
Tech startups are taking on the oil business - elpeper
http://venturebeat.com/2015/07/24/tech-startups-are-taking-on-the-oil-business/
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saosebastiao
Anybody from Tachyus here? I've always been intrigued by the company but never
really understood what form of analytics they are doing, and the descriptions
are always really vague. Is it OR modeling? Data mining? Do you have any use
case examples?

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rubiquity
I hope to see intersting discussion around this article and these companies. I
live in Calgary and I've always been intrigued by the gigantic oil and gas
industry in my backyard. The problem is that when I look at those companies,
despite their obvious inefficiencies, they are the antithesis to a typical
startup. Oil and gas companies typically:

\- Are run by people with no appreciation for technology (this might change in
10-30 years when these people die - I wish I was kidding in my language about
death but that's exactly how people around here describe it: just waiting for
the "Blue Chippers" to die off.)

\- Are enterprises so deals will take forever to close

\- Typically only buy software from software companies that look like them
(Oracle, Microsoft, Cisco, etc.)

\- Toss all cost saving measures out the window as soon as the barrel price
shoots back up

I think it's an interesting industry with tons of data and tons of problems
that need solving but a very hard one to crack.

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iolothebard
Devon is in your back yard. They are significantly invested in technology.
Living in Oklahoma all the oil & gas companies here are in my experience.

Perhaps you're just ignorant to what it is they actually do in their IT
departments or are only considering small companies. A field worker or landman
might not know what goes on either.

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rubiquity
I'm aware of Devon but isn't that a recent thing? And I'm guessing you're
referring to their use of OpenStack and buying RHEL licenses/support? What's
interesting is that several people up here have used Devon as the poster child
for reserved technology practices. Encana/Cenovus tend to have the recognition
of being technology forward. Maybe Devon has changed since they sold off half
of their Canadian assets.

I agree my ignorance/attitude towards the industry isn't the best. I've always
felt as a software startup the service companies would be your best bet.

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codecamper
woo hoo! use those brightest minds to dig up more fossil fuels & inject that
carbon into the atmosphere for 8 more generations to come! brilliant.

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joeyspn
Not sure if it’s different than using the brightest minds of our generation to
sell ads and contribute to build a panopticon society.

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confluence
I think we've concluded in this thread that bright minds used in any
significant capacity can be a dangerous threat to society at large.

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curiousjorge
how do you approach oil businesses to try out your analytics or enterprise
software if you haven't built one yet?

