Snowflake CEO Frank Slootman joined Julie Hyman and Brian Sozzi of Yahoo Finance Live to discuss his leadership strategy, an insight into the next generation of leaders in corporate America, and the state of the cloud industry.
Video Transcript
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BRIAN SOZZI: Snowflake CEO Frank Slootman came to the US from the Netherlands in 1984 with $ 100 or more in his pocket. Some 38 years later, Slootman was recognized to host large software deals, sold the data domain to AMC in 2009, publicized ServiceNow in 2012, and brought Snowflake to public markets in late 2020. Slootman now shares his blueprint for success in his new book “Amp It Up, Leading for Hyper Growth by Raising Expectations, Increasing Urgency, and Elevating Intensity.” Frank Slotman is here with us today.
Frank, if ever there was a title tailor made for me, it was that one. So I enjoyed the book. And thank you for coming here. You see, CEOs have a lot on their plate now looking for workers, trying to keep the culture intact during a pandemic. What message do you have for them as they try to navigate this environment?
FRANK SLOOTMAN: Yes, well, the reason we wrote the book is, you know, as you taught, we’ve had three successful companies in the last 20 years. And we have this flood of incoming requests for, what do you guys do? What is the secret sauce? You know, what is a playbook?
So this is really our attempt to create more perspective from our perspective. You know, that’s, OK, you see, this is how we think. This is how we– you know, how we do things. And I hope you like it. Try it for size and see if it fits, and we’ll get out of there.
But the message is for CEOs. And that’s the title of the book– “Amp It Up.” There is incredible room. There’s a lot of slack in the organization to, you know, boost strength, boost intensity, boost speed, raise your standards in everything.
And it’s kind of the X factor emission in an organization where everything is getting faster, and faster, and better. And we seem to lose the feeling of, you know, swimming in glue and moving like honey. So there’s– it’s right underneath– it’s in front of you, but you have to intentionally do it, you know?
BRIAN SOZZI: Frank, I have a lot of companies covered here. Many. And my sense has been over the past year or so of the pandemic, a lot of them are just settling. They are settling in OK. It’s OK to have a hot body in the chair as long as that hot body is there. But should someone– should a manager in this environment use this opportunity to just remove themselves from the lazy, and just start rebuilding companies from the ground floor to get out on the other side of the aisle? pandemic?
FRANK SLOOTMAN: Well, you should always be doing that, right? I mean, raising standards, you know, is driving the intensity and speed of high standards all the time. This is not now kind of an issue. This is always kind of an issue, right? I mean, leaders will set the pace, right? Leaders will set standards.
And it’s really important if you want to attract and retain talent that you have an environment that’s highly energized, you know, not political, apolitical, all sorts of things. Otherwise, you won’t be able to hang out with people. People don’t want to be in companies where, you know, they’re surrounded by, you know, normality, and slowness, and politics, and poverty. So it’s in your interest to do it all the time every time.
JULIE HYMAN: Hey, Frank, Julie is here. I’ll take the other side of that. How do you– how does humanity fit into this picture? In other words, yes, we’ve gone through a year where perhaps, in Brian Sozzi’s point, companies are living on some level. But we have also gone through some years where people are tired of the external factors that are there. So how do you balance that with demanding maximum performance from people?
FRANK SLOOTMAN: Yes, people get tired when you work in companies where everything is hard, and difficult, and political, and slow, and uninspiring, you know, I would say, because we just don’t aim for anything great. . That’s tiring, and tiring, and looking for another pasture. So you keep the energy, you keep the speed, and people will have a better time at work.
Now is it for everyone? Maybe not, right? But, you know, kind of culture, right? It classifies people in terms of people who like it and people like it, well, it’s not really my cup of tea. I mean, we don’t really declare it as a one size fits all.
But when you’re in a high growth environment, yes, it’s a very energizing, high-pressure task. No one can get away with that. We’re a lot simplified, you know, at Snowflake. You know, we guarantee– because, you know, people have twice as many meetings now than ever before because of Zoom. So we were fully aware and dialed into the fact that fatigue was coming.
And we always put extra days into the holidays between Christmas and New Year. You know, the whole company around the world got a whole week off. So we try to do these breaks to allow people to sort out the recharge and heal a little bit. So, I mean, your points are very valid. But at the same time, high -growth companies, I mean, it’s a pressure cooker.
BRIAN SOZZI: Frank, you talk in the book about how, as a teenager, you cleaned toilets, and you rose through the ranks where you sit today. You know, as you look at the next generation of leaders in corporate America, do you think they still have that kind of drive and the rush?
FRANK SLOOTMAN: I think they really do. Just a few weeks ago, I was at a retreat for founders and CEOs hosted by one of our investors. And I saw 70, 80 founders, CEO people who were almost half my age, which was another revelation.
But I was there for two days in a lot of conversations with these men and women. And it just left me completely re-energized that these people are the same, you know? No difference. I mean, we labeled them in terms of this generation and that generation. They are no different, you know, from the generations before them. As far as I can tell, they both care about things. They are both preoccupied. So I kind of moved away from that thought, we’ll be fine.
BRIAN SOZZI: Frank, tapping into your– let’s just say that your veteran status in the industry, we’ve seen a real selloff in stocks of this software over interest rate concerns. And someone who has seen many cycles in software, do you see anything in your business that would justify these kinds of selloffs we see in software?
FRANK SLOOTMAN: No, not at all. You know, as you know, I mean, the short -term stock market is a voting machine. And, obviously, that creates opportunities for people to enter at a reasonable price. You know, in the long run, the stock market always gets it right, so that’s what you’re worried about. You know, short -term inconvenience doesn’t help. I always tell our employees, you see, the only stock price that matters is the money you’re selling, which is all fad, you know.
BRIAN SOZZI: Well taken the point. Really enjoyed the book. Snowflake CEO Frank Slootman, we’ll see you soon. Have a good rest during the week.