About the founder

Built by a career analytics operator, not a generic AI tool vendor.

Stephen McDaniel has spent 30 years building data architecture, forecasting systems, executive analytics, and BI platforms across Netflix, Tableau, Oracle, SAS, and Microsoft. 77 Rules turns that experience into a dashboard integrity standard for executive decisions.

Bring one real dashboard or board-deck chart to a private walkthrough and test whether it could affect an executive decision.

Book Board-Deck Integrity Audit

Enterprise analytics pedigree Founder-led review Dashboards, forecasts, board-deck decisions

Founder proof

30 years in analytics, BI, forecasting, and executive reporting

Enterprise analytics: Built analytics systems across Netflix, Tableau, Oracle, SAS, and Microsoft environments.

Dashboard authority: Built and reviewed executive dashboards in high-stakes analytics environments.

Teaching and publishing: Author and instructor across analytics, BI, and data storytelling communities.

Concrete example: clean chart, risky conclusion

A chart can pass visual review while hiding a selected time window, missing denominator, or unsupported comparison that changes what leadership believes.

What Stephen looks for

What I look for when an executive dashboard is on the line.

What decision could this chart affect?

The first question is not whether the chart looks clean. It is what leadership may do differently because of it.

What visible evidence supports the concern?

Every material finding needs an observable chart element, not a vague preference or design opinion.

What context is missing?

Missing baselines, definitions, periods, denominators, or limitations can change what the chart appears to prove.

What should be fixed before leadership sees it?

The output has to identify the first fix, not just criticize the dashboard.

Why this exists

Dashboard quality is not just design quality.

A dashboard can be readable, professional, and executive-ready while still supporting the wrong conclusion. 77 Rules audits the integrity layer: the logic, comparison, time window, baseline, and evidence behind the chart.

Analytics operator

Built real-world analytics systems where dashboards supported financial, customer, product, and executive decisions.

BI platform experience

Worked inside the ecosystem that shaped modern dashboard practice, including Tableau, SAS, and enterprise analytics platforms.

Teacher and author

Authored analytics books and taught analysts through major professional societies, translating complex analytics into repeatable standards.

The 77 Rules standard

A repeatable integrity standard for executive reporting.

77 Rules reviews dashboards using 77 rules plus 15 bonus integrity checks, with expert review by Stephen McDaniel for risks automation can miss. The goal is not subjective dashboard taste. The goal is to identify where a chart could affect a decision before the CFO, board, or executive team acts on it.

Visual clarity

Can leadership read the chart correctly?

We review hierarchy, contrast, labeling, chart choice, layout, and visual construction so the dashboard communicates clearly.

Decision integrity

Could the chart support the wrong conclusion?

We look for missing baselines, cherry-picked windows, unsupported comparisons, mismatched periods, and other risks that can affect judgment.

Review trail

Can the team defend the finding?

Findings are tied to visible evidence, business consequence, remediation priority, and a clear audit trail for executive review.

Credibility timeline

Three decades of analytics work behind the standard.

The standard behind 77 Rules comes from operating experience, platform experience, teaching, publishing, and executive decision support.

Enterprise systems

Enterprise analytics systems

Built and supported analytics environments across large software, data, and media organizations.

BI authority

Dashboard and BI authority

Authored analytics and BI books; taught professional audiences; translated dashboard judgment into repeatable standards.

Decision support

Executive decision support

Built forecasting, LTV, BI, and reporting systems used to support high-stakes business decisions.

77 Rules

Dashboard integrity audit standard

Converts that operating experience into a focused dashboard integrity audit standard for executive reporting.

Private walkthrough

Bring one chart. I’ll show you where it could affect the decision.

If the chart is clean, I’ll say so. If it creates decision risk, you’ll see the evidence, consequence, and first fix.