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What is your passion? [weekend poll]

This weekend, lets get passionate 😉

Few days ago, Cheryl, one of our forum members asked this question:

How do you know Excel is your passion? Or is it?

I am searching for my passion, you know that thing that makes my heart sing. I mean I am listening for the pitter-patter in my ticker. So how do I know if Excel is it? Or anything for that matter. I am looking for that thing that will make me turn my tv off. (TV is my crack, I am truly addicted). I thought it was database development and honestly I am not altogether sure that it isn’t. Excel may be a substitute. A more attainable passion.
Give me some insight peeps. Some thoughts, musings, ideas.

As usual, many of our forum members chipped in with words of wisdom. Hopefully Cheryl saw their replies, if she ever managed to turn off that tv.

That gave me an idea for this week’s poll.

What are you passionate about?

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May 2, 2014

CP007: aweSUM() – Overview of SUM functions in Excel

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

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In the 7th session of Chandoo.org podcast, lets make you aweSUM().

Imagine for a second that Excel cannot add up numbers. And no it cant subtract them either. What would that look like?

A glorified Notepad. That’s right. Excel’s ability to add up numbers, along with features like formulas, charts, pivot tables & BHATTEXT() are what make it such a lovely software. May be not the BHATTEXT(), but we all agree that Excel is so versatile and useful because it can add up numbers (and perform other calculations) with ease.

But how well do you know the SUM formulas of Excel?

In this podcast, you will learn,

Special personal fruit announcement 😛
+ operator
Status bar & total rows in tables
Auto Sum feature
SUM() function
SUMIFS function
Special cases of SUMIFS function
SUBTOTAL & AGGREGATE functions
Other summing functions – SUMPRODUCT etc.

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May 1, 2014

Calculate CAGR (Compounded Annual Growth Rate) using Excel [Formulas]

Lets talk about how we can use Excel to calculate Compounded Annual Growth Rate (CAGR for short).

What is CAGR? What does it signify?

Let us say you are the CEO of ACME Inc. You have been selling various widgets since 2009. In your latest annual report you want to tell your shareholder at what rate you have been growing ACME Inc. sales. The figure are,

2009 – $150 Mn
2010 – $125 Mn
2011 – $160 Mn
2012 – $174 Mn
2013 – $195 Mn
2014 – $210 Mn

Now, if you see the growth rates, they are all over the place. Right from -16.67% to 28%. But you want to report a single annual growth rate.

This is where CAGR (Compounded Annual Growth Rate) comes handy.

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April 29, 2014

How to become an MVP in Excel [case study]

This is the story of Vijay Agarwal, who received MVP Award from Microsoft on 1st of April.

Some of you know that I am a recipient Microsoft MVP award. It is an award Microsoft gives to software community leaders & contributors. Often people ask me, “Chandoo, how do I become an MVP?”. So today I want to tell you how you can become an MVP.

Around first week of April, I got an email from Vijay,
Hi Chandoo,

My self Vijay Agarwal from Delhi and I am a big fan of your site/articles. With blessing of God and inspiration from legends like you, I am pleased to inform you that yesterday evening I have been awarded Most Valuable Professional (MVP) award by Microsoft for my contributions in Excel.

I congratulated him immediately. It is always a pleasure to see people succeed and get recognition for their efforts. I also asked him if he can share his MVP journey to inspire all of us at Chandoo.org. Vijay being an awesome guy, wrote and send it promptly. So here we go.

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April 25, 2014

CP006: How to be a better analyst? – Road map for getting better at Data Analysis & Improving your career prospects

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | RSS

In the 6th session of Chandoo.org podcast, we focus on making you a better analyst and propose a road map for getting better at data analysis & improving your career prospects.

In this podcast you will learn,

Why become a better analyst?
The road map for becoming a better analyst – BETTER framework
B for Business Knowledge
E for Examining user needs
T for Thinking about analysis
T for Tools of Trade ie Excel
E for Expression
R for Refining yourself
Conclusions

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April 24, 2014

Modeling tiles in a room using Excel Conditional Formatting

Last week we learned how to answer questions like, “How many tiles in a room?” using Excel. We learned about CONVERT function and fraction number format settings in Excel.

But why stop at calculation? We can even model a room full of tiles, thanks to Excel’s grid nature.

So today, we will learn how to create a room layout as shown above, using Excel.

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April 22, 2014

There are Easter Eggs in this Excel file!!!

Hello Friends…,

It is Easter time again. Every year, we at Chandoo.org celebrate Easter by hunting for eggs (not in the wild, just in the Excel workbooks). This year too I have hidden 30 Excel tips in a workbook. You have to solve 3 puzzles to find them. So what are you waiting for. Go ahead and hunt for them eggs.

Click here to download the Easter eggs file.

I am sure you will enjoy them 🙂

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April 18, 2014