Frank Slootman

We adopted a sales methodology at ServiceNow that featured this, where we had joint value discussions, and we called it a value prompter, that we did with our customers so that when it was time to go up to the CIO or CEO for $5, $10, $20 million worth of funding, that they knew what the business case was, and it held true.

We adopted a sales methodology at ServiceNow that featured this, where we had joint value discussions, and we called it a value prompter, that we did with our customers so that when it was time to go up to the CIO or CEO for $5, $10, $20 million worth of funding, that they knew what the business case was, and it held true.

Because deals that slip at the end of the quarter are the nightmares, the bane of your existence, if you're the management team or board. And after a while, you lose faith in your sales leadership about their ability to guide the business. And so my job always was be able to call the number 90 to 180 days in advance, plus or minus 3%. So if you can do that reliably, you can keep your job as a CRO.

Because deals that slip at the end of the quarter are the nightmares, the bane of your existence, if you're the management team or board. And after a while, you lose faith in your sales leadership about their ability to guide the business. And so my job always was be able to call the number 90 to 180 days in advance, plus or minus 3%. So if you can do that reliably, you can keep your job as a CRO.

Because deals that slip at the end of the quarter are the nightmares, the bane of your existence, if you're the management team or board. And after a while, you lose faith in your sales leadership about their ability to guide the business. And so my job always was be able to call the number 90 to 180 days in advance, plus or minus 3%. So if you can do that reliably, you can keep your job as a CRO.

But more importantly, you know how to guide the business, who to hire, where to hire, how to allocate resources as an executive team on building out a company.

But more importantly, you know how to guide the business, who to hire, where to hire, how to allocate resources as an executive team on building out a company.

But more importantly, you know how to guide the business, who to hire, where to hire, how to allocate resources as an executive team on building out a company.

I don't. I just want you to be able to answer the question. Are many founders able to? No. Not until we start asking. Now, the best founders, the ones that I really get excited to work with, are the ones that have clarity of thinking about that process.

I don't. I just want you to be able to answer the question. Are many founders able to? No. Not until we start asking. Now, the best founders, the ones that I really get excited to work with, are the ones that have clarity of thinking about that process.

I don't. I just want you to be able to answer the question. Are many founders able to? No. Not until we start asking. Now, the best founders, the ones that I really get excited to work with, are the ones that have clarity of thinking about that process.

I think in any market that's worth going after, there's going to be some competition, especially in the enterprise space. The secret for me was it was easier for me to unlock dollars from existing known spend areas than it was for me to create a new spend category and create new budgets that didn't exist before.

I think in any market that's worth going after, there's going to be some competition, especially in the enterprise space. The secret for me was it was easier for me to unlock dollars from existing known spend areas than it was for me to create a new spend category and create new budgets that didn't exist before.

I think in any market that's worth going after, there's going to be some competition, especially in the enterprise space. The secret for me was it was easier for me to unlock dollars from existing known spend areas than it was for me to create a new spend category and create new budgets that didn't exist before.

So if I could show more efficiency or better mousetrap type things, I was going to win more deals faster in those situations. Now, the thing about competition is not all competitors are created equal, Harry. Imagine this is the backdrop. You're at ServiceNow in 2011. The transition to the cloud is happening. The market is starting to give signals that everybody wants to move to the cloud.

So if I could show more efficiency or better mousetrap type things, I was going to win more deals faster in those situations. Now, the thing about competition is not all competitors are created equal, Harry. Imagine this is the backdrop. You're at ServiceNow in 2011. The transition to the cloud is happening. The market is starting to give signals that everybody wants to move to the cloud.

So if I could show more efficiency or better mousetrap type things, I was going to win more deals faster in those situations. Now, the thing about competition is not all competitors are created equal, Harry. Imagine this is the backdrop. You're at ServiceNow in 2011. The transition to the cloud is happening. The market is starting to give signals that everybody wants to move to the cloud.

The two companies we were competing with were BMC and HP Software. Two companies that quite honestly were dead already in my book. All they were trying to do is take money out of the revenue stream and drop to the bottom line. They weren't focused on the customer anymore. So now all of a sudden we have this new idea, same kind of product, but just a lot fresher in a cloud.

The two companies we were competing with were BMC and HP Software. Two companies that quite honestly were dead already in my book. All they were trying to do is take money out of the revenue stream and drop to the bottom line. They weren't focused on the customer anymore. So now all of a sudden we have this new idea, same kind of product, but just a lot fresher in a cloud.

The two companies we were competing with were BMC and HP Software. Two companies that quite honestly were dead already in my book. All they were trying to do is take money out of the revenue stream and drop to the bottom line. They weren't focused on the customer anymore. So now all of a sudden we have this new idea, same kind of product, but just a lot fresher in a cloud.