Frank Slootman

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.

And they were getting nervous. Like, was I the right guy or not? And it was not apparent to me that even I thought I was the right guy, but I was going to go convince them I was. Well, lucky for me, instead of doing $9 million that year, we did $15 million. And then we did $45 million.

And they were getting nervous. Like, was I the right guy or not? And it was not apparent to me that even I thought I was the right guy, but I was going to go convince them I was. Well, lucky for me, instead of doing $9 million that year, we did $15 million. And then we did $45 million.

And they were getting nervous. Like, was I the right guy or not? And it was not apparent to me that even I thought I was the right guy, but I was going to go convince them I was. Well, lucky for me, instead of doing $9 million that year, we did $15 million. And then we did $45 million.

So by the time they figured out I may not be the right guy, we'd already blown through that issue and they kept me. What Frank made the decision is, I'm going to ride this horse. He's got the energy, the intelligence, the willpower, the fear of failure that we need to drive this company forward.

So by the time they figured out I may not be the right guy, we'd already blown through that issue and they kept me. What Frank made the decision is, I'm going to ride this horse. He's got the energy, the intelligence, the willpower, the fear of failure that we need to drive this company forward.

So by the time they figured out I may not be the right guy, we'd already blown through that issue and they kept me. What Frank made the decision is, I'm going to ride this horse. He's got the energy, the intelligence, the willpower, the fear of failure that we need to drive this company forward.

And whatever he doesn't know, we'll get mentoring for, we'll get coaching for, but the good outweighs the bad by a long shot. And so for me, it was that opportunity. So when I look at the young people in that role today, I'm rooting for them. I want them to be successful.

And whatever he doesn't know, we'll get mentoring for, we'll get coaching for, but the good outweighs the bad by a long shot. And so for me, it was that opportunity. So when I look at the young people in that role today, I'm rooting for them. I want them to be successful.

And whatever he doesn't know, we'll get mentoring for, we'll get coaching for, but the good outweighs the bad by a long shot. And so for me, it was that opportunity. So when I look at the young people in that role today, I'm rooting for them. I want them to be successful.

So every board I join and I see the CRO or the VP of marketing, I want to take them under my wing and mentor them so they can achieve their potential and not get swapped out. So my whole goal is get these people to their potential, the CEO to the potential, the company to the potential, and the individuals on the journey to their potential.

So every board I join and I see the CRO or the VP of marketing, I want to take them under my wing and mentor them so they can achieve their potential and not get swapped out. So my whole goal is get these people to their potential, the CEO to the potential, the company to the potential, and the individuals on the journey to their potential.

So every board I join and I see the CRO or the VP of marketing, I want to take them under my wing and mentor them so they can achieve their potential and not get swapped out. So my whole goal is get these people to their potential, the CEO to the potential, the company to the potential, and the individuals on the journey to their potential.

I disagree with you completely. I think there are certain founders that also don't want to work that hard. I think there are people that are misguided on that. I think there are people that know they'll never be a founder. Guys like me, I would never, ever be a founder. But boy, My job is to put, I use analogies a lot. So I viewed founders and engineer team, they were the artists.

I disagree with you completely. I think there are certain founders that also don't want to work that hard. I think there are people that are misguided on that. I think there are people that know they'll never be a founder. Guys like me, I would never, ever be a founder. But boy, My job is to put, I use analogies a lot. So I viewed founders and engineer team, they were the artists.

I disagree with you completely. I think there are certain founders that also don't want to work that hard. I think there are people that are misguided on that. I think there are people that know they'll never be a founder. Guys like me, I would never, ever be a founder. But boy, My job is to put, I use analogies a lot. So I viewed founders and engineer team, they were the artists.

They were building this incredible product. It's like artwork. And the analogy I use is, remember when you were young and you'd bring your artwork home from your kindergarten class and you'd go, mom, look at this. And if on a good day, she'd put it up on your refrigerator, how'd that make you feel? My job is to put the artwork of these engineers on every refrigerator in the world. That's my job.

They were building this incredible product. It's like artwork. And the analogy I use is, remember when you were young and you'd bring your artwork home from your kindergarten class and you'd go, mom, look at this. And if on a good day, she'd put it up on your refrigerator, how'd that make you feel? My job is to put the artwork of these engineers on every refrigerator in the world. That's my job.

They were building this incredible product. It's like artwork. And the analogy I use is, remember when you were young and you'd bring your artwork home from your kindergarten class and you'd go, mom, look at this. And if on a good day, she'd put it up on your refrigerator, how'd that make you feel? My job is to put the artwork of these engineers on every refrigerator in the world. That's my job.

I need to go find people that view that Not as a founder, but the partner to that founder that see that burden, that opportunity, the privilege of doing that is something that they want to do. And I think there are people out there that want to work that hard.