Frank Slootman, Chairman and CEO of Snowflake, discusses career planning and company selection, arguing that organizational momentum matters far more than individual skill.
“So it's, you really gotta choose carefully because your individual merit cannot overcome, you know, the circumstances of your choices.”
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More from Frank Slootman
Opinion
Slootman: MBA graduates display misplaced certainty and make knee-jerk decisions
“A lot of the MBA types, I mean, they're sort of schooled, you know, to kind of have these knee jerk, you know, very quick, I know what's going on here. I've seen this before. I read about it. I've seen it before. And then boom, boom, boom, you know, and that, …”
Frank SlootmanJan 25, 2022▶ 10:13Snowflake CEO Frank Slootman on How To Narrow The Focus and Increase The Quality | Full Interview · 20VC with Harry Stebbings
Opinion
Slootman calls written performance reviews a legal trap
“Written performance reviews end up being used against you know, it's like a legal trap.”
Frank SlootmanJan 25, 2022▶ 18:02Snowflake CEO Frank Slootman on How To Narrow The Focus and Increase The Quality | Full Interview · 20VC with Harry Stebbings
Opinion
Slootman: Constantly praising employees for routine execution is complete nonsense
“It's just the absurdity of, you know, of celebrating things that you're supposed to do. I'm constantly reinforcing what a great job people are doing. I think that's just complete nonsense.”
Frank SlootmanJan 25, 2022▶ 26:28Snowflake CEO Frank Slootman on How To Narrow The Focus and Increase The Quality | Full Interview · 20VC with Harry Stebbings
Insight
Slootman prefers hiring maladjusted people with something to prove
“I'm looking for mal-adjusted people. People will have a chip on their shoulder. People will have something to prove. Versus people that, you know, they are so well balanced, they have to think about a reason to get out of bed.”
Frank SlootmanJan 25, 2022▶ 39:21Snowflake CEO Frank Slootman on How To Narrow The Focus and Increase The Quality | Full Interview · 20VC with Harry Stebbings
AssertionSupported
Slootman says he eliminated MBOs at every company he ran
“I've killed off MBOs in every company I've ever been in.”
Frank SlootmanJan 25, 2022▶ 17:38Snowflake CEO Frank Slootman on How To Narrow The Focus and Increase The Quality | Full Interview · 20VC with Harry Stebbings
Insight
Slootman: Performance calibration should focus on overcompensating top performers
“The real reason that we're doing this is not so much that I want to take money away from non performers or marginal performance. It's really that I want to overcompensate, you know, the top. People in the company, I don't want them to feel like, I'm getting th…”
Frank SlootmanJan 25, 2022▶ 19:18Snowflake CEO Frank Slootman on How To Narrow The Focus and Increase The Quality | Full Interview · 20VC with Harry Stebbings
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