Meet Joe Johnston — Head of Special Projects at Datum
Datum has been rapidly growing since our founding in June 2017, and this could not have been achieved without a dedicated and talented team! This is the first of a series of interviews introducing you to Datum team members and some behind-the-scenes tidbits.
Joe Johnston is Head of Special Projects at Datum, as well as CEO and Founder of Crowdlift, a company specialized in growth hacking and crowdfunding for hardware startups. With a never-say-die attitude characteristic of San Francisco Bay Area serial entrepreneurs, Joe’s prior roles encompassed those of cofounder, consultant, and advisor to various tech companies focused on user-generated-content (video), social media presence & reputation, and data sharing & privacy, helping companies raise 10’s of millions of dollars in crowdfunding on Kickstarter, IndieGoGo, websites, and ICOs. Some of Joe’s previous clients include startups, SMEs, as well as GE, AT&T, and other Fortune 500 companies. Joe also co-authored “Docker in Production: Lesson from the Trenches,” addressing the concerns about running Docker in production. Find out more about Joe here and from the following Q&A:
Datum: Before working at Datum, what was the most interesting job you’ve ever had?
Joe: In 2010, I co-founded a startup, Respect Network, that was an early version of Datum pre-blockchain. We pioneered an award winning trust framework that dealt with the privacy and data ownership issues around sharing personal data. Additionally, we worked closely with the credit card transaction organization, SWIFT, and several telcos around the world to help them move toward a user self-sovereign data model — where the user owns and controls her data. Our main public facing product, Connect.Me, grew quickly as a reliable reputation platform for social networks. In the end, we were too early. Decentralized data marketplaces need the blockchain and tokenomics to truly disrupt the current “we spy on you and show you ads” model. This is why I’m thrilled to be involved with Datum. The time is finally right to make a better Internet where users are back in control and publishers are able to pay their bills without violating people’s fundamental digital rights. Datum will play a big role in shaping this future.
Datum: What is your role at Datum?
Joe: Head of Special Projects
Datum: What’s your typical day like working at Datum?
Joe: I usually spend the first couple hours of the day reading articles and working on strategy docs. My role is half tactical and half forward-thinking. Right now, I’m focused on mapping how the future of online advertising would work in the Datum model — How we protect users’ data rights and privacy while enabling a new ecosystem of data buyers to purchase directly from users.
Datum: How did you first learn about Datum?
Joe: Roger and I worked together on his previous startup, Clever Baby. It was a wearable monitor for babies. I was inspired by the idea of a wearable device that could provide new data to researchers. There’s a huge gap in human knowledge about newborn to one-year-old babies because there’s no traditional way to run meaningful double-blind studies. With a wearable, this data could be automatically collected and sold to researchers and doctors to design products and protocols to improve the lives of young babies. This was the genesis of Datum. Unique data like this has high human potential and monetary value. It’s only right that users directly benefit from and are in control of sharing this data.
Datum: What are three words to describe Datum?
Joe: Self-sovereign data marketplace
Datum: What has been your favorite project at Datum?
Joe: The Datum Token Sale — it was super intense and fun to see how many people love the Datum vision.
Datum: What is on your wish list for the next 5 years with Datum?
Joe: I’d love to see Datum take a leading role in changing the way online advertising works. It’s not something one company can do on its own, but Datum is well-positioned and connected to have a seat at the table and create meaningful products and services to change how companies reach people online.
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