Frank Slootman: Doing Less, Doing Better

**Frank Slootman** (0:00)
I rarely use the word proud or pride because that signals a profound happiness with the status quo. And I don't have that, because I'm always at odds with the status quo. That's sort of the natural malcontent posture that we have. Yeah, we're here, but we could be there.
So what gives? How do we get there, right? So we're always envisioning a future that is different than the one that we're currently experiencing.

**Shane Parrish** (0:42)
Welcome to The Knowledge Project, a podcast about mastering the best of what other people have already figured out so you can apply their insights to your life.
I'm your host, Shane Parrish.
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Today, my guest is Frank Slootman, one of the most incredible operators that Silicon Valley has ever seen. Frank is the chairman and CEO of Snowflake. Before that, he was the CEO of ServiceNow, taking the organization from 100 million in revenue to 1.4 billion. Prior to that, he was the CEO of Data Domain, leading to an acquisition by EMC for over 2 billion. I've been trying to get Frank on the show for nearly a year, but luckily, I don't give up very easily. I wanted to talk to Frank because his no-nonsense, results-based approach really resonates with me. In this episode, we talk about the first 90 days taking over a company. And while there's no blueprint and each situation is different, there are common methods of thinking and principles that work and you can apply. We also discuss one of my favorite ideas, doing less and doing better. The difference between a good sales organization and a great one, how to get the best out of people, positioning yourself for future success, artificial intelligence and so much more.
It's time to listen and learn.
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**Frank Slootman** (4:26)
Yeah, I tend to take a little bit of exception to the term playbook, like it's a cookie cutter thing, and it's not, it's also not a football game, or there's very precise rules on how to play the game.
It's very situational, very much first principles. I mean, you come into a new situation, and you just start processing on what you're seeing. But that said, yes, there are things that you zero in on each and every time, and that is, are there right people on the bus? Are there people that need to get off the bus? We're inspecting the functions. Are they working? Are they not working? Do people think they work? What can we see very, very quickly? And then you start prioritizing, okay, some things are obvious, they need to be dealt with ASAP.