Two decades solving hard problems with data.
Paul Thibodeau is a cognitive scientist and data scientist who has spent more than twenty years investigating processes that are hard to pin down, like how people think and what drives behavior. Two things have never let up: curiosity about how things work and a stubborn need to get it right.
It started with a question about the mind.
I was drawn to science by a single question: how do people process language and make meaning from words? I went to Stanford to chase it, earning a PhD in cognitive science and an MS in statistics. I gained a toolbox for solving impossible problems along the way.
The question became a body of work.
I took those tools and built a research program at Oberlin College, publishing 50+ peer-reviewed papers and earning tenure. In academia the key performance metric (KPI) is citations, a measure of how much others build on your work. Mine have been cited over 5,700 times: a record built on getting the measurement right, not just the result you hoped for.
Then I took the rigor into industry.
From the lab, I moved into industry, where the work got faster and more collaborative. I built marketing-mix and churn models, ran A/B tests, and did countless analyses where the numbers had to move real budgets. I owned these systems end to end in ed tech (eSpark) and health tech (BetterHelp). It's the same work I now do for growth and product teams as an independent consultant.
So I started this practice.
I founded Thibodeau Consulting, LLC to bring that same rigor to your team. I'm passionate about helping clients understand their data, separate signal from noise, and make confident calls about where to invest. That's the kind of measurement that earns trust, because it's honest about what it knows and what it doesn't.
It's TIB-uh-doh.
A French-Acadian name. If you've met a Thibodeaux, there's almost certainly a Louisiana connection somewhere in the family tree. "Thib" rhymes with "rib," then "uh-doh." Easy once you've said it once.
A few notable Thibodeaus, no relation (mostly):
- Tom Thibodeau Two-time NBA Coach of the Year
- Kayvon Thibodeaux NFL edge rusher, New York Giants
- Henry S. Thibodaux Governor of Louisiana, the town Thibodaux is named for him
- Boudreaux & Thibodeaux The heroes of a thousand Cajun jokes
- Thomas Thibodeau Dad
- Karen Thibodeau Mom
- Mark Thibodeau Brother
- Paul Thibodeau This one. The one who'll get your measurement right.