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The Alternative Data Podcast

The Alternative Data Podcast

Mark Fleming-Williams 158 Episodes May 25, 2026

The Alternative Data Podcast explores the fast-growing field of alternative data — including satellite imagery, news-crawling and credit card data — and how investors use these new sources to gain a competitive edge in market decisions. Each episode features conversations with data providers, asset managers and others in the sector, offering insights into this dynamic and evolving industry. The show also offers introductory resources for those new to alternative data.

Episodes

The Nico Smuts Episode
The Nico Smuts Episode May 25, 2026 48:07 In this episode I speak to Nico Smuts, a senior data scientist formerly of Citadel now on gardening leave.In our conversation, Nico and I discuss his evolution from a long-short investor in South Africa to a Citadel senior data scientist in London, via an interesting project at Imperial University using Telegram data to find alpha on crypto. We also discuss the impact of AI on hiring and organizat
The Vadim Khidekel Episode
The Vadim Khidekel Episode May 5, 2026 57:28 In this episode I speak to Vadim Khidekel, a semi-retired buyside quant with 30 years experience at houses like Art Advisors and Teza Technologies.In our conversation, Vadim and I discuss the evolution of quant investing and data, what makes a great quant, what to do with data types like job data, patent data, the problems with credit card data, crowded datasets and a lot more.DISCLAIMERThis podca
The Brickroad Episode
The Brickroad Episode Apr 27, 2026 45:55 In this episode I speak to Freeman Lewin, co-Founder of Brickroad, a data sourcing company that began by servicing not hedge funds but AI labs.In our conversation we discuss the evolution of AI labs data needs, and differences between how they and hedge funds approach data.My apologies for the sound quality for large parts of the recording.DISCLAIMERThis podcast is an edited recording of an interv
The Yipit Data Episode
The Yipit Data Episode Apr 6, 2026 52:13 In this episode I speak to Vin Vacanti, Co-founder and CEO of Yipit Data, which is one of the largest providers in the alt data space.In our conversation, Vin and I discuss Yipit’s fascinating evolution from Groupon deal aggregator to alt data unicorn, why consumer data led in alt data types, how he approaches pricing, and much else besides.Meanwhile, if you have any feedback on the alternative da
The Zach Zboralske Episode
The Zach Zboralske Episode Mar 30, 2026 58:43 In this episode I speak to Zach Zboralske, until recently a senior sales representative at Consumer Edge. I subtitle this episode “Confessions of an Elite Alt Data Salesman”.In our conversation, Zach and I discuss the evolution of transaction data, pricing, selling to quants vs discretionaries, and Zach’s new challenge at Stavtar.Correction – when I’m describing the evolution of credit card data w
The Christina Qi Episode
The Christina Qi Episode Mar 16, 2026 43:45 In this episode I speak to Christina Qi, founder and CEO of challenger market data provider Databento and former founder of HFT hedge fund Domeyard.In our conversation, we discuss the challenges of starting an HFT hedge fund, how Databento differentiates itself in the market data space, how AI labs are using market data and the hazards of being based remotely in Utah.As we mention in the episode,
The Charles-Albert Lehalle Episode
The Charles-Albert Lehalle Episode Mar 2, 2026 54:57 In this episode I speak to Charles-Albert Lehalle, a professor at Ecole Polytechnique formerly of ADIA and CFM.In our conversation, we discuss Yann LeCun’s theory of AI world models, the differences between working for banks, hedge funds and sovereign wealth funds, how to diagnose why performance is bad, and the dream alpha-generating dataset. More broadly, I never hear any feedback on the podcast
The Evan Reich Episode
The Evan Reich Episode Feb 9, 2026 1:00:42 In this episode I speak to Evan Reich, a veteran of the alt data space who has worked at Millennium, SAC Capital, Quandl and most recently Verition in various data roles.In our conversation Evan and I discuss a wide range of topics from how to hire a good data sourcer, to which data types are overrated, to whether exclusivity is a thing in the data market, to which jobs AI will erase first in our
The Natalya Dmitriyeva Episode
The Natalya Dmitriyeva Episode Feb 2, 2026 43:25 In this episode I speak to Natalya Dmitriyeva, former senior data strategy executive at Two Sigma and Schonfeld.In our conversation, Natalya and I discuss her career evolution as it tracked that of the whole alternative data sector. She opines on what makes a dataset valuable and the latest buzz out of Battlefin Miami last month.In other news, I will be hunting for interesting datasets in Japan du
The Conor Taggart Episode
The Conor Taggart Episode Nov 10, 2025 1:06:37 In this episode I speak to Conor Taggart, an alternative data veteran who is now in charge of Data Monetization at Eagle Alpha.In our conversation, Conor and I discuss his progress from selling indexes at LSEG, through joining Nasdaq in time for the Quandl acquisition, to a successful four years heading up equities data sourcing at Millennium, to his resting place in his current role.In other news
The Vlad Johnson Episode
The Vlad Johnson Episode Oct 27, 2025 55:19 In this episode I speak to Vlad Johnson, who works in systematic futures at Eisler Capital, a hedge fund.In our conversation, Vlad and I discuss the technological gap between baseball analytics and Wall Street, how he is able to use weather data without being a weather man, whether AI can replace him and what a data provider should bear in mind about their product.In other news, I will be hosting
The Mohsen Chitsaz Episode
The Mohsen Chitsaz Episode Oct 13, 2025 45:56 In this episode I speak to Mohsen Chitsaz, Portfolio Manager at Eisler Capital, a hedge fund.In our conversation, Mohsen and I discuss uses of news data, satellite data, LLM developments, differences between working on the buyside and sellside, and why physicists make good quants.DISCLAIMERThis podcast is an edited recording of an interview with Mohsen Chitsaz recorded in October 2025. The views a

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