Daniel Altman

Daniel Altman is a global economist and strategy expert with a doctorate in economics from Harvard. Before entering the realm of sports analytics, he had a successful career as an economist and author, notably penning the 2011 international bestseller "Outrageous Fortunes," which predicted the decline of Chinese economic growth. He currently serves as the chief economist at Instawork, the leading online marketplace for flexible work in the United States and Canada, and consults privately for investment banks and funds. Altman writes columns on business and economics for Entrepreneur and regularly appears on various news and financial programs. He has previously written economic commentary for The Economist, The New York Times, and Foreign Policy.

Altman has held high-level positions in consulting and private equity and has served as an advisor to the British government. He has taught at New York University's Stern School of Business and is a former member of the Council on Foreign Relations. He is fluent in English and Spanish and is comfortable making presentations in both languages. After finishing his doctorate at Harvard, Altman spent several years as an economics columnist for The Economist and The New York Times. Before moving into sports, he worked as a director at a global strategic consulting firm, and was senior editor for economics at Foreign Policy magazine, where he created the Baseline Profitability Index for assessing the attractiveness of global markets for direct investment.

Transitioning from economics to sports analytics, Altman became a trailblazer of “Moneyball” in professional soccer. He has co-founded NYK Capital Management, an investment firm focused on soccer clubs, and founded North Yard Analytics, a sports analytics consulting firm that applies “Moneyball” techniques to soccer and other sports. He also spent two years as head of strategy at Kaplan-Levien sports, the owner of three soccer clubs in the United States and United Kingdom. Outside of soccer, Altman works with US Olympic teams to generate an extra competitive edge, through both tactical decision-making and people analytics. He has presented globally on sports analytics, Big Data, people analytics, and economics, including at the Wharton People Analytics Conference, MIT Sloan Sports Analytics Conference, and IBM Finance Forums. His dynamic presentations, filled with real-world examples, illuminate the applications of Big Data and analytics in various industries, from sports to broader business contexts, optimizing performance and organizational success.