In today’s world, businesses revolve around data, and spreadsheets remain the most flexible way to analyze and share it.

But they haven’t changed in a long time. Like since the 1978 when these guys co-created the software program VisiCalc.

Getting a spreadsheet off the ground, making it look good, and sharing them is hard.

Think of all the times you copy-pasted tables, or had to import a CSV to get the latest update from your analytics tool, or took a screenshot of a chart to fit in your report.

But Rows is a startup that’s been pushing the envelope of how much power you can pack within a spreadsheet. They make spreadsheets easy and pretty. Today Rows is announcing a big upgrade dubbed the 2.0 version — focused on making data even easier to use and share. There’s new ways to build tables with data, they launched an API, their new editor is very smooth, and those chart embeds are making their way into Notion pages.

Oh and btw, Rows works seamlessly with Open AI. Check out the 10 ways to use GPT-3 inside your spreadsheet here.

A few hours ago, I hunted Rows 2.0 on Product Hunt because of how much I love the team and what the vision they have for the future of spreadsheets.

In the below segment, I’ve asked Rows CEO to talk about their latest launch and add more color to what they’re building and how it can help people. The interview is curated and edited for brevity.

1. Give us a quick intro about who you are and what you do 

My name is Humberto, and I’m the co-founder and CEO of Rows. 

I do spreadsheets, lots of spreadsheets. And Rows is a spreadsheet. Rows simplifies how people use spreadsheets to import data, analyze it and turn it into beautiful reports. 

2. What are some major improvements in the product since the 1.0 version?

We focused on simplifying how people use spreadsheets to import, transform, and share data. 

First, we've made it easier for users to bring fresh data into Rows by shipping fast csv/xls imports, and allowing users to query cloud data warehouses directly with the BigQuery integration. You can also consume and write data from within your applications via our Rows API and leverage your existing workflows, thanks to our connectors for Zapier, Make.com, and Looker.

Next, we've added features that help users transform data more effectively, including an OpenAI integration to harness the power of AI inside a spreadsheet and do things like run sentiment analysis, clean up data, translate it or even generate tables with original data. We've also upgraded the spreadsheet editor with pixel-perfect scrolling, freeze panes, and mobile responsive charts. One of my favorite updates are the new New data tables, a guided wizard that allow anyone to import data from our integrations or a REST API without typing a single formula. Very sleek. 

Finally, we've introduced new ways to share and collaborate with your team in Rows, including the ability to embed charts and tables on Notion (a fan favorite), Confluence, or anywhere on the web.

3. What customer learnings have led to the new features?

That might come as a surprise, but most of our customers are not spreadsheet nerds like us. 

One feature that showed up more than any other were our integrations. As we expanded the number of integrations in our gallery (Twitter, FB Ads, Stripe, etc) the excitement from new users were palpable. But quite often we saw first-hand how people struggled going from an idea “I want to import session data from Google Analytics” to a report. The reasons were:

• Having to type a formula on a spreadsheet was not too hard. Many of these formulas were complex, had multiple optional parameters and were prone to mistakes.

• Once the data was imported, it came in a JSON formatted that was not obvious to decode.

That led it into the journey of rethinking how formulas are used, and how data is imported and transformed inside a spreadsheet. The results were our Actions panel and Data tables, the only experience inside a spreadsheet where you can go from idea to result without needing to type a single formula.

4. What are some personas and backgrounds of the kind of people who’d enjoy Rows?  

• Marketers, who use analytics tools on a daily or weekly basis and find themselves exporting results in a spreadsheet format and importing them back to run analysis. 

• Operations manager and data analysts, who have custom workflows in place to collect and summarize data and always end up on spreadsheets to analyze them. 

• Founders, who use spreadsheets to build cap tables, share investor reports, create lists of leads and want to get work done fast.

5. What’s a recent example of someone using Rows creatively in the wild that made you excited?   

I love Nic's Personal Finance Playbook. He is a big personal finance geek and created this interactive Notion page that combines advice on personal finance with multiple simulators and calculators embedded from Rows in Notion. It’s a simple representation of how easy it is to use Rows in a creative, elegant and friendly way that is accessible to everyone.

6. If you can share, what’s coming next in the roadmap later this year? 

We like to think of this in a dual track: spreadsheet parity and differentiators. On parity we will invest in things like Pivot tables, Version history, Comments and other collaboration features. On the new things people love about us we’ll continue to invest in charts (more options, more charts, add annotations, make them look even better), new integrations - like Snowflake, TikTok or Shopify - and take our embed experience to the next level.

7. Where can people learn more about your latest launch?

We’re on Product Hunt today at this link. Would love to hear any feedback, comments or help answer any questions. Thank you!