# Data Partnership: Data Team as a Service | Silicon

URL: https://meetsilicon.com/services/

> Silicon partners with high-growth startups to build and maintain their data foundation. We connect your tools, define key metrics with each team and build dashboards and the AI analyst on the Silicon platform.

Data partnership
# Your data foundation, built and maintained by us
Silicon partners with high-growth startups to build and maintain their data foundation. We connect the apps your company runs on, define your key metrics with the people who run each team, and build dashboards and the AI analyst on those definitions. Our AI analytics platform is part of every partnership, and anyone can see the data and definitions behind each answer.
Talk to Sujay
See the first ten weeks
About ten weeks
between the first call and the launch of your dashboards and AI analyst
Platform included
the Silicon platform comes with every partnership
Monthly or annual
priced after discovery, with a written plan and quote
Why it exists
## Reliable data takes five to seven months with a single hire
Hiring takes months, and the first hire still needs tools and time to learn your business. We build and maintain the foundation for you, with checks on each change to your data.
5-7 months
from deciding to hire one data engineer to reliable data, including two to four months of ramp-up.
Source: KORE1, Time to fill a data engineer role6-10 weeks
to hire one data engineer through an internal search, before any of that ramp-up begins.
Source: KORE1, Time to fill a data engineer role$120-227k
a year for one senior analytics engineer and the tools they need, at a company of about $5M revenue.
Source: Valiotti, Data team cost guide
Who it's for
## For high-growth startups that need their data built and maintained
01
### High-growth startups without a data team
Your numbers live in several apps that disagree, and someone still pulls reports together by hand.
02
### Companies with one data person
Your one data person answers requests from every team, and the foundation work keeps slipping.
03
### A moment when your key numbers get checked
Raising the next round, a new CFO or board, a pricing change, or an AI rollout.
Probably not a fit if
### You already have a data team that maintains your data
The Silicon platform on its own is the better fit, and your team stays in charge.
See the platform ->
### You want people placed inside your team
We work as a partner with our own process and one point of contact for your team.
### Your data still fits in one spreadsheet
If one person can keep track of every number by hand, it's too early. We'll tell you so on the first call.
What you get
## What your company has after the first ten weeks
Everything below runs on the Silicon platform. We maintain all of it after launch and add to it as you add teams and tools.
01
### All your data in one place
Every app the company runs on, connected and kept in sync by us.
- Your product, billing, CRM, marketing and support tools connected and syncing
- One secure home for your data, sized for the company, with access and cost controls
- Checks each time new data comes in, with an alert to us when one fails
02
### Key metrics, defined once
Each key metric written down and signed off by the person responsible for it.
- The 10-20 key metrics your leadership team relies on, defined with each team
- A plain-language definition of every metric that anyone can read
- The same definitions behind every dashboard, report and AI answer
03
### Answers your team can use
Dashboards and reports for each team, and the AI analyst for questions the dashboards don't cover.
- A dashboard for each team, built around the metrics it owns
- Reports sent to Slack or email on the schedule each team needs
- The AI analyst in Slack, showing the data and definition behind each answer
How it works
## A typical first ten weeks
Discovery comes first and ends with a written plan, so you know the scope and the price before the build starts. Companies with more tools take a little longer.
W1 W2 W3 W4 W5 W6 W7 W8 W9 W10
Discovery Weeks 1-2
We meet the people who run each team, map where your data lives and list the questions leadership needs answered.
Weeks 1-2 Written plan and quote
Connect your tools Weeks 3-5
We connect the apps your company runs on and bring their data into one secure place.
Weeks 3-5
Build the foundation Weeks 4-7
We clean and organize the raw data into customers, revenue, product usage and the other things your metrics are built from.
Weeks 4-7
Define key metrics Weeks 5-8
We write each metric definition with the person who owns it, and they sign it off before anything is built on it.
Weeks 5-8 Metrics signed off
Dashboards and AI analyst Weeks 7-10
We build the first dashboards for each team and switch on the AI analyst in Slack.
Weeks 7-10 Live for the whole company
After launch
## We keep building as the company grows
After launch, your team sends requests in a shared Slack channel, we track each one until it's done, and the platform tells us when a change in your data affects a dashboard.
Requests
#data-requests
Add the new annual plan to revenue Finance Done
Weekly signups by channel, sent to Slack Marketing Done
Activation by cohort for the board pack Leadership In progress
Connect the new support tool Operations Planned
-
### New tools and data
When the company adopts a new tool or launches a new product, we connect it and add it to your key metrics.
-
### Requests from any team
Dashboards, reports and one-off analysis, asked for in a shared Slack channel and tracked until they're done.
-
### Changes to key metrics
When pricing, plans or targets change, we update the definition with its owner, and every dashboard that uses it reads the new definition.
-
### Fixes when something changes
The platform checks each change to your data and alerts us when a dashboard or metric is affected. We make the fix.
-
### Regular reviews
We review your key numbers with your leadership team, flag anything unexpected and plan the next quarter's work.
-
### Advice on what to track
When a decision depends on a number you don't track yet, we help you decide what to measure and how.
Who does what
## What we do, and what we need from your team
Our side
- 01
### Silicon team
Your single point of contact. Discovery, metric definitions, dashboards, AI setup and the regular reviews.
- 02
### Specialists under our contract
We bring in specialist data engineers for some of the build. They work to our standards, and you deal only with us.
- 03
### The Silicon platform
Checks each change against your dashboards and metrics, alerts us when something breaks, and drafts a fix for us to review.
Your side
- Introduce us to the people who run each team
- Grant access to the tools we connect
- Sign off each key metric definition
- Ask questions and send requests in Slack
- Join the regular review of your numbers
Plans and pricing
## Three ways to start, each scoped after discovery
Fixed scope - can continue as a partnership
### Foundation build
Your data foundation built from scratch, after a short discovery that is credited against the build.
- Discovery and a written plan
- Your tools connected in one place
- Key metrics defined with each team
- First dashboards and the AI analyst in Slack
Monthly or annual
### Ongoing partnership
Your data foundation maintained after launch, with the Silicon platform as part of it.
- Silicon platform included
- Time for new requests and changes included
- Monitoring and fixes when something breaks
- Regular reviews of your key numbers
Fixed scope - 2-4 weeks
### Projects
For a specific moment, such as a fundraise, a board meeting or moving off an old reporting tool.
- Scope and price agreed up front
- Built on the Silicon platform, which checks each change
- Can continue as a partnership
- No long-term commitment
Every partnership is priced to your sources and how much ongoing help you need. Tell us where your data is today and you'll get a written scope and quote after discovery. Unlimited users, platform included.
Talk to Sujay
As your team grows
## Your own data team builds on the same foundation
When you hire your own data team, they work on the same foundation and metric definitions, with tools made for engineers. We keep handling as much of the day-to-day data work as you want, and the platform keeps checking each change.
How Silicon checks each change ->
FAQ
## Questions about the data partnership
### Do we need a data team to work with you? +
No. The partnership is built for companies without one. We build your data foundation, key metrics and dashboards on the Silicon platform, and maintain them as the company grows.
### What happens when we build our own data team? +
Nothing has to be rebuilt. Your new hires start from documented metric definitions and data models, and you decide how much of the work we keep.
### How much does it cost? +
It depends on how many tools your company runs on and how much ongoing help you need. After a short discovery you get a written scope and an exact quote.
### Is it monthly or annual? +
Both. You can run the partnership month to month or on an annual agreement. The foundation build and projects are fixed scope.
### How is Silicon different from a data analytics consultant? +
A data analytics consultant is usually hired for a project and hands the work over when it ends. We build your data foundation and keep maintaining it as the company grows, with the Silicon platform included. The full comparison is on our Silicon vs hiring a data analytics consultant page.
### Who does the work? +
We do, and we are your single point of contact. For some of the build we bring in specialist data engineers, who work under our contract and to our standards.
### How much of our time does it take? +
Most of it falls in the first weeks, with a kickoff, a few sessions to define your key metrics and sign-off on each one. After launch, your team sends requests in Slack and joins a regular review of the numbers.
### Do we have to use the Silicon platform? +
Yes, the data partnership includes it. It holds your metric definitions and alerts us when a change affects them, and it stays with you whatever you decide later.
## Tell us where your data is today
Book 30 minutes with the founder. We'll look at the tools your company runs on and the numbers leadership relies on, then tell you what it would take.
Talk to Sujay
30-minute call with the founder