The MAD Podcast with Matt Turck Dashboards Are Dead: Sigma’s BI Revolution for Trillion-Row Data
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May 1, 2025 Mike Palmer, CEO of Sigma Computing, challenges the status quo of business intelligence, boldly stating that the world doesn’t need another BI tool. He shares insights on how Sigma simplifies data analysis using a spreadsheet-like interface for massive datasets without SQL. Mike dives into their journey from $2M to $100M ARR, the technical architecture behind their platform, and critiques major players like Google and Microsoft for rebranding outdated tech. The discussion is filled with thought-provoking ideas on the future of BI and the untapped potential of enterprise data.
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BI Is Boring; Sigma’s Vision
- Traditional BI is boring because it focuses on dashboards and charts as proxies for data rather than letting users interact with raw data.
- Sigma aims to replace dashboards with a spreadsheet-like experience that empowers people with their existing spreadsheet skills.
Sutter Hill’s Unique Incubation
- Sigma was incubated by Sutter Hill Ventures, which starts companies without products or code, just trusting the founders.
- Mike Palmer joined seven years into Sigma when it had little revenue and helped pivot the company to success.
Sigma’s Live Query Architecture
- Sigma performs all queries live on the warehouse without caching, ensuring data never leaves the warehouse.
- This approach aligns performance with warehouse speed, enhances security, and reduces operational costs for customers.