Crucible Moments Returns for S2: The ServiceNow Story ft. CEO Frank Slootman & Founder Fred Luddy
On Training Data, we learn from innovators pushing forward the frontier of AI’s capabilities. Today we’re bringing you something different. It’s the story of a company currently implementing AI at scale in the enterprise, and how it was built from a bootstrapped idea in the pre-AI era to a 150 billion dollar market cap giant.
It’s the Season 2 premiere of Sequoia’s other podcast, Crucible Moments, where we hear from the founders and leaders of some legendary companies about the crossroads and inflection points that shaped their journeys. In this episode, you’ll hear from Fred Luddy and Frank Slootman about building and scaling ServiceNow. Listen to Crucible Moments wherever you get your podcasts or go to:
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/40bWCUSan0boCn0GZJNpPn
Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/crucible-moments/id1705282398
Hosted by: Roelof Botha, Sequoia Capital
Transcript: https://www.sequoiacap.com/podcast/crucible-moments-servicenow/
#175 CEO Snowflake, Frank Slootman: Amped
Guest: Frank Slootman, CEO and Chairman of Snowflake and author of Amp It Up
Snowflake CEO Frank Slootman doesn’t recall a time in his childhood where new achievements were celebrated — because, according to his father, putting everything into your work and “leaving it all on the field” was the only choice. “The problem with it,” Frank says, is that “it becomes a ‘never enough’ dynamic, because when is it enough?” To this day, he comes home on Friday night and asks himself, “Did it mater that I was there? ... If I’m just a passenger on the ship, that’s my nightmare.”
In this episode, Frank and Joubin discuss acting with urgency, Shlomo Kramer, negative role models, Elon Musk, Teddy Roosevelt’s “Man in the Arena” speech, aptitudes and weaknesses, ServiceNow, and the life spark of business.
In this episode, we cover:
Being tough on yourself (00:59)
Sailing and inner peace (03:00)
Confronting your demons (09:07)
Scaling Data Domain (11:15)
Judging talent (15:20)
That gnawing feeling (18:16)
Daring greatly and rejecting pride (21:04)
“Did it matter that I was there?” (25:02)
How you play the game (27:59)
The best version of yourself (29:59)
Learning from the best (34:06)
Sales as inspiration (37:52)
Retirement and Tom Brady (39:09)
The fog of war (41:16)
Snowflake vs. Data Domain (44:31)
Respect for luck (48:48)
Who Snowflake is hiring (50:42)
Links:
Connect with FrankLinkedIn
Buy Frank’s book, Amp It Up: Leading for Hypergrowth by Raising Expectations, Increasing Urgency, and Elevating Intensity
Connect with JoubinTwitter
LinkedIn
Email: grit@kleinerperkins.com
Learn more about Kleiner Perkins
This episode was edited by Eric Johnson from LightningPod.fm
Bringing AI to the Data Cloud, with Snowflake's CEO Frank Slootman
Frank Slootman, CEO of Snowflake Computing, joins Sarah Guo and Elad Gil this week on No Priors. Before scaling Snowflake to its blockbuster IPO and beyond, Frank was also the CEO from early to scale for landmark enterprise companies ServiceNow and Data Domain. Frank grew up in the Netherlands and is also the author of three books: Amp It Up, Rise of the Data Cloud, and Tape Sucks.
In this episode, our hosts talk with Frank about the opportunity for generative AI in the enterprise, why Snowflake isn't really a data warehousing company, their acquisitions of Neeva and Streamlit, apps within Snowflake, and how AI relates to traditional analytics and BI. He also talks about his personal journey, why it's always a good time to do performance management, and why most leaders struggle to raise the bar for performance.
** No Priors is taking a summer break! The podcast will be back with new episodes in three weeks. Join us on July 20th for a conversation with Devi Parikh, Research Director in Generative AI at Meta. **
No Priors is now on YouTube! Subscribe to the channel on YouTube and like this episode.
Show Links:
Forbes: How CEO-For-Hire Frank Slootman Turned Snowflake Into Software’s Biggest-Ever IPO
Amp It Up: Leading for Hypergrowth by Raising Expectations, Increasing Urgency, and Elevating Intensity
Rise of the Data Cloud (Audible Audio Edition): Frank Slootman, Steve Hamm, Zach Hoffman, Snowflake: Books
TAPE SUCKS: Inside Data Domain, A Silicon Valley Growth Story eBook : Slootman, Frank: Kindle Store
Frank Slootman’s LinkedIn
Sign up for new podcasts every week. Email feedback to show@no-priors.com
Follow us on Twitter: @NoPriorsPod | @Saranormous | @EladGil | @SnowflakeDB
Show Notes:
[00:06] - Frank’s Insights on Career Success as a three-time CEO
[12:42] - The message of his book Amp It Up
[25:01] - Future of Natural Language and Data
[36:29] - Data Management and Industry Transformation Future
[45:13] - Managing Resources in Changing Economic Environment
[50:09] - Amping Up Energy and Intensity Amid Economic Headwinds
Snowflake CEO Frank Slootman on moving the needle, win-first culture & managing burnout | E1689
Frank Slootman joins Jason for another incredible conversation that ranges from the management shift in Silicon Valley (1:08) to how to know if you’re moving the dial in your organization (9:59). Then, they discuss Frank’s hiring philosophy and how to create a winning relationship between an executive and their direct reports (27:05). Finally, they discuss managing burnout and creating security for yourself (46:33).
(0:00) Molly kicks off the show
(1:08) Layoffs + the management shift in Silicon Valley
(8:29) MasterClass - Get 15% off an annual membership at https://masterclass.com/startups
(9:59) How to know if you are moving the dial and moving at a fast pace
(18:36) Contra - Get $500 off your first hire at https://contra.com/twist
(20:09) Dealing with recessions and countering the media frenzy
(27:05) Frank’s definition of culture and hiring for enthusiasm
(32:32) The relationship between an executive and their employees
(35:49) House of Macadamias - Get 20% off at https://houseofmacadamias.com/twist by using code TWIST20
(37:19) Assessing performance, hiring the right people, and being thoughtful
(41:56) Starting with a great product
(46:33) Managing burnout and creating security
(56:49) Consumption-based pricing + acquisitions
(1:00:30) Frank’s thoughts on AI
FOLLOW Jason: https://linktr.ee/calacanis
FOLLOW Molly: https://twitter.com/mollywood
Frank Slootman - Narrow the Focus, Increase the Quality - [Invest Like the Best, EP. 265]
My guest today is Frank Slootman, Chairman and CEO of cloud platform Snowflake. Frank has become one of the most revered CEOs in business. Over the past twenty years, he has three times taken over emerging enterprise software businesses – first Data Domain, then ServiceNow, and most recently Snowflake - and led them across the chasm into large, billion-dollar businesses. Please enjoy this great discussion with Frank Slootman.
For the full show notes, transcript, and links to mentioned content, check out the episode page here.
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This episode is brought to you by Tegus. Tegus is the new digital hub for market intelligence. The Tegus platform empowers Investors and Corporate Development teams to invest smarter by pairing best in class technology with the highest quality user-generated content and data. Find out why a majority of the top firms are using Tegus on a daily basis. Head to tegus.co/patrick for your free trial.
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This episode is brought to you by Lemon.io. The team at Lemon.io has built a network of Eastern European developers ready to pair with fast-growing startups. We have faced challenges hiring engineering talent for various projects - and Lemon.io offered developers for one-off projects, developers for full start to finish product development, or developers that could be add-ons to the existing team. Check out lemon.io/patrick to learn more.
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Invest Like the Best is a property of Colossus, LLC. For more episodes of Invest Like the Best, visit joincolossus.com/episodes.
Past guests include Tobi Lutke, Kevin Systrom, Mike Krieger, John Collison, Kat Cole, Marc Andreessen, Matthew Ball, Bill Gurley, Anu Hariharan, Ben Thompson, and many more.
Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here.
Follow us on Twitter: @patrick_oshag | @JoinColossus
Show Notes
[00:02:33] - [First question] - How he evaluates the team of a company he’s working with
[00:04:48] - The pace of decisions made around changing team members
[00:06:10] - Understanding the potential quality of outside leaders being brought into the company
[00:08:13] - How he characterizes great and constructive confrontation
[00:09:53] - What he’s found to be most effective in convincing senior talent to join a team
[00:11:36] - Ways he personally generates energy to sustain himself in this pace of business
[00:14:17] - How he fosters and nurtures healthy communication pathways
[00:15:36] - Narrowing the focus when evaluating a new product
[00:17:58] - Is it possible for a focus to be too narrow?
[00:19:31] - An example of a dazzling customer that he’s worked with
[00:21:04] - Working backwards from a problem and building something that solves it
[00:23:03] - Building trust between a company and its customers over time
[00:25:37] - Overview of the base layer ingredients of trust
[00:28:12] - Sequential versus parallel processing and how they affect building trust
[00:30:22] - Lessons in successfully translating between engineers and business people
[00:32:58] - Crossing the chasm and effective sales organizations
[00:35:17] - Working compensation into getting more out of an organization
[00:38:45] - How much a sales organization needs to work backwards to serve their product
[00:41:40] - Great questions for board members to ask their executive team
[00:46:07] - Where the analogy of ‘business as war’ falls down and defining the highlander concept
[00:48:01] - What he feels he could still hone in his skillset
[00:49:16] - The kindest thing anyone has ever done for him
Snowflake CEO Frank Slootman: victory through taking ownership, increasing velocity & cultivating talent | E1362
Frank is the Chairman & CEO of Snowflake, a data warehousing company he joined and rapidly accelerated in 2019. Frank led Snowflake to the largest software IPO in history (his third massive IPO as CEO). Previously, he grew Data Domain from $0 in revenue in 2003 to a ~$776M IPO in 2007 and then grew ServiceNow to a $22B market cap. In this episode you will learn the principles Frank uses to achieve outlier outcomes.
Attracting and cultivating performing talent. Getting the wrong people off the bus fast is critical. Frank prefers "drivers" to "passengers."
Without risk-taking, the business will stagnate. Left to their own devices things slow to a "glacial pace." CEOs should push to find the true limits of the organization.
Intellectual honesty is required. Copy-pasting strategy from previous roles is unacceptable. You need to develop deep conviction, while maintaining humility to course correct when you are wrong.
Culture and reputation are defined by your actions. CEOs must maintain an incredibly high bar.
Show Notes:
(00:00) Jason intros the interview
(01:44) Why Frank decided to write the book (order here: https://ampitupbook.com/)
(05:30) Why "all great products start with great architecture"
(09:49) Intellectual honesty is integral to diagnosing problems
(11:38) Marketerhire - Get $500 off your first hire at https://MarketerHire.com/twist
(13:09) Taking over and increasing the talent density on a team
(15:54) Why most organizations avoid confronting and correcting mistakes
(23:23) Fellow - Sign up and get $1000 in credits at https://fellow.app/twist
(24:50) Managing intensity
(25:39) How hiring top talent leads to victory (the definition of victory is breaking the enemy's will to fight)
(28:19) Relationships and reputations are defined in the hard times by taking ownership
(31:47) Taking risks is essential to success in business
(32:53) Keep high standards, people pitching need to be bursting with excitement
(35:42) FanDuel Sportsbook - Sign up with promo code TWIST to place a special $1000 risk-free bet at https://fanduel.com
(37:32) Drivers vs. passengers, getting the right people on the bus
(40:38) Organizations should be governed on influence, people need to go direct
(43:30) Why Frank is still optimistic about America and entrepreneurship
(48:39) Things cannot be all about you as CEO, the organization needs to be empowered to be accountable
(51:22) The difference between people that start things and the people that run things
(54:17) Intellectual honesty is the bedrock of being a great operator
(57:37) Increasing velocity by narrowing scope
(1:00:55) Being mission-driven by "Starting with Why"
(1:02:34) Most people don't lean in enough when managing the growth model of the business
(1:06:57) Setting big goals
(1:07:53) Ubiquitous win-win deals are not possible
Buy Amp It Up: Leading for Hypergrowth by Raising Expectations, Increasing Urgency, and Elevating Intensity: https://ampitupbook.com/
FOLLOW Frank: https://www.linkedin.com/in/frankslootman/
FOLLOW Jason: https://linktr.ee/calacanis
FOLLOW Molly: https://twitter.com/mollywood
20VC: Snowflake CEO Frank Slootman on How To Narrow The Focus and Increase The Quality, Why Every CEO Should Feel Anxious, Why Performance Reviews are BS & How to Unleash the Best People in Your Business
Frank Slootman currently serves as Chairman and CEO at Snowflake and has over 25 years of experience as an entrepreneur and executive in the enterprise software industry. Prior to Snowflake, Frank served as CEO and President of ServiceNow taking the company from around $100M in revenue, through an IPO, to $1.4B. Before ServiceNow, Frank served as President of the Backup Recovery Systems Division at EMC following the acquisition of Data Domain Corporation/Data Domain, Inc., where he served as the CEO and President, leading the company through an IPO to its acquisition by EMC for $2.4B. You must check out Frank's book, Amp It Up. It can already be pre-ordered here.
In Today's Episode with Frank Slootman You Will Learn:
1.) Narrow the Focus, Increase the Quality:
How does Frank determine what to focus on? What does the prioritisation process look like?
What one question does Frank ask his team to ensure they are focused?
What are the best answers? What are the worst? When should you change focus?
2.) When There is Doubt, There is No Doubt:
What does Frank mean by this? What does it apply to? When is there nuance?
How long does Frank give people who are underperforming? How does he communicate their underperformance to them directly but productively?
What is the right way to fire someone? Why are performance reviews BS?
3.) Make The Good People Great:
How does Frank get the very best out of his teams? How does he make the good great?
How does he use compensation and equity structures to supercharge his teams?
How does Frank set stretch targets that are both ambitious but also attainable?
4.) The Art of Leadership and Board Management:
Why does Frank believe every CEO should be anxious?
How has Frank changed as a leader over time?
What is the biggest mistake founders make when it comes to board management?
How can founders actively manage and control their board?
Item's Mentioned In Today's Episode with Frank Slootman
Frank's Favourite Book: Courage Is Calling: Fortune Favours the Brave, The Speed of Trust: The One Thing that Changes Everything
