Excel makes you do VLOOKUP gymnastics. Power BI (2020 edition) teaches you the “Modeling” tab. You drag a line from “Orders[CustomerID]” to “Customers[CustomerID]” and boom —all tables talk to each other. It feels like cheating. It’s not. It’s relational intelligence.
But don’t let perfect be the enemy of started. The 2020 edition is clean, focused, and complete. Search for it on YouTube (look for the 2–3 hour full course), grab a coffee, and watch it in one sitting. Excel makes you do VLOOKUP gymnastics
You’ll watch the instructor click Get Data → Excel → Load . Boring? No. Watch closely. They’ll connect a messy sales spreadsheet and, without touching the original file, transform it. Empty rows? Removed. Inconsistent dates? Fixed. Capitalization errors? Cleaned. You learn that Power BI doesn’t change your data—it changes how you see your data. It feels like cheating
Start with the 2020 intro to learn the fundamentals (Get Data, Power Query, DAX basics, relationships, visuals). Then spend one hour on “What’s New in Power BI” for 2024/2025 to learn about Copilot, preview features, and the new card visual. But don’t let perfect be the enemy of started
Ali Abbasi is a writer and director. He was born 1981 in Iran and left his studies in Tehran to move to Stockholm, where he graduated with a BA in architecture. He then studied directing at the National Film School of Denmark, graduating with his short film M FOR MARKUS in 2011. His feature debut, SHELLEY premiered at the Berlinale in 2016 and was released in the US. He is best known for his 2018 film BORDER, which premiered in Cannes, where it won the Prix Un Certain Regard. The film was chosen as Sweden’s Academy Award® Entry, was widely released internationally, won the Danish Film Award and was nominated for three European Film Awards including Best Director, Best Screenwriter & Best Film. He is currently shooting the TV adaptation of “The Last of Us” for HBO in Canada.
Watch Ali Abbasi's movie Border on Edisonline.