Background image

Alex Bain

I'm married, I have a cat, & I'm a manager in analytics at iTunes

Posts

  • March 10, 12:44 PM

    We find out the gender tomorrow. I’d love to hear some guesses.

    If you’re wrong, no one will ever hold it against you. If you’re right, you get to pretend forever that you knew what would happen.

    Boy or girl?

  • March 09, 10:37 AM

    Creating a translation machine has long been seen as one of the toughest challenges in artificial intelligence. For decades, computer scientists tried using a rules-based approach — teaching the computer the linguistic rules of two languages and giving it the necessary dictionaries.

    But in the mid-1990s, researchers began favoring a so-called statistical approach. They found that if they fed the computer thousands or millions of passages and their human-generated translations, it could learn to make accurate guesses about how to translate new texts.

    Cool article about Google’s Translation Tool. The list of projects that might be easier to takle with billions of data points instead of rules is endless, & probably includes fields like healthcare, meteorology, calling football plays, etc.

    via Andy McAfee

  • March 08, 10:26 PM

    This site creates a cool heat map of one’s foursquare check-ins. As I’m big on walking, it’s no surprise that most of mine are near my apartment. I was surprised to see so much “heat” on Fillmore Street, though.

  • March 08, 07:33 PM

    OK Go is so good at this stuff. It’s funny that you don’t see more up and coming bands try to do this. I guess the video and music both have to be good, or it wouldn’t “go viral”, and most bands have a hard enough time getting the music part right.

  • March 08, 01:04 PM

    How to Become an Insta-Expert

    The author nailed every Oscar pick just by watching prediction markets.

    I’ve been doing this with American Idol so far this year. I’ve watched ~30 total minutes of the season, but because I’ve been watching the futures market for the contestants, I actually have opinions about how things will turn out.

  • March 07, 07:06 PM

    My friends, the Barneses (sp?), put together this fantastic 20 second video of their son Jack’s first experience with crawling.

  • March 07, 03:06 PM

    Time to update my 3 year-old tradition of documenting how I’m wished happy birthday by medium.

    Here’s 2009 & 2008.

    Some thoughts:

    • Some friends sent along well-wishes via more than one medium. I double-counted them. I thought about only counting the first, or counting each one as a half, but figured that this exercise isn’t intended to gauge my own popularity so much as the popularity of each medium.
    • Similarly, I thought about plotting it on a 100% axis, but liked that the absolute axis made two points:
      1. Facebook appears to be stealing “share” from email, but not other mediums.
      2. There seems to be a static amount of kindness generated by the combination of email, Facebook, and in-person greetings, and the other platforms are additive.
    • This year was the first year that IM and Tumblr appeared on the list. IM may have been bigger in the past, but I was never signed on. Now I’m attached to IM almost all day long. Tumblr just recently turned on a “replies” feature sort of like comments, and my cousin-in-law, Sarah, took quick advantage.
    • I wish there were an easy way to control for things like day-of-the-week and social media connections. I’ve got way more Facebook and Twitter friends now than in 2008, but I don’t have a great record of the historical counts. Oh well.

    The whole thing is also a fun reminder of how lucky I am to have such great friends/family.

  • March 07, 02:30 PM

    Got a mysterious phone call this AM:

    “Brunch. Ella’s. 20 minutes.”

    We took a risk, & showed up.

    We were relieved to discover it was the Easons :-)

  • March 06, 03:14 PM

    Looks like the matched the wall paint to a mango lassi.

  • March 06, 03:10 PM

    Indian b-day buffet. I’m in curry-flavored heaven.

  • March 06, 01:19 PM

    The birthday plan

    I don’t usually make a big deal of my birthday (especially a funny number like 31), but Lisa very kindly does. She suggested an itinerary for the day, that we tweaked a bit together. Here it is:

    1. Jog along the water (while she catches some extra Z’s)
    2. Chai lattés from Coffee Bean
    3. Hitting the neighborhood indian buffet for lunch
    4. Practicing the piano together (she’s normally resistant, because she doesn’t like playing on my unnaturally weighted keyboard)
    5. Reading together at a nearby café
    6. A nice walk along the water
    7. Head out to the East Bay for dinner with Lisa’s fam, where there’s a rumor that her mother’s famous applesauce cake may make an appearance.

    This is a great way to usher in my 32nd year.

  • March 06, 11:35 AM
    “The “Notes” app on the iPhone will forever be a simulation of a legal pad; the similar app on the iPad is a legal pad.”

    This quote from an article on
    iPad Application Design stuck out. I hope a lot of the best apps we’ll see for the iPad will have real life metaphors that will feel natural. Reading this made me wish I knew how to write software.

    Via Gruber

  • March 06, 01:08 AM

    We hit 5A5 in SF for some pre-b-day steak. That’s GOOD meat.

  • March 05, 09:17 PM

    Turns out, Lisa wasn’t joking this whole time about being a doctor. Her board certification just arrived.

  • March 04, 11:27 AM

    Just received an email from Tumblr today reminding me that this site just turned 3!

    I’m a bit surprised, actually, because my first post here was in July of ‘07.

    Back then, I thought Tumblr would be a complement to my Typepad site, but I quickly discovered it was just so much easier to use, and that the Tumblr team was just so much stronger than anyone else out there working in social media, so I wanted to hitch my wagon to their horse. Today’s email from them is a perfect example of the little things Tumblr nails.

  • March 04, 11:22 AM

    The fantastic app 1Password has posted pics of their upcoming iPad version.

    I was just thinking this morning how it was weird that I hadn’t seen any screenshots yet of iPhone app getting ported over. I hope more of these come out in the next few weeks.

  • March 04, 12:56 AM

    The Barretts had us over for a great dirty risotto dinner, then a jam session. Great hosts!

  • March 02, 10:26 AM

    My Roger Ebert Story

    Moving piece by Will Leitch about his unique opportunity to befriend (and disappoint) his hero.

  • March 01, 11:37 AM
    “We’re not allowed to discuss RBI anymore - the stat nazis have declared that they no longer matter.”

    From Bill Simmons’ chat last Friday.

    I’d say about 80% of Simmons content is directly related to sports, and none of it is enjoyable for me to consume anymore, because of his attitude that was perfectly captured in the above quote: He has a vague sense that quantitative analysis has advanced recently in sports, but rather than seeing the movement as progress, he openly resents it.

    While RBI are dependent on many factors out of a hitter’s control in baseball, we do have access to stats that can isolate a player’s performance. Why would we long for the days when fans focused on a stat we now know to be largely meaningless? I don’t know of many fans that claim they miss watching sports on small, black-and-white screens. This is no different.

    I still love listening to Simmons’ podcasts about The Real World, or columns with his take on movies, but he’s lost me when it comes to sports. He’s a really funny guy. He’s both a great writer and interviewer. He’s amazing on Twitter. But Moneyball taught me (with the example of scouts) to be wary of anyone that’s both bad at math and claims “there’s so much more to sports than numbers.”

  • March 01, 12:41 AM

    Scunthorpe problem

    I’d never heard of this issue before, and the 10-year-old in me finds the examples hysterical.

  • February 28, 10:51 PM

    Pro tip for using Instapaper and Tweetie 2 on the iPhone

    If you use Tweetie 2 to check Twitter from your iPhone, spend the 30 seconds it takes to set this up.

  • February 28, 10:46 PM

    This video does a great job of explaining the chat roulette phenomenon to the “unexposed.”

    I’d be tempted to give it a try if it weren’t for the (at least) 1-in-7 chance of seeing a pervert.

    Via @Caterina

  • February 28, 03:04 PM
    “You can’t control what other people do (tag you in photos, post pictures you’d rather not see online, say awful things about you), but you can control what the Internet sees about you by overwhelming it with your social media presence.”

    A David Karp quote from a Fred Wilson post.

    This is exactly why I started a blog back in 2004. When you Googled Alex Bain, the only content available about me was a bunch of box scores from college lacrosse games. Because I was a third string goalie, these links all read “Alex Bain, G, 0 minutes played, 0 saves, 0 goals.” I thought that there was more to my story then that :-)

  • February 28, 01:42 AM

    Won a bet 2 years ago being paid off tonight as a free steak dinner at Delmonico! It’s been a good week for food bets.

  • February 27, 07:34 PM

    They were all competing for #2 b/c I had a 67 in me.

  • February 27, 07:02 PM
    [Flash 10 is required to watch video.]

    You can gamble on anything in Vegas!

  • February 27, 04:56 PM
    [Flash 10 is required to watch video.]

    Credit card roulette for lunch. I made it out alive :-)

  • February 27, 04:54 PM

    ESPN Zone, Vegas: Queso!

  • February 26, 11:17 AM

    It’s hard to guess the thoughts of the last person to use a vending machine before you, but in this case they were probably thinking: “If A2 doesn’t work, I’m going to lose my cool.”

    I’d call this an “urban mirage”.

  • February 26, 09:52 AM

    Last Saturday, Lisa & I couldn’t remember the manufacturer of a certain cheese. I had a guess, & so did she. We decided whoever was right would get to choose our takeout vendor for Thursday dinner.

    Lisa wanted sushi. I wanted Indian. For the first time in ~8 years, I was right about something, & we dug into some chicken tikka masala :-)

  • February 25, 11:39 AM
    “In summer 2009, Butler blogged on NBA.com that he had lost 11 pounds just by giving up his daily “addiction” of drinking at least six 12-ounce bottles of Mountain Dew. “I was going through withdrawals,” Butler said on NBA.com. “… Honestly, those first two weeks without The Dew [were] the roughest two weeks of my life. I’m talking headaches, sweats and everything.”

    I was originally drawn to this article because of the headline: NBA orders Dallas Mavericks’ Caron Butler to stop chewing straws.

    But the quote about his struggling to quit drinking soda struck a chord with me because of my own battles with that “addiction” back in 1997.

    Lisa impressively kicked her coffee habit without issue a few months back when Baby Bain came along, but my experience was a lot closer to Butler’s.

    It’s hard to believe March 31st this year will be 13 years without a soda. I’ve got plenty of other vices, but I think that one’s safely behind me.

  • February 23, 06:59 PM

    One of my buddies from Bain, Dave Gilboa (shown above), & one of my buddies from college lacrosse, Andy Hunt, met in b-school and have just lunched a new eyewear company, Warby Parker.

    All their stuff is $95, and they give a pair of glasses to charity for every pair they sell.

    I’d throw them some business if I didn’t have perfect vision, but that shouldn’t stop you.

    Amazingly, they’re already being featured in GQ, Vogue, & DailyCandy.

  • February 23, 10:55 AM

    Pass this spot every morning on my way to work.

    Love the creativity of putting stuffed pandas in the sidewalk bamboo. Cracks me up everytime I catch it.

  • February 21, 02:27 PM

    Lisa sipping coffee at Ella’s in SF, our favorite breakfast spot. We love eating at the counter at crowded restaurants.

    She wants me to post something other than pics of us eating, and she’s probably right that I’ve slipped into a blogging rut. I’ll see if I can do better :-)

  • February 21, 02:21 PM
    “Women take significantly longer than men to decide whether they find something funny, though that doesn’t seem to spoil their enjoyment of the joke. Indeed, women show a greater response in the limbic system than men, suggesting they feel a greater sense of reward.”

    Cool article on the science of humor.

    While this was the most universally interesting quote in the piece, I liked the notion that humor stimulates the anterior cingulate cortex and the frontoinsular cortex, which only humans and apes have. It goes onto talk about how much of our humor is based on “theory of mind”, missing in many animals, and secondary “theory of mind” which is unique to humans.

    I guess this explains why you rarely see pets doing stand-up.

    Via GiveMeSomethingToRead.com

  • February 20, 09:28 PM

    Our time-shifted Valentine’s Day at the Ritz, including the shot where Lisa surprised me.

  • February 20, 02:30 PM

    The pet adoption center is right next to our coffee spot. We couldn’t resist playing with Mystique & Nina

  • February 19, 10:59 PM

    Grammie-in-law’s 95th b-day!

  • February 19, 07:06 PM

    Great story from Adam Carolla’s podcast about how Sarah Silverman and Alec Sulkin met & started dating. It’s 1 minute long.

    True story: Seeing Sarah Silverman perform would have been Lisa’s and my first date, except she turned me down :-(

  • February 18, 02:20 PM

    Per the the last post, I also just came across an unplugged version of the song.

    This makes me think I should work this tune into my karaoke repertoire… but perhaps not shirtless.

    Via Turbine

  • February 18, 02:13 PM

    Mama Said Knock You + Dylan

    I didn’t know about the Bob Dylan trivia, but I’ve always said this would be my entry song if I were a professional baseball player or ultimate fighter.

    It seems like a no brainer, but I’ve never seen anyone else use it.

  • February 18, 10:53 AM

    Vimeo's 25 favorite videos of 2009

    Everything’s just a little nicer on Vimeo than other video-sharing sites, so it attracts a slightly artsier crowd that cares about quality.

    The staff’s top 25 from last year are worth checking out, in the way a cool local museum’s installation is.

  • February 17, 11:09 PM

    I’m so spoiled: I get home from work and Lisa’s making a caprese salad

  • February 17, 07:32 PM

    Central Falls to fire every high school teacher

    Got this from my buddy Lee.

    The Superintendent’s proposal seemed pretty reasonable to me.

    I like to see a union take it on the chin from time to time. Maybe I’m a bad person.

  • February 17, 01:36 PM

    Put together this pan from a few shots around the green on Sunday.

    The reason I like this is that this is my favorite part of “Guys’ Golf Trip” every year: the last group coming into the 18th green, particularly on the final day. Here’s the 3 reasons why…

    1. You can see the guys joking around on the left, but you can also see that they’re paying attention. The scores of the final group tend to matter for the elaborate team competition we’ve constructed for the weekend, so there’s pressure on the last few putts. You don’t get many chances as an adult to do anything athletic with pressure on you, so it’s kind of fun to see if you’ve “still got it.”
    2. Golf is played in foursomes, so this is one of the few moments of the weekend when we’re all together (14 of us) while we play.
    3. Finishing a round of golf is very satisfying, so the 10 folks looking on are usually in great moods (unless they had disastrous rounds).

    When GGT started, our group was mostly single, and now we’re mostly married and with kids or kids on the way. I’m psyched that the tradition has survived. This was #6. The funny thing is that we started talking about it years before it got off the ground, but only finally got organized in ‘04. I think it’s here to stay now though.

  • February 16, 07:15 PM

    I’m really picky about mice.

    When I upgraded to Apple’s newest OS, 10.6 (or Snow Leopard), a couple weeks ago, it threw off the performance of my Kensington SlimBlade just enough to slowly drive me insane.

    When a co-worker was going on vacation, I borrowed her brand new Magic Mouse, and fell in love with the little sucker immediately.

    I’ve had bad experiences with bluetooth mice before, but this is perfectly reliable. you also scroll by moving your finger across the surface the same way you would with an iPhone, a very familiar gesture at this point for me.

    If you give it a shot, I’d recommend cranking up the tracking and cranking down the scrolling in your settings, but your mileage may vary.

  • February 14, 06:43 PM

    GGT VI: In my defense, I was on Team Green

  • February 14, 06:26 PM

    I golf about as well as I tpye, but today was a lot of fun.

  • February 14, 11:32 AM
    [Flash 10 is required to watch video.]

    This is what happens on Guys’ Golf Trip VI :-)

  • February 13, 02:51 PM

    GGT VI: Where banana-shaft happens

Profile

Alex Bain

Market Research Manager at Apple Inc.
Internet | San Francisco Bay Area, US

Experience

  • Aug 2009 - Present

    Market Research Manager / Apple Inc.

  • Feb 2008 - Mar 2009

    Co-Founder & President / FanZanimal, Inc.

    FanZanimal was launched after making it to the semifinals of the 2008 HBS business plan competition. After graduation, we took part in Highland Capital's Summer@Highland program for incubating student-founded startups, where we were mentioned and quoted in Business Week: http://bit.ly/FZinBusinessWeek
  • Oct 2008 - Feb 2009

    Early-stage Bus Dev & Marketing / CrowdSprout

    I chipped in for a few months to help get a promising, Boston-based startup off the ground in a difficult funding environment. I spent most of my time split between recruiting new merchants to the platform (12 in the first 30 days) and marketing our deals on a shoestring budget to tech-savvy consumers (350k targeted impressions for only $356). The idea behind CrowdSprout is to enable group-buying by bringing together popular merchants and self-organized groups. For example, 10 new moms interested in the same stroller can band together, allowing a merchant to move a bunch of inventory and the moms to receive a discount.
  • Jun 2005 - May 2006

    Financial Programs Manager / Apple Computer, Inc.

    • Managed team that constructed the global reporting database for Apple’s Accessories group. This tool facilitated central management of a $500M+ business unit. • Created toolset for critical sourcing decisions, reducing risk of vendor default and ensuring optimal margin.
  • Dec 2003 - Jun 2005

    Senior Forecast Analyst / Apple Computer, Inc.

    • Projected weekly demand, to within two percent of actuals, for over 200 SKU’s and accessories in education and reseller markets. • Provided manufacturing direction to planners on products representing (in fiscal 2005) $2B revenue, $800M margin, 750K units. • Directed the allocation staff on inventory distribution based on my quarterly ending-on-hand projections. • Converted manual forecasting tools into a largely automated process, saving members of the international forecasting staff over five hours each workweek while improving accuracy.
  • Aug 2001 - Aug 2003

    Associate Consultant / Bain & Company

    FINANCIAL MODELING • Modeled savings scenarios to determine necessity of new third-party health care management vendor. The vendor selected lead to $5M additional savings. STRATEGY & RESEARCH • Performed strategic due diligence including growth and profitability trends, capital requirements and exit strategies, for private equity funds to develop investment theses for acquisitions in multiple industries. • Screened and profiled target companies through management and customer interviews to highlight deal-breaking management and industry issues for interested private equity funds. PROJECT MANAGEMENT • Doubled speed of partnership implementation at a top ten national health insurance company, saving client over $1M. • Reallocated sales team efforts around most profitable channel partnerships for market-leading $9B footwear firm. • Developed product marketing strategy for $1B security software company by segmenting customer base

Education

  • 2006 - 2008

    Harvard Business School

    MBA in Business Administration
    Activities: Elected Historian of Section H Member: TechMedia, and Republican Clubs Co-President: Squash and Tennis Club
  • 1997 - 2001

    Brown University

    BA in Business Economics
    Activities: Varsity Lacrosse, Theta Delta Chi
  • Milton Academy

Additional information

Websites:
Interests:
Running 10K’s and half-marathons, juggling, following the New England Patriots and Boston Red Sox
Assoc.:
Volunteer work in early education, including: middle school tutoring, a mentoring program, Director of the Meadowbrook School’s Alumni Council, and sitting on the Board of Trustees of the Meadowbrook School

Latest checkin

@Delarosa (2175 Chestnut Street)
20 hours ago in San Francisco, CA

Badges

Checkin history

Friends

Upgrade Flash to view this site properly