Frank Slootman

Speed is definitely one of the most important things. Speed of decisioning, speed of getting people answers to questions, speed of deciding what's important and then focusing on what's important, really, really important. I think people try to make a perfect decision. By the time you make a perfect decision, it's actually going to be the wrong decision because the issue's already changed.

Speed is definitely one of the most important things. Speed of decisioning, speed of getting people answers to questions, speed of deciding what's important and then focusing on what's important, really, really important. I think people try to make a perfect decision. By the time you make a perfect decision, it's actually going to be the wrong decision because the issue's already changed.

Speed is definitely one of the most important things. Speed of decisioning, speed of getting people answers to questions, speed of deciding what's important and then focusing on what's important, really, really important. I think people try to make a perfect decision. By the time you make a perfect decision, it's actually going to be the wrong decision because the issue's already changed.

Yeah, I think one of the pieces of feedback I got at one point is get at least two points of data before making a decision. I sometimes was such in a rush. And I worked for a guy, Frank Slootman, who is famously saying, hey, you need to compress cycles every day. Let's make a decision. If it's the wrong decision, we'll fix it.

Yeah, I think one of the pieces of feedback I got at one point is get at least two points of data before making a decision. I sometimes was such in a rush. And I worked for a guy, Frank Slootman, who is famously saying, hey, you need to compress cycles every day. Let's make a decision. If it's the wrong decision, we'll fix it.

Yeah, I think one of the pieces of feedback I got at one point is get at least two points of data before making a decision. I sometimes was such in a rush. And I worked for a guy, Frank Slootman, who is famously saying, hey, you need to compress cycles every day. Let's make a decision. If it's the wrong decision, we'll fix it.

I think we made a hiring decision at one point. We got convinced that we need to go outside of the company for a senior go-to-market leader because we hadn't seen some of the things that we wanted to see. We didn't know how to do certain things. Brought a gentleman in. I want to protect the innocent or not, but...

I think we made a hiring decision at one point. We got convinced that we need to go outside of the company for a senior go-to-market leader because we hadn't seen some of the things that we wanted to see. We didn't know how to do certain things. Brought a gentleman in. I want to protect the innocent or not, but...

I think we made a hiring decision at one point. We got convinced that we need to go outside of the company for a senior go-to-market leader because we hadn't seen some of the things that we wanted to see. We didn't know how to do certain things. Brought a gentleman in. I want to protect the innocent or not, but...

Yeah, but I won't say the person. But we brought a person in, and he was just the wrong cultural fit. And we were so used to being 105% to 120% of our number, and when we called a number, we were over it all the time. And the company he came from, they were used to missing their numbers, and no one ever got fired for missing their numbers.

Yeah, but I won't say the person. But we brought a person in, and he was just the wrong cultural fit. And we were so used to being 105% to 120% of our number, and when we called a number, we were over it all the time. And the company he came from, they were used to missing their numbers, and no one ever got fired for missing their numbers.

Yeah, but I won't say the person. But we brought a person in, and he was just the wrong cultural fit. And we were so used to being 105% to 120% of our number, and when we called a number, we were over it all the time. And the company he came from, they were used to missing their numbers, and no one ever got fired for missing their numbers.

With us, if you didn't make your number, you were not long for the job. If you're missing your number at the end of the quarter, tell him you're going to do something, and then miss, that's unacceptable. And so I have to be able to, in my role when I was president and CRO at ServiceNow, is be able to look at the CFO and the CEO and say, I've got this.

With us, if you didn't make your number, you were not long for the job. If you're missing your number at the end of the quarter, tell him you're going to do something, and then miss, that's unacceptable. And so I have to be able to, in my role when I was president and CRO at ServiceNow, is be able to look at the CFO and the CEO and say, I've got this.

With us, if you didn't make your number, you were not long for the job. If you're missing your number at the end of the quarter, tell him you're going to do something, and then miss, that's unacceptable. And so I have to be able to, in my role when I was president and CRO at ServiceNow, is be able to look at the CFO and the CEO and say, I've got this.

We can plan the number for the next six to 12 months and hit it, right? That's what I have to be able to do. And so if I had somebody on my team that was not able to execute there, that was a problem.

We can plan the number for the next six to 12 months and hit it, right? That's what I have to be able to do. And so if I had somebody on my team that was not able to execute there, that was a problem.

We can plan the number for the next six to 12 months and hit it, right? That's what I have to be able to do. And so if I had somebody on my team that was not able to execute there, that was a problem.

It's a special place in my heart on this issue. On my journey at Data Domain, there was a moment in time where Frank could have brought in somebody else to run sales. Our first year was $3 million goal. I did 2.97. I missed, right? 2.97 against three. That to me is as big a miss as if I would have only done one and a half. That was a miss. The next year we were going to do $9 million.

It's a special place in my heart on this issue. On my journey at Data Domain, there was a moment in time where Frank could have brought in somebody else to run sales. Our first year was $3 million goal. I did 2.97. I missed, right? 2.97 against three. That to me is as big a miss as if I would have only done one and a half. That was a miss. The next year we were going to do $9 million.