The leader track 🤝 · for C-level, managers & curious minds · 6 x 45 min · no code to write
Thinking mode: what SQL is, how to read a query, how to judge a data claim, and how to brief an analyst - each session ends with questions to ask your data team.
What SQL actually is
Databases as organized tables, SQL as the question-asking layer, and the reframe: every metric is a query underneath.
👓 Leader 2 · easyReading a query without fear
SELECT, FROM, WHERE, GROUP BY in plain business terms - and what a JOIN really means, no writing required.
⚖️ Leader 3 · mediumJudging a data claim
Count vs sum vs average, "per what", and the refund trap - how the same data yields two honest but different numbers.
📊 Leader 4 · mediumThe dashboard behind the dashboard
Every KPI tile is a saved query. Cohort vs snapshot, denominator games, and why "active users" can be two numbers.
🎯 Leader 5 · decidingAsking for the right cut
The five-part data request, defining a metric so two people agree, and how not to be the "just pull the numbers" exec.
🤖 Leader 6 · decidingSQL, warehouses and AI
The modern stack, why text-to-SQL makes reading queries matter more, and what to fund: governed metrics, not tool churn.
The builder track 🛠️ · for practitioners · 10 x 45 min · runs live in your browser
One database, Daybreak, queried harder every session. Every idea lands on data you already know - from your first SELECT to window functions, a real investigation, and warehouse-grade tuning.
Meet your database
Run a real query in two minutes: SELECT, FROM, LIMIT, ORDER BY, and a tour of the whole Daybreak schema.
🔍 Builder 2 · easyFiltering rows with WHERE
Comparison and logical operators, LIKE, IN, BETWEEN, IS NULL - asking for exactly the rows you want.
📐 Builder 3 · mediumAggregating: COUNT, SUM, GROUP BY
Collapse many rows into answers - COUNT, SUM, AVG, GROUP BY, HAVING, DISTINCT, and "per what" thinking.
🔗 Builder 4 · mediumJoining tables
The relational payoff: INNER and LEFT joins, chaining three tables, self-joins - stitching Daybreak together.
🧩 Builder 5 · mediumCombining and reshaping
CASE buckets, aliases and expressions, string and date functions, UNION - reshaping results into what you need.
🪆 Builder 6 · hands-onSubqueries and CTEs
Queries inside queries, and WITH clauses that make multi-step logic read top-to-bottom instead of inside-out.
🪟 Builder 7 · hands-onWindow functions
Rank, ROW_NUMBER, LAG/LEAD, running totals and PARTITION BY - the analyst superpower, on Daybreak's revenue.
🏗️ Builder 8 · hands-onBuilding and changing data
CREATE, INSERT, UPDATE, DELETE, ALTER, keys and constraints, and the order queries actually execute in.
🕵️ Builder 9 · hardestAnalyst case study: the March drop
A full investigation: confirm the revenue dip, drill into March, find the cause in refunds, events and cancels.
🚀 Builder 10 · hardestPerformance and real warehouses
Reading a query plan, indexes and their tradeoffs, and the dialect deltas from SQLite to Postgres, BigQuery, Snowflake.
Choose your path 🗺️
Two doors, one database. Leaders never write a query; builders never sit through theory they have not just run themselves.
The knowledge map 🧠
Both tracks at a glance - hover a session to spotlight its concepts, click any node to jump in.