book

Amp It Up

by Frank Slootman

January 2022

Intermediate to advanced

208 pages

4h 4m

English

Wiley

Audiobook available

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Amp It UpRaise Your StandardsAlign Your People and CultureSharpen Your FocusPick Up the PaceTransform Your StrategyThe Epic Battle
A Childhood Grounded in DisciplineLanding in the USABurroughs Corporation and ComshareCompuwareBorlandData DomainTransitions: EMC and GreylockServiceNowA Very Brief RetirementSnowflakeBecoming an Amped‐Up Leader
What Does It Mean to Be Mission Driven?A Great Mission Is Big (but Not Impossible!)A Great Mission Is ClearA Great Mission Is Not About MoneyHow to Nurture the MissionLiving the Mission Every Day

The War Against Your CompetitorsThe War Against IncrementalismTying These Battles Together: Using Audacious Goals to Outpace Your CompetitionLead Your People into These Battles
Great Execution Is Rarer than Great StrategyTreat Execution like a Teachable CompetencyGetting Strategy RightStrategy Problems versus Execution ProblemsYou Don't Need to Hire Consultants or Strategists
Drivers WantedMaking the DistinctionGetting the Wrong People off the BusPulling the TriggerFinding the Right PeopleMaintain an Active Recruiting Posture
Culture Matters More than You ThinkEstablishing Cultural Values at Data DomainCulture at ServiceNowTurning Around the Culture at SnowflakeYour Responsibility to Protect Your Culture
The Dangers of SilosA Better Option: Going DirectBuilding TrustAre You a Trustworthy Leader?The Benefits of a High‐Trust Environment
The Problem of Racing to SolutionsHow to Focus on AnalysisAnalysis Is Especially Important for People Decisions
Do You Need a Customer Success Department?Customer Success Is Everyone's Business
Sales Growth Is About TimingData Domain: Don't Rush Sales Before You Cross the ChasmSnowflake: Making Sense of Your Gunslingers and FlatlinersServiceNow: Seizing the Right Moment to Ramp UpConclusion
Why Focus on Growth?Two Problems: Uncertainty and FearBuild a Growth Model That Stretches Your GoalsLeave the Competition BehindContinuing to Grow After You're Already BigBringing Down the Costs of Growth
The Paradox of Scaling UpThe Embryonic CompanyThe Formative CompanyThe Scaled‐Up CompanyHang On to Your Early‐Stage Dynamism
Strategic Lessons from Data DomainTakeaway 1: Attack weakness, not strength.Takeaway 2: Either create a cost advantage or neutralize someone else's.Takeaway 3: It's much easier to attack an existing market than create a new one.Takeaway 4: Early adopters buy differently than later adopters.Takeaway 5: Stay close to home in the early going.Takeaway 6: Build the whole product or solve the whole problem as fast as you can.Takeaway 7: Bet on the correct enabling technologies.Takeaway 8: Architecture is everything.Takeaway 9: Prepare to transform your strategy sooner than you expect.The End of the Data Domain Story
My Introduction to ServiceNowHow to Spot a Potential Super‐GrowerImproving Execution of the Original StrategyExpanding Our OpportunitiesGoing Public and Going beyond ITSurviving the Competition
Plan the Next Shift Before You Think You Need To“The Data Warehouse Built for the Cloud”Enter the Data CloudGoing Even Broader: Data Marketplaces and ProgrammabilityPlaying Your Strategic Cards
You Are a ProductEducation Matters Some …… But Experience Matters MoreAptitude Matters MostPersonality Tips the ScalesDevelop Your Communication SkillsHold On to Your Long‐Term GoalsDo Not Unduly Focus on Title and PayEmbrace the StruggleMake Sure You Never Fear a Reference CheckCareer Doldrums and Career Killers
The Challenge of Succeeding a FounderTread Lightly as You Make ChangesIn the Long Run, Success Trumps PopularityThe Delicate Art of Board DynamicsWhat Not to Do: SubservienceWhat to Do Instead: Lead Your Board

Overview

The secret to leading growth is your mindset

Snowflake CEO Frank Slootman is one of the tech world's most accomplished executives in enterprise growth, having led Snowflake to the largest software IPO ever after leading ServiceNow and Data Domain to exponential growth and the public market before that. In Amp It Up: Leading for Hypergrowth by Raising Expectations, Increasing Urgency, and Elevating Intensity, he shares his leadership approach for the first time.

Amp It Up delivers an authoritative look at what it takes to transform an organization for maximum growth and scale. Slootman shows that most leaders have significant room to improve their organization's performance without making expensive changes to their talent, structure, or fundamental business model—and they don’t need to bring in an army of consultants to do it. What they do need is to align people around what matters and execute with urgency and intensity every day.

Leading for unprecedented growth means declaring war on mediocrity, breaking the status quo, and making conflicted choices daily, all with a relentless focus on the mission. Amp It Up provides the first principles to guide that change, and the tactical advice for organizing a company around them.

Perfect for executives, entrepreneurs, founders, managers, and leaders of all kinds, Amp It Up is a must-read resource for anyone who seeks to unleash the growth potential of a company and scale it to heights they never thought possible.