As long as there are businesses that value this creativity, we will continue to thrive.

What do you look for in team members?

Curiosity, integrity and a can-do attitude. I’m a believer in hiring for potential and attitude, then training for experience, especially in the fields we operate in. We look for well-rounded individuals who are passionate about their chosen field.

Why would a talent join your team?

We have worked hard to make Profusion a thriving and friendly place to work. We value each person who works for us as an individual with their own strengths, weaknesses, passions and ambitions. We work with each person to develop their abilities and careers. To foster good working relationships between our employees we hold regular socials, from drinks on Friday afternoons to a tennis table championship for the more competitive.

What advice would you give fellow founders for their startup?

My most important piece of advice is built on our guiding principle in the way we produce work for our clients: “What was brilliant today won’t be good enough tomorrow.”

Never be satisfied with what you have achieved and rest on your laurels. If you’re not thinking about how you can do better you are doing a disservice to your clients, investors and employees.

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