We Want Analytics to Fit Naturally into the Way Teams Work, Not as Something Extra They Have to Learn or Maintain: Jordan Tigani, CEO of MotherDuck

MotherDuck is a serverless analytics company that helps teams explore and query their data quickly and without hassle. Jordan Tigani, co-founder and CEO, saw DuckDB in action and immediately thought, “Someone should really build a serverless version.” Having helped transform Google’s Dremel into BigQuery, Jordan knew the potential of taking a lightweight, fast database and pairing it with a cloud-first approach. What started as a fun side project quickly evolved into a full-fledged company.

The name MotherDuck was suggested by Lloyd Tabb, the founder of Looker, who also nudged Jordan to take the project seriously. Lloyd made two crucial introductions: one to Tomasz Tunguz, who would lead the seed investment, and another to Hannes Mühleisen and Mark Raasveldt, the creators of DuckDB. Their collaboration was seamless. Jordan brought experience in building cloud database products, and Hannes and Mark brought a database engineered for speed, reliability, and analytics at scale. Together, they set out to create a platform that combined the best of both worlds: simplicity and power.

The People Behind MotherDuck

As the vision for MotherDuck took shape, Jordan focused on assembling a team capable of executing on ambitious goals. The first to join was Tino Tereshko, another veteran of Google BigQuery. Soon, the team grew to eleven engineers and leaders from a mix of companies. Some had worked together before, others were drawn by curiosity and passion for DuckDB, but all were aligned in wanting a new challenge.

The team’s first meeting took place in Seattle in June 2022. They huddled together to define what they wanted to build and how. Under the code name “EasyQuery,” the team set a singular focus: make it easier for anyone to understand and query their data. This early collaboration laid the foundation for the company’s culture, which values clear communication, shared responsibility, and an obsession with solving real problems for users.

Jordan recalls, “We were a small group, but everyone brought their own energy and ideas. There were debates, laughs, and plenty of late-night coding sessions. It was exciting to see people from different backgrounds come together and just click.” This combination of talent and chemistry helped the team move quickly from concept to a working platform within a year.

Leveraging DuckDB to Simplify Analytics

MotherDuck runs on DuckDB, an open-source database built for analytical workloads. Jordan describes DuckDB as “lightweight, fast, and perfect for building a cloud-native, serverless platform.” MotherDuck layers serverless capabilities on top of DuckDB, allowing teams to run queries without worrying about infrastructure or scaling clusters.

“What we’re really doing is letting teams focus on insights, not servers,” Jordan says. “They shouldn’t have to manage clusters or worry about configuration. That’s our job.” The platform supports everything from small datasets to moderately large ones, allowing teams to iterate quickly and make decisions based on actionable information.

This focus on simplicity doesn’t mean sacrificing power. MotherDuck is designed to handle analytical workloads efficiently, with performance and reliability built into its architecture. Jordan emphasizes that users can trust the platform to deliver accurate results, fast. “The goal is to make querying feel natural,” he explains. “You shouldn’t need to be a database expert to get meaningful answers from your data.”

Working with the Right Data

MotherDuck encourages a philosophy Jordan calls “small data.” Instead of overwhelming teams with enormous, unstructured datasets, the platform emphasizes the most relevant information. By concentrating on meaningful data, organizations can move faster, reduce cost, and make decisions with confidence

“Many companies think they need to scale up endlessly, but in reality, focusing on the data that matters is more valuable,” Jordan notes. “It’s not about size. It’s about clarity, speed, and accuracy.” By designing the platform around this principle, MotherDuck helps teams avoid unnecessary complexity and empowers them to iterate quickly. Queries run faster, insights are more immediate, and teams can act on information without getting bogged down in infrastructure or bloated data pipelines.

Jordan and his team engage directly with early users to understand pain points and refine the platform. Their goal is to create a product that feels intuitive and integrates seamlessly into existing workflows. Jordan adds, “We want analytics to fit naturally into the way teams work, not as something extra they have to learn or maintain.”

How the Team Works

MotherDuck’s culture is rooted in collaboration, curiosity, and shared ownership. The team values engineers who are not just skilled, but also willing to experiment and contribute ideas. Every decision, from product design to deployment practices, reflects the company’s commitment to clarity, reliability, and usability

Jordan emphasizes that MotherDuck is as much about people as it is about technology. “We’re a small, tight-knit group, but we have experience building products at scale. Everyone has a voice, and that creates a sense of ownership and pride in the work we do.” This culture allows the company to move quickly, make iterative improvements, and maintain a focus on what really matters to users.

The company has already achieved significant milestones in a short time, but Jordan sees this as just the beginning. The platform will continue to evolve, and the team is constantly exploring ways to improve performance, accessibility, and user experience. He concludes, “We want to make analytics approachable for everyone. It’s about removing friction and letting people focus on insights that actually drive decisions.”

Jordan Tigani, Founder & CEO, MotherDuck

The future of data isn't about scaling endlessly; it's about scaling down to what's meaningful.