The Signal: A Manifesto

Most of the world makes decisions based on an intuition, a hunch. The result will prove them either lucky or wrong. We believe there is a better way: decisions driven by data.

Data helps guide us to make the best decisions we can. For those who are building or marketing products, data is a way to create a rich portrait of who uses your products and why. Every data point is another little clue into what motivates people and what they care about.

Since Mixpanel started in 2009, we’ve been lucky enough to be on the inside of many companies who are data-driven to the core, often with great success. Many of these success stories are probably companies you recognize and love, such as the new tech giants like Uber and Spotify; up-comers like Hinge and Stripe; and industry leaders like Autodesk and Salesforce.

Along the way, we’ve also benefitted from an amazing community of product innovators, data scientists, marketing gurus, and far-thinking investors who are passionate about making products and building brands that people love.

And now we want to pull back the curtain and share what we’ve learned. That’s why we created this publication: The Signal.

The Signal starts from the same premise as Mixpanel itself: people, businesses, and the world are better off when they understand their data. This publication is dedicated to showcasing those who are using data in meaningful and interesting ways. We’ll show how a data-driven approach leads to products that delight your audience and bring them back time and time again.

To deliver on these goals, we commit to the following:

• We back up our assertions with data, quantitative and qualitative.
• Data is not an end in and of itself, however–it’s a means to a richer, more complete narrative, and we’re committed to telling compelling and illuminating stories.
• We believe you learn as much (if not more) from success as from failure. As much as possible without putting our subjects or ourselves in a bad spot, we’re committed to being transparent, sharing both the positive and negative.

And of course, we want to know what you’d like to read! You can reach out to us at any time with feedback, ideas, or questions on Twitter. Otherwise, subscribe to our newsletter to learn how the best and the brightest succeed in a data-driven world.