MDS Newsletter #4

Aditya Joshi -

Hi All!

We're here with our 4th edition of the MDS newsletter! We hope you are finding this newsletter series informative & useful.

Metrics layer is getting 🔥🔥

Drew Banin, CPO & Co-founder of dbt opened a PR on dbt core, dropping a subtle hint that dbt will be going after incorporating the metrics layers within the dbt stack. This is a much welcome move - given so many people wondering why it wasn't done before.

Metrics layer or Headless BI, is getting a lot of attention from data practitioners with companies like Supergrain and Transform taking it heads on.  Keep an eye on this space here.

With tons of data flowing in within organisations, it is essential to label the important data so that when you need it for useful analysis you find it quickly & easily.

Data Cataloging tools have enabled this in a more detailed and refined manner. It is the process through which you use metadata to collect, tag & store your datasets. And use data cataloging tools to index this data in the future!

Data-data everywhere!

Today data management has become way more important than it was once. "Data Cataloging" is now a core component of data management.

So, what is "Data Cataloging" & why use it?

Here is an awesome article on "Data Cataloging" by Thaise: Director of Product Marketing at data.world.

Here are this week's featured companies from the Modern Data Stack.

Tecton - Founded by the team that created the Uber Michelangelo platform, Tecton is a commercial feature store. You can build a library of great features with it.

Clarisights is a spreadsheet-based BI tool that streamlines reporting for sophisticated performance marketing teams. It automatically integrates, processes and visualises all your data from all of your marketing, analytical, and attribution sources.

Good reads and videos

Keep pace with the latest developments in the modern data stack. Always be learning!

Cassie Kozyrkov: In her article Operationalization: the art and science of making metrics, Cassie talks about the essential psychological elements important for all data professionals to make metrics that can be defined and named! Here's the article.

Ned Letcher: This video by Ned consists of a detailed discussion about "Metrics Driven Data Architectures". How different data architectures enable the gathering of organisational metrics and the various past, present, & emerging trends. Here is the youtube video: 27 Ned Letcher, On-Demand Track, DataEngBytes 2021

Francois Ajenstat: A lot of organisations still struggling to become data-driven. There are a lot of issues due to data silos, scalability problems with data infrastructure, and difficulty to use analytics. In his blog, Francois explained how these issues are being solved by the partnership of Google & Tableau. Here's the article: Self-Service Analytics for Google Cloud, now with Looker and Tableau

Gijs de Kruif: This article is about how HomeToGo uses dbt as its main tool for all data transformations in its ELT process and creating a scalable framework for this process. Here is the link to the article: DBT at HomeToGo

Sven Balnojan: There was a lot of concern & confusion in the past year around the idea that "there is just a single data mesh". In his article, Sven gets into detail about the three different kinds of data meshes and how this differentiation helps in choosing the right solution for your needs. Here is the article: There’s More Than One Kind of Data Mesh — Three Types of Data Meshes

Latest funding news

The latest happenings in the VC world for data stack companies.

RasgoML raised a $20M Series-A round!

This round of investment was led by Insight Partners(@insightpartners) along with Unusual Ventures(@Unusual_VC). With this round, the total funding raised by @RasgoML since its founding reached over $25M. Rasgo will use this round of funding to accelerate the product development, expand its engineering team, and develop a go-to-market function. Here's the full article

Funnel raised $66M in funding!

According to the Funnel, this will be the company’s last round of private funding before its planned IPO on Nasdaq Stockholm. This round was co-led by Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund (AP4) and Stena Sessan, with previous investors @balderton, @8roadsventures, @FPrimeCapital, @OxxVC, and @Industrifonden among others.

This investment will help in product growth! Here's the full article

Upcoming data stack events & webinars

Upcoming conferences, summits, and webinars for you. Start networking!

Data Science Salon is organising an awesome data event for all of you on 21st October 2021. It is a virtual event that will focus on - "THE FUTURE OF RETAIL WITH BEHAVIORAL DATA".

Presented by Snowplow Analytics - This event will specifically help you learn how companies are leveraging their datasets and embracing AI and machine learning technologies to maximise revenue and reduce costs.

Get the details of the event here.

Data Agility is organising the Data Agility Day on 21st October 2021. Data Agility Day is free and open for all to attend.

Sessions will cover how individuals and teams at data-savvy organisations are achieving the agility that enables decisions to be made faster and create competitive advantages.

Get the details of the event here.

Data Science Connect is organising its Fourth Annual Conference on 21-22 October 2021.

The Fourth Annual Data Science Connect Conference 2021: "Data Science in a Changing World" will feature data experts and practitioners across industries and disciplines demonstrating the impact of data science in today's changing world.

Get the details of the event here.

What's trending on Twitter in the Data Stack world!

Just for fun

If you've made it this far, you deserve a meme😄

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