Amp It Up

· #management, #book-notes · 3 min read

Great book by the star CEO of Snowflake.

Amp It Up by Frank Slootman was highly recommended on Twitter X and Hacker News.

Frank Slootman was the CEO of a couple of high-profile companies that he took to IPO: Snowflake, Service Now, and Data Domain. In the book, he shares his management philosophy and supporting stories.

The main pillars are:

  • Raise your standards
  • Align your people and culture
  • Sharpen your focus
  • Pick up the pace
  • Transform your strategy

⠀ Common motifs that run through the stories are:

  • Execution is king, it trumps strategy (without good execution you don’t even know if it’s a strategy that’s failing you).
  • Focus on a few things at a time (serial execution).
  • Hire and retain doers.

The advice on parting with people seems a bit cutthroat, but OTOH we know how demotivating it is to work in a team where some people are not contributing. Frank said for the Forbs article:

“When I was a younger man, I was more tolerant; I always thought I could coach people to a place where they would be great. And 99 times out of 100, you’re wrong on that, which is the reason I [now] pull triggers much faster. I still don’t think I’ve ever taken anybody out of a job too soon. It’s [always] been too late.

Src: The Outsider: How CEO-For-Hire Frank Slootman Turned Snowflake Into Software’s Biggest-Ever IPO

The themes in the book correspond nicely to some other books I’ve enjoyed:

Especially, the thoughts on serial execution, singular priority, and picking up the pace. Too often, the companies or teams fall into the trap of doing everything. It must be a great experience to work for a CEO who understands the value of focus, in an environment that encourages and rewards fast, impactful delivery.

Career advice

  • Be picky about the company you join. Some companies can be “elevators” while others will keep you stuck.

For managers

  • Increase the sense of ownership in people.
  • Drivers vs passagers: you want to hire “drivers”.
  • Wrong people are terrible for the team, hiring the most important thing. And don’t wait too long to part ways if things are not working with an employee.

For leaders

  • Don’t hesitate and wait situations out for too long. Pull the plug. Don’t waste everybody’s time.
  • Declare war on your competitors (win-win is great, but in business it’s commonly a zero-sum game).
    • Don’t shield people from the real stakes (your company will go bankrupt and they will lose their jobs).
    • Attacking markets with unpopular incumbents is easier than attacking the ones with strong incumbents.
  • How fast the company can grow? What’s blocking an asymptotic growth?