The value of Splunk comes not only from that software, but it's also benefiting from the Groupon effect. "We're the first mover in big data," Godfrey Sullivan, Splunk's chief executive, told DealBook's Evelyn Rusli. It's the first to look at all that data we the consumers generate as we click at our computers all day long and turn it into something company's can use to make money off of us. Worthen mentions other big-name companies like IBM pushing similar products, but "Splunk is widely seen as the first pure play to go public," he writes. Being first has its merits.