About the Founder

Two decades building the systems enterprises trust. Now yours.

Stephen McDaniel spent 20 years building data architecture, forecasting systems, and analytics platforms at Netflix, Tableau, Oracle, SAS, and Microsoft. He authored the industry-standard books on analytics and visualization, taught thousands of analysts at the world's leading professional societies, and codified the 77 rules that define what makes a dashboard trustworthy. Now he's turning those rules into tools anyone can use.

Netflix Tableau Oracle SAS Microsoft

Published Works

The books that defined
how analysts work.

Three books across two decades. Each one became the standard reference for its platform. Combined, they've taught tens of thousands of analysts how to turn data into decisions.

CreateSpace

The Accidental Analyst

A framework for turning raw data into executive decisions. Named by Tableau as one of the great books on data visualization.

"A wonderful book, filled with practical advice... a great resource for building analytical prowess."

— Stephen Few, Data Visualization Authority

Tableau Recommendation →

Wiley Publishing

SAS for Dummies (1st & 2nd Ed)

The global standard guide for the world's leading statistical software. Used by analysts at Fortune 500 banks and pharmaceutical companies to build audit-grade models.

View on Wiley →

Springer / Apress

Rapid Graphs with Tableau

The industry's first dedicated book on Tableau Software. Defined the visual analysis standards used by BI teams globally. The foundation for the upcoming Rapid Dashboards series.

View on Springer →

Recognition

When a Pixar co-founder
changes his teaching because of your book.

Pat Hanrahan featuring The Accidental Analyst in his keynote

2012 Tableau World Conference Keynote

Industry Legend

Influencing the Architects of Data

"In his keynote at the 2012 Tableau World Conference, Pat Hanrahan placed our book at the center of his presentation. He stated that it changed how he thought about analytics and inspired him to restructure his teaching approach at Stanford."

Pat Hanrahan, PhD
Canon USA Professor at Stanford University
Co-Founder of Pixar (3× Academy Award Winner)
Co-Founder of Tableau Software

Teaching

Invited faculty at every major
analytics institution.

Not a conference speaker who submitted a talk. Invited faculty — hand-selected by each organization to teach their most advanced sessions.

INFORMS

Professional Society of Operations Research

Invited Faculty for "Data Exploration & Visualization." Taught advanced forecasting to the world's largest society of operations research professionals.

View Archive →

American Marketing Association

Data Science Faculty

Led workshops on Customer Lifetime Value. Defined the cohort analysis frameworks used to value marketing spend at scale.

View Bio →

TDWI

Big Data Faculty

Instructed enterprise data teams on transforming data warehouse architecture into ROI-generating assets.

View Article →

Tableau Software

Conference Faculty & First Gold Partner

Multiple invited sessions at Tableau World and European Conferences. Recognized as Tableau's first gold partner. Tableau/Salesforce Top 8.

1st European Conference →

Handwritten student reviews from Tableau Conference

Actual handwritten evaluations from Tableau Conference training sessions.

Featured creator at the launch of Tableau Public.

77 Rules

I spent thirty years watching smart people build dashboards that accidentally lied to their executives. Not because the data was wrong — because nobody had codified the rules for getting it right. So I did. 64 rules for design. 31 for analytical integrity, across three tiers. Now an AI can apply them in 8 seconds.

— Stephen McDaniel

Something is coming

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