● Field notes

Research, perspectives, and quiet opinions on
the next-gen data stack.

Featured

What a Morning Brief for an HVAC Contractor Actually Contains

Six numbers, three source systems, one read before the trucks roll. A worked example of what Dashfeed writes at 6am for a hypothetical 12-truck shop, where each line comes from, and why estimate aging is the first metric we compute.

Dashfeed Research•August 4, 2026• 9 min read

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ChangelogProduct

What We Shipped This Summer: Ads Connectors, Feed Control, Access Tokens, and SMS

Self-serve ad platform connectors, canvas-native feed posts, per-role feed control with required reading, one sign-in with scoped access tokens, text-message delivery with double opt-in, and industry briefs for four trades. Everything customer-facing that landed between June and early September.

Dashfeed Research•September 7, 2026• 7 min read

How-ToConnectors

Connect Google Ads to Dashfeed in an Afternoon, and the Two Facts That Will Bite Your Metrics

The Google Ads API returns no row at all for a day with zero impressions, and it restates conversions for weeks. Connecting the account takes minutes. Getting spend and conversion metrics that stay right takes knowing those two facts.

Dashfeed Research•August 20, 2026• 8 min read

PricingData Culture

Per-Seat Pricing Is Why Your Ops Manager Doesn't Have a Login

When every login costs money, companies ration analytics to the people who already have it. Dashfeed charges a flat monthly fee with unlimited users because the value of a number depends on who gets to see it.

Dashfeed Research•July 16, 2026• 5 min read

AIAnalytics

The Model Was Never the Hard Part: Why Context Wins in AI Analytics

Anthropic measured what a frontier model alone does on real analytics questions: 21%. Add context and it jumps past 95%. The accuracy in AI analytics lives in the semantic layer, monitoring, validation, and skills, not the prompt.

Dashfeed Research•June 30, 2026• 7 min read

Data IntegrationComparison

7 Best Fivetran Alternatives in 2026: An Honest Comparison

The Fivetran-dbt merger is reshaping the data integration landscape. We compare 7 alternatives — from open-source to all-in-one platforms — with honest pros, cons, and pricing.

Dashfeed Research•June 11, 2026• 14 min read

Data StrategyCost Analysis

The True Cost of Your Analytics Stack in 2026: A Complete Breakdown

Most mid-market companies spend $5K–15K/month on analytics tooling — and that's before engineering headcount. A layer-by-layer cost breakdown with the hidden expenses nobody talks about.

Dashfeed Research•May 27, 2026• 12 min read

AnalyticsData Culture

Why Your Dashboards Are a Graveyard (And What to Do About It)

Fewer than 30% of enterprise dashboards are viewed after their first month. Here's why the dashboard model is structurally broken and what's emerging to replace it.

Dashfeed Research•May 6, 2026• 10 min read

AnalyticsSelf-Service

Why Self-Service Analytics Keeps Failing (After 25 Years of Trying)

95% of business users return to asking analysts instead of using self-service BI tools. We examine the structural reasons and what actually works instead.

Dashfeed Research•April 16, 2026• 11 min read

GuideData Engineering

The Modern Data Stack in 2026: What's Changed, What's Dead, and What's Next

A practical guide to the modern data stack landscape — what tools still matter, what AI has replaced, and three architectures for different company stages.

Dashfeed Research•April 1, 2026• 15 min read

Market IntelligenceStrategy

Dashfeed Market Research: Deep Dive

Adversarial research applying structured methodology — feeding AI real market evidence and asking the questions that actually matter for Dashfeed's positioning.

Dashfeed Research•March 11, 2026• 22 min read

ResearchAI

The Tectonic Shift in Business Intelligence: How AI-Native Platforms Are Redefining Data Analytics

Legacy BI tools are hitting their limits. We examine the structural forces reshaping the industry and why AI-native platforms represent the next dominant paradigm.

Dashfeed Research•February 22, 2026• 18 min read