The hype around Big Data is driving a tidal wave of change throughout our industry. Like any tidal wave, it consists of a hodgepodge of components, is surrounded in legend, and behaves in unexpected ways. As this wave breaks over every part of the enterprise, IT, Marketing, Sales, even Development, the mix of data, tools, investment, and outright lies make it difficult to prepare effectively for it’s arrival. Like many of the companies caught in the early storm surge of Big Data, Argus Insights became a big data company almost by accident. Thriving after the encounter, we would like to separate the hype of how to respond to Big Data from what we learned to be the small truths of thriving in the ocean of information all around us.