The 5-Minute Interview: Megan Kvamme, CEO at FactGem

For this week’s 5-Minute Interview, I spoke with Megan Kvamme, CEO at FactGem. Megan and I caught up at GraphConnect San Francisco last October. Here’s what we discussed:

How does FactGem use Neo4j?

Megan Kvamme: We built FactGem on top of Neo4j, which we’re using as a tool to build a data fabric that will allow companies — many of which have already made significant investments in their existing technology and hardware — to maintain their investments while bringing data up through our data fabric for easy data visualization.

What made you choose to partner with Neo4j?

Megan: When we started the company in 2013, it was built on a NoSQL database. But we ran into issues because we were dealing primarily with data relationships, such as buying and voting habits, and we got stuck. Even though NoSQL offered some great features, especially with its search capabilities, it didn’t help us expose or build upon data connections.

Our Chief Technology Officer Clark Richey found the Neo4j graph database and said, “Hey, this is something we should look at.” And it went from “we should look at this” to “we’re going to move our entire API on top of Neo4j.”

What is the most interesting result or project you’ve seen since using Neo4j?

Megan: What’s really great about Neo4j is the ability to expose all of these connections so quickly. From a business perspective, people can’t wait an entire year for new tools or results. I’m running a company, so I need to understand everything in real time. Being a Neo4j partner has really provided a solution that we can take to enterprise customers that allows them to move at fast speeds.

Knowing what you know now, if you could go back in time, is there anything you would do differently?

Megan: It’s not really about doing anything differently. I think the synergy between our two companies has been really important, and I’m glad that we found Neo4j as a partner. It has really changed the direction of our company, and allowed us to deliver results to our customers much more quickly.

Is there anything else you’d like to share?

Megan I just think Neo4j has done a great job. One of my favorite parts about our relationship is that it really is a true partnership — from the road map discussions to technology to business discussions with the executive team. Neo4j is a great company that wants to make their partners successful, because they understand that when their partners are successful, they’re successful. And that’s a wonderful part of Neo4j.

Want to share about your Neo4j project in a future 5-Minute Interview? Drop us a line at content@neo4j.com