Key points
- Frank Slootman says Snowflake grew from zero to $1bn in revenue faster than any company in history.
- In Amp It Up, he argues "okay is terrible" and that doing something great takes barely more mental energy than something passable.
- Slootman's three Cs: conviction, courage, clarity, where "if the answer is not hell yes, it's hell no."
Frank Slootman's leadership lessons from three successful companies
Frank Slootman's career is the argument for treating leadership as an act of amplification. Organizations default to slow, mediocre work because people get tired and check boxes, and most leaders let them. He says quality, tempo, intensity and urgency can be raised in almost every interaction, and a narrow mission keeps the effort focused. Snowflake, ServiceNow and Data Domain each demanded a different version of that work, but the operating discipline was the same.
Takeaways
- Quality is the first thing to amp. Slootman says doing something great takes little more mental energy than doing something passable. People settle for okay because they get tired and want to check a box. He calls okay terrible and wants great or fantastic, because that standard creates energy in an organization.
- Speed is a leadership choice. Organizations move slowly if leaders let them, because people become lethargic. Slootman says two weeks is far too long for a follow-up, two days is the maximum and he prefers the next morning. People can move faster and do better than they think.
- Good people crave impatient, high-standard teams. Slootman says an energized environment with high standards and impatience attracts good people. If he is presented with something and is bored, he is not energized and will not want to do it. Alignment with the mission and raised tempo create that pull.
- Product-market fit depends on company stage. ServiceNow and Snowflake had product-market fit that had to be massively expanded. At Data Domain, his first CEO role, the startup had 15 people. It had no revenue and no customers, so the task was finding fit. He remembers signing its first contract for $5,000.
- Choose an industry that is growing. Watching Uniroyal's artificial leather business decline taught him to step into an elevator going up, not down, and choose a growing industry. IBM rejected him 10 or 12 times, later a favor. He took broken products and failing businesses as a foreigner.
- Failure is the norm for entrepreneurs. Slootman tells entrepreneurs that struggle is common and success is rare. A 32-year-old fired from his CEO job emailed him, and Slootman said he was a baby and that at 32 he himself was nowhere. Failure is formative, not a signal you are no good.
Frank Slootman's leadership rules
- Mission precision. Military missions are precise, like taking a hill. Business missions are often flowery language, so you cannot tell whether you are achieving them. A precise, relatively narrow mission guards against mission creep and stops resources from being wasted.
- Conviction. Slootman says if the answer is not hell yes, it is hell no. This is the first C.