When I first started out as an engineer I really leant in to the idea of what’s often called “being a hero”; I would get to the office a bit early to make sure I could fix anything that had gone wrong overnight. I loved the camaraderie of someone outside engineering bringing their laptop over with a critical process broken for me to fix (even if I’d been the one to break it!). Being a hero feels really good for a while, but over time, it loses its shine.

Nowadays, easy access to data is table-stakes for high-performing companies. Easy access doesn't come for free, though: it requires investment and a careful selection of tools. For young companies like us, the question is how much? And when do you make that investment? Having grown to ten people, several without engineering backgrounds but with strong data needs, we decided 2022 was going to be that time.