hjalmarg

When we set out to build GRID, we quickly realized that what people use spreadsheets for can broadly be split in two categories: Models and tables.

Models are free-form sheets with formulas that typically generate insights in the form of output based on a set of inputs.

Tables are the structured sheets that typically have (somewhat) defined columns detailing the attributes of each row of data. Insights from tables generally come from filtering, grouping, aggregating and sorting the row-level data.

As you point out, a lot more attention has been paid to the table use-case where people are essentially using their spreadsheets as small databases. Historically you could say this the usage pattern that gave birth to the modern BI tools (such as Qlik, Tableau and PowerBI). More recently, this is where companies like Airtable and Smartsheet play, but also to some extent what Coda and Notion are trying to achieve with their tables/databases.

The models are where GRID shines. The unique value GRID offers is the ability to easily create and publish an interactive web document on top of spreadsheet calculations, whether the models are built in Excel, Google Sheets or in our own built-in GRID Sheets.

I don't think this specific category has a name, but more broadly we've seen people talk about "next-gen spreadsheets" where - in addition to GRID - Equals, Rows and Spreadsheet.com also play, each with their own unique flavor.

GRID is clearly the solution that leans most heavily into models and interactivity (hence the focus on our engine as evidenced e.g. by alexharri's article).

While all the other solutions have capable calculation engines, I think it's fair to say that they are more focused on table-like use cases. Equals leans heavily into data connectivity, governance and reusability of spreadsheets, while Spreadsheet.com focuses a lot on project management use cases. Both offer an otherwise very traditional spreadsheet user experience. Rows has also focused a lot on connectivity, but lately they have leant heavily into AI to generate insights from data in their spreadsheets.

Hjalmar here, founder and CEO at GRID.

Yes, one of several things we do in post-processing the raw generated results is passing them through validation to make sure it returns valid results. There hasn't been a lot of hallucination in terms of entirely made up formulas and such, but they sometimes become a little "creative" in the syntax. We've more or less reined this in :)

In fact this works amazingly well. It is however still an "assistant" rather than an "expert" so users should make sure to double check the suggestions before accepting them.

Would love for people to try it and give us feedback.

As I see a couple of mentions on GRID (https://grid.is/) on this thread, I thought it might be interesting to share a little bit about how we see this space.

First of all, Rows is a fantastic tool. They are really onto something, especially in how to work get structured data out of other systems into a spreadsheet and then work with that kind of data in the "spreadsheet way" that we've all been trained in. This is a pain point of current spreadsheets and one that Rows is addressing in a really nice way.

If you think about all the things that spreadsheets are used for - which is a lot - it still generally falls into one of three categories (https://medium.grid.is/the-3-types-of-spreadsheets-3d021356c...): 1. Numbers and calculations 2. Small databases 3. Business processes

What Rows does falls mostly into the realm of small databases and business processes. And while each has their own approach, I'd say that most other "next-gen spreadsheets" are also focusing on these (big and important) use-cases. Airtable (https://airtable.com/), Spreadsheet.com (https://spreadsheet.com/) and Smartsheet (https://smartsheet.com/) all play mainly in this area.

GRID is focusing on the numbers and calculations use-case, allowing people that have already built a model or pulled together numerical data in a spreadsheet to better explore, explain and converse about them.

GRID is a productivity tool that enables spreadsheet users to transform their data and models into interactive, visually dynamic web documents. GRID syncs seamlessly with existing spreadsheets and leverages spreadsheet users' existing skills allowing them to add a narrative to their spreadsheets, decide which parts are shown to their audience and how the audience can interact with the underlying models.

You can take a look at this product-led growth calculator I built as an example: https://grid.is/@hjalli/product-led-growth-calculator-C3tbTt...

In order to deliver this product we have built:

- An Excel-compatible spreadsheet engine that runs entirely in the browser, allowing for super fast interaction and calculations.

- A WYSIWYG editor to build anything from interactive reports to embedded calculators

- Cloud monitoring that picks up on any changes to files stored in OneDrive, Dropbox or Google Drive (for Google Sheets) and syncs seamlessly with GRID.

The enduring power of legacy spreadsheet software is undeniable (or as Not Boring put it the other day “Excel Never Dies” - https://www.notboring.co/p/excel-never-dies ), but that also means that the world’s estimated 1 billion spreadsheet users encounter the same challenges when it comes to sharing and presenting data from spreadsheets. Formatting, emailing, updating, and trying to communicate insights from spreadsheets are well-known headaches in this regard.

GRID documents - on the other hand - are easily shareable on the web and allow anyone to view and interact with data and models at their own pace and on their device of choice, while allowing the authors to reamin in full control of exposure and distribution.

We’d love to hear your feedback and look forward to engaging in some interesting and constructive dialogue.

> Looking for a SaaS idea? Ask random people in a target industry what kinds of things they do with Excel.

True, but you also have to make sure that you can improve on the spreadsheet way enough to be worth potential customers' switching cost and money.

I actually wrote a post about exactly this only a couple of weeks back: "Your biggest competitor is a spreadsheet" - https://medium.com/@hjalli/your-biggest-competitor-is-a-spre...

The world - rightfully - has a love-hate relationship with spreadsheets. As many of the comments here point out, it is a much more nuanced subject than the referenced article suggests. For those interested in a little deeper dive I recently wrote this three-part blog series on the origin and nature of spreadsheets:

- Spreadsheets are programs: https://medium.com/@hjalli/3-things-you-dont-understand-abou...

- Spreadsheets made the PC market: https://medium.com/@hjalli/3-things-you-dont-understand-abou...

- Spreadsheets are everywhere: https://medium.com/@hjalli/3-things-you-dont-understand-abou...