Michael discovers competitive Excel

1:14

story, and

1:14

Michael's began with a conversation with

1:16

a work colleague who introduced him to

1:19

the world of Excel battles. The first

1:22

time I tried doing any competitive Excel

1:23

was 2017. I entered ModelOff, which was

1:26

the old financial modeling competition.

1:28

Thought, you know what, I'll enter. I

1:29

definitely won't get anywhere. And then

1:30

I came third, and I was like, what?

1:34

How has that happened? Three, two, one,

1:38

and go! Founded in 2020, the Financial

1:42

Modeling World Cup was a driving force

1:44

behind global spreadsheet competitions.

1:47

There was no audience. There was no

1:49

media attention. If you won, you won a

1:51

bit of money, but there's nothing to

1:52

write home about. It was nothing like

1:53

what we have now.

1:56

After a rebrand, the championship final

1:59

is now held in Las Vegas and is even

2:01

shown on ESPN.

2:03

Are we ready for the team finals?

2:07

Last year, like, the size of the crowd

2:09

compared to 2023, we almost sort of were

2:12

filling up the arena. Seeing the growth

2:14

of it and just how many sort of people

2:16

are getting excited and involved in it

2:18

is great to see.

2:20

Let's explain how this crazy contest

2:23

actually works.

2:24

Players face elimination in every match,

2:27

and each round