The mosaic approach

I promise this site is not shifting to a focus on the future of equity research as subject matter, but given what I've written on it previously, I feel duty-bound to highlight interesting developments relating to it. Stephen Castellano, who has a blog devoted to the issue and has been involved in batting ideas around over the past week, has proposed the formation of a new research entity based on an approach he calls "mosaic theory." I like the sound of it. It's become starkly evident over this week, more than ever, that a lot of people are grappling with the same issues and concerns that I am, and that finding workable, marketable solutions is going to require some serious outside-the-box thinking and a lot of huevos. A couple of people have pointed me in the direction of Majestic Research and Gerson Lehrman Group this week, and what they are doing seems to be well outside conventional research models, and therefore pretty exciting. A UK company called Hitwise which I came into contact with some months ago also produces some very interesting data, primarily to industry I think, but I believe these kinds of primary, proprietary data sources will become more important.