Mike Middleton’s Post

my first story with Qlik

An honest take on how Snowflake's CEO focuses his attention more on the problem than the solution. From our own experience, we noticed that 9/10 times, the solution is fluid and can change, but it's the actual problem itself that doesn't really move. Having a deep focus on the problem allows you to truly identify fundamental solutions rather than superficial ones.

During my summer internship, I came across Snowflake, a cloud-based data storage tool. While I didn’t work directly with it, I quickly recognized its importance for renewable energy. As the sector increasingly relies on AI and cloud-based systems to optimize energy production, weather forecasting, storage, and distribution, tools like Snowflake are essential for managing large datasets effectively. This inspired me to set a goal to master Snowflake. I’m currently taking courses and working toward becoming a licensed specialist. I also want my energy community to explore and learn more about this tool, which is becoming a must-have skill in the evolving world of data and analytics. For anyone interested in exploring Snowflake, here’s an excellent opportunity to get started: "Zero to Snowflake in 90 minutes." https://lnkd.in/gARFFvDw

“On days like these, you wish for infinity...” Dopamine is still rushing through my body from the most epic goodbye party I have ever witnessed: And it was my own! Yes, after 6,5 years I have decided to spend time with those that had my back outside of work and intend to see all those beautiful spots the world has to offer. I've worked alongside the greatest in the market, had the privilege of selling the best technology I will probably see in my life, got opportunities that were way bigger than my CV gave me a chance for, went through an exciting IPO and I got to work with so many amazing customers and partners. Snowflake has shaped, developed and changed me as a person and holds my eternal gratitude. We - Team Germany - also kept our end of the bargain, crushing through our goals once more last fiscal year. A massive thank you and some shout outs: - Chris Degnan: G.O.A.T!! You've shown the world you can build a software company with empathy, hard work, no elbows and no one shouting at you - Benoit Dageville & Thierry Cruanes, the two most humble founders, for developing an amazing product - My bosses over the years: Thibaut Ceyrolle, Alison Tierney, James Petter, for the wild ride and your support in it - First 🇩🇪 Snowflakes: Mona Hengler, Lennart Uden, Lukasz Chlipala, Thomas Scholz, no words can describe what you did for Team Germany - DM's: Florian Niedermaier, Jonah Rosenboom, Kristoffer Hellmig, Julian Hoening, Peter Kroenert, Nenad Menga, for your integrity, trust and hard work - Team Germany: Your results, our culture, your personalities… indeed every ❄️ is unique - All our customers and partners: we could not have done it without you As a picture says more than a thousand words, some flashbacks below. Forever a Snowflake. 🫳🎤

At the start of 2020 I felt stuck. I wanted to progress in my career but had a massive professional identity crisis. After years of working in data and tech, I panicked: • I felt I had very limited technical skills to offer, so wouldn’t be able to compete against very experienced analysts. • I also didn’t have a professional marketing background, so my marketing experience would probably not stack up against others’. I sat there, thinking “I’m screwed”. How do I move to the next level without: • deep technical skills • formal marketing expertise • management experience and training I spent the next few months mulling over my options and gradually getting clear on what I had to offer. What I realised in that time was that in my next role I wanted to build on the things I knew I loved and was good at. But with bigger audiences, more complex problems to solve and with the kind of organisation in the background that would let me thrive. I was very fortunate to find that exact role when I joined Snowflake. The opportunity to be an evangelist on bigger stages, with audiences that were excited to learn about the tech and with a hugely competent and passionate team around me was genuinely exciting. I went from career panic mode to absolute clarity over the span of 12 months. It was scary feeling stuck with no obvious path ahead. It made me wonder whether working hard for many years was a waste of time. I worried I’d have to start all over again, with limited options during a pandemic. Clearing my head of the self-doubt and working on figuring out the what and why of my next step made all the difference. Have you felt stuck in your career? How did you overcome it?

How to influence with data as a software engineer Lessons in storytelling with data, in collaboration with Evelina Judeikytė https://buff.ly/4coOqGV (via @highgrowtheng and @parabolestudio)

I recently secured a meeting with an executive at Snowflake who told me I wrote one of the best cold emails they’ve ever seen. Here’s how I did it: Subject: “Have you considered this?” – Short and intriguing to catch their attention. Body of the Email: Personalized Introduction: Show genuine interest and knowledge about their company. Value Proposition: Clearly explain how our expertise could benefit them. Key Points: Real-Time Decision-Making Cost Reduction Scalability Customization Call to Action: Request a brief call or meeting to discuss further. Follow-Up is Key: Two days later, I followed up with a journey link to a personalized presentation created specifically for them, which helped land the meeting. Persistence, attention to detail, and genuine interest can open doors. Looking forward to what comes next and grateful for the opportunity to connect and learn. #Networking #ColdEmail #ProfessionalGrowth #OpportunityKnocks

Overcoming Complex Obstacles: Revealing Tableau’s Process for Creating New Features and Functionality. #salesforce #salesforceengineering #featuredevelopment #teamcollaboration #permissionsmanagement #datasecurity #pspteam #tableauengineering #techchallenges #apioptimization #performancealerts #crossfunctionalteam #rootcauseanalysis #latencyissues #salesforcepartner #nubis

🚀 Unlock the Power of Data with Snowflake and Copilot! 🚀 Not a data scientist? No problem! With the dynamic duo of Snowflake and Copilot, you can now write code and analyze data without any prior technical expertise. The video below explains how this powerful combination can transform your data workflows and unlock new possibilities. https://lnkd.in/dPaUbEvt

When a model underperforms, it can be difficult to understand why. Understanding and explaining model behavior is typically done using Shapley values and plays a key role in ensuring quality of the model before it goes to production, and debugging the model when it underperforms in production. Snowflake ML Explainability is now in Public Preview! Senior Product Manager at Snowflake, Avinash Joshi is here to share: 1️⃣ How to use Shapley values 2️⃣ How to compute Shapley values within Snowflake 3️⃣ The benefits of using Snowflake to compute Shapley values Read the blog to learn more: https://lnkd.in/gjN7SnF4