Amp It Up

Acknowledgments

I would like to express my gratitude and appreciation for all the people and institutions that have had a profound effect on my life and trajectory, and my special thanks to everyone who helped and encouraged me to write this book.

To my wife, Brenda, who always encouraged me to not hold back and take chances and risks when it wasn't so obvious—notably during our return to the Netherlands 25 years ago, which was so formative for what was to come.

To all the employees, managers, and executives at Data Domain, ServiceNow, and Snowflake, who came together day in and day out to deliver the outstanding experiences we had at these companies over a period of two decades. Our work together was not just instructive and productive; we thoroughly enjoyed the ride every day, as it was happening.

To Denise Persson, chief marketing officer at Snowflake, who wanted this book written and orchestrated the effort so I could keep doing my day job as well.

To Will Weisser, who structured and made sense of my narratives and ideas, turning them into a real, publishable book.

To Mike Campbell at Wiley, who saw something in the idea of publishing these thoughts and observations.

To all my venture capital friends, who kept pestering me for years about writing another book.

It is hard to overstate the influence my alma mater, Erasmus University Rotterdam, had on me. The university environment in the broadest sense directly influenced my focus, outlook, and ambition as an adolescent. ...