Amp it Up

In Amp it Up Author Frank Slootman expounds on the successes he'd enjoyed while running 3 companies as CEO: Data Domain, ServiceNow, and Snowflake. Each of them subsequently IPO'd and Data Domain was also subsequently acquired by Dell.

Slootman explains the tactics he used to lead these companies and their various exigent cultures through to success. In all cases when he took over he moved swiftly to replace leadership and poor performers on teams that were struggling. This not only raised the talent bar at the companies, but also raised the morale of those that remained because the caliber of employees was much higher.

Slootman also notes that in almost all cases he regretted moving too slowly more than moving too quickly. He soon learned that PIPs or the equivalent were useless and were often too late. By that point morale has typically been shattered and is often irreparable. It's often easier for everyone involved to cut bait and move on.

One interesting and controversial take that Slootman defends is his lack of customer success teams. While I understand his rationale for implementing these sorts of teams, it's important to realize the specific context of the companies in which he cut these teams. These companies, especially ServiceNow and Snowflake were largely land-and-expand situations where customers' consumption of the tool would increase exponentially over time. This obviates the need for a typical Customer Success Manager. Instead, if most of the meat is left on the bones of the existing customers, it makes sense for Account Executives to take the lead there. In the case of companies where most of the deals will come from large lands, it makes sense to have a CS team to handle the relationships of existing customers to allow the AEs to focus on hunting for new logos.

While Slootman's mantra of Amp it Up has definitely worked for him, it also seems important to ensure that the type of laissez faire attitudes at the companies he arrived at never seep into the cultures in the first place.