The Agora and Value

Whether as an entrepreneur or employee, I have always sought to provide value to the market, and to measure my performance by the degree of value I am providing.

Here are some of the ways I deliver value in the marketplace.

1. Stay ahead of the technology curve

• adopt technology best practices
• deliver technical projects on schedule and under cost
• forecast technology trends, spot opportunities
• develop technology marketing programs
• hire and manage software engineers, data engineers, and analysts

2. Develop new lines of business

• promote standards and interoperability
• perform in-depth research and analysis
• build and test prototypes
• subject-matter expert
• drive complex cross functional initiatives

3. Simplify operations workflows

• use data to make automated and assisted decisions

4. Store, process, and stream data at scale

• discover patterns in structured and unstructured data
• define a common language for understanding and interpreting data
• develop innovative new artificial intelligence prototypes
• generate synthetic data sets for system training and simulation

5. Quantify, substantiate, and eliminate risk

• adopt a risk framework

6. Identify the right ideas and see them through to fruition

• bring together the right people and guide them with a common vision
• initiate change (people, process, technology) and innovation
• experiment with new technologies and unproven methodologies

7. Define shared objectives, rank and quantify them

• make persuasive arguments about technical topics
• incorporate sound engineering principles

8. Manage effectively

• cut across organizational and political boundaries
• navigate regulatory ambiguity and uncertainty
• operate under hostile conditions (project failure, burnout, layoffs)

9. Propose radical new ideas without fear

• always try again and again, always be learning

10. Ensure technology investments are productive

• conduct M&A due diligence on software and IT services companies
• navigate cross-cultural communication (US, China)
• write long-form sales copy such as sales letters and marketing collateral

11. Identify the right technology investments

• conduct technology research and development (R&D)
• provide access to the latest tools, enable advanced capabilities

Of course, this not an exhaustive list. Continuous improvement ensures our capabilities will continue to grow over time.

Lately, I am especially excited about emerging payments hardware and decentralized digital identity to complement payments software, promote interoperability and enable integrated payment systems.

Joe Davison, Founder/CEO of payments.engineering