Lauren Balik, who runs Upright Analytics and is a leading data consultant and investor, discusses why she believes the modern data stack is flawed and the three factors that affect the cost of a data platform. Balik also compares building versus buying a data platform and recommends an OLAP database in the cloud for small companies. However, she thinks centralizing data out of a line of business is a mistake for larger companies. Balik does not anticipate consolidation in the modern data stack and thinks that large language models such as GPT-3 will be crucial.