Be Careful with that Umfahren, w/ Lars Schreiber Raw Data By P3 Adaptive

Lars Schreiber is another one of the great examples of the human element of data that we love!  He's an MVP, a long-standing member of the Power BI Community, and his passion for the Power Platform is quite catchy.  Catch up with Lars at his website, Self Service BI Blog!
References in this episode:
Lars' Podcast with Jeffrey Wang
Lars' PowerPivotPro Blog Post from 2014
Episode transcript:
Rob Collie (00:00:00):
Hello friends. Today, we continue our tour to force for 2022 by welcoming MVP, Lars Schreiber to the show. You might know him today as a member of the Power BI community, and also a host of a podcast, which we're working on backstage for me to be on his podcast, because you know, fair is fair. But I've known Lars for a very long time. He was actually one of the OG readers of the old Power Pivot Pro blog. Not just a reader, he was actually also a guest blogger. The fact that he wrote a guest article for our old website eight years ago, led to a somewhat familiar conversation about how as you get better and better with Power BI you're increasingly embarrassed by your past work. That might sound familiar to a number of you out there. In that vein, we also discuss how a lot of the DAX in particular on the internet these days, I can't imagine how intimidating that must be to a beginner.
Rob Collie (00:00:53):
On the less technical front, we talk about how he went solo without securing base of customers firsthand. He just sort of stepped off that ledge, things turned out well for him, but didn't exactly go the way originally that he expected. We talk about some of the nuances of the German language. We also get on the way back machine, and talk a little bit about how Microsoft Office internationalized its product back in the late '90 and the very special and funny role that German played in our lives back in that point in time. We talk about the disturbing trend of Power BI being used, not as an analysis tool, but as a PowerPoint replacement where literally people are using Power BI to draw charts to display conclusions that they've already reached using their gut. We talk a lot of out the power of naming. He asked me a very interesting question about the origin of the Power Pivot name. We talk a little bit about the pros and cons and the strengths of that name and the weaknesses. And in general, we had a blast. Tom might have gotten a little bit over his 7% threshold in this episode, so we're going to be keeping a close eye on that if you know what I mean. So without further monologuing, let's get into it.
Announcer (00:02:04):
Ladies and gentlemen, may I have your attention please?
Announcer (00:02:11):
This is The Raw Data by P3 Adaptive Podcast with your host Rob Collie and your co-host Thomas LaRock. Find out what the experts at P3 Adaptive can for your business. Just go to P3adaptive.com. Raw data by P3 Adaptive is data with the human element.
Rob Collie (00:02:35):
Welcome to the show. Lars Schreiber, is that how you would pronounce it? How do you say it in Germany?
Lars Schreiber (00:02:40):
I say Lars Schreiber. See there's that extra syllable it, is a three syllable word when you do it right. There's a little pause, little breath in the middle there. Anyway, I'll never master that, like I never mastered rolling my Rs in Spanish. Really, really happy you're here. I know it's late for you. You're from Germany, are you in Iceland right now?
Lars Schreiber (00:03:02):
No, I would love to be, but I'm not in Iceland. I'm in Hamburg, where I live.
Rob Collie (00:03:06):
What does loving Iceland on your Twitter bio mean?
Lars Schreiber (00:03:10):
It means I'm loving Iceland. The country is amazing and the people there are amazing too, so I've been there three times on vacation, and this country is nothing but beautiful. We've
Rob Collie (00:03:21):
Been there once as a family a few years ago. It was just an epic trip. I mean, holy cow, it is an amazing country, isn't it?
Lars Schreiber (00:03