204: Will a Duck DB-Like Excel Emerge by 2075? And Is Data Every Company’s Most Valuable Asset? Featuring Benn Stancil of Mode

This week on The Data Stack Show, Eric and John welcome back Benn Stancil, Founder and CTO of Mode, a data analytics company acquired by ThoughtSpot. During the episode, the group delves into Benn's decade-long journey in the startup world, discussing the challenges of strategy, vision, and decision-making. Benn highlights the pressures of adhering to conventional startup playbooks, the importance of confidence in decision-making, and the complexities of navigating uncertainties. The discussion also explores the role of data in understanding business dynamics, the unique challenges faced by data-centric companies, and so much more. 

Highlights from this week’s conversation include:

• Benn's Background and Journey in Data (0:48)

• Reflection on Strategy and Vision (2:10)

• The Importance of Doing It Your Way (4:10)

• Early Experiences and Blogging (6:27)

• Self-Imposed Pressure in Startups (8:24)

• The Challenge of Decision-Making (12:11)

• Key Decisions in a Startup's Trajectory (15:48)

• Understanding Startup Anxiety (17:24)

• Importance of Focus in Data Startups (20:02)

• Product Market Fit Insights (24:38)

• Cultural Change and Product Fit (30:23)

• Evolution of Data Teams (31:57)

• The Role of High-Profile Data Successes (34:12)

• Challenges of Data in Smaller Businesses (36:16)

• Product Team Dynamics (38:18)

• The Future of Excel (41:11)

• Anti-Patterns in Data Usage (45:05)

• Imagining Excel's Replacement (47:05)

• Exploring New Data Solutions (49:24)

• The Role of LLMs in Data Analysis (51:29)

• Final Thoughts and Takeaways (53:10)

The Data Stack Show is a weekly podcast powered by RudderStack, the CDP for developers. Each week we’ll talk to data engineers, analysts, and data scientists about their experience around building and maintaining data infrastructure, delivering data and data products, and driving better outcomes across their businesses with data.

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