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Amp It Up: Leading for Hypergrowth by Raising Expectations, Increasing Urgency, and Elevating Intensity
Wall Street Journal, USA Today, and Publishers Weekly Bestseller
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.
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.
208 pages, ebook
First published January 1, 2022
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 188 reviews
February 4, 2022
Great book - I totally loved the initial 75% (until Slootman revisits all his companies to cover the strategic approach - frankly, that felt a bit repetitive).
Anyway, it's a short and very "to-the-point" book by the current CEO of Snowflake (and ex-CEO of ServiceNow and DomainSomething - sorry I've forgotten the name). What's so good about it?
1. the author is very straightforward, he doesn't try to cover anything with sugar
2. this is not a book created by a product visionary or startup hippie-guru - he's a cold-blooded executive who doesn't bootstrap companies - he runs them, operates them and reaps as much of their potential, without any sentiment
3. Snowflake itself (its story and success) it's interesting enough to reach out for this book, but - this is NOT a book about Snowflake history and origins
What are the flaws (apart from the strategic chapter)? Well, there was some minor inconsistency when he started about underpromising and overdelivering and then moved to the growth chapter and praised setting up ambitious targets. There was either some logical conflict there or I was too wasted at that moment (I was listening to the audiobook while running) ;D
In general - highly recommended. Especially if you're interested in learning about various company cultures, and like to validate how do they correspond to the achieved successes.
Anyway, it's a short and very "to-the-point" book by the current CEO of Snowflake (and ex-CEO of ServiceNow and DomainSomething - sorry I've forgotten the name). What's so good about it?
1. the author is very straightforward, he doesn't try to cover anything with sugar
2. this is not a book created by a product visionary or startup hippie-guru - he's a cold-blooded executive who doesn't bootstrap companies - he runs them, operates them and reaps as much of their potential, without any sentiment
3. Snowflake itself (its story and success) it's interesting enough to reach out for this book, but - this is NOT a book about Snowflake history and origins
What are the flaws (apart from the strategic chapter)? Well, there was some minor inconsistency when he started about underpromising and overdelivering and then moved to the growth chapter and praised setting up ambitious targets. There was either some logical conflict there or I was too wasted at that moment (I was listening to the audiobook while running) ;D
In general - highly recommended. Especially if you're interested in learning about various company cultures, and like to validate how do they correspond to the achieved successes.
November 4, 2022
Интересная книга от СЕО Servicenow и Snowflake. Особенно любопытно что возглавляя одни из самых успешных IT команий он был не программистом и визионером из Долины, а голландцем экономистом. Осторожно стоит относится к его категоричности - все таки он успешный СЕО и не столь успешный VC
January 27, 2022
Good book about leading the company from the operator point of view. It is consistent - no repeated examples how "John" overcome its problems with detailed explanation on the "process".
It is short, it provides an opinionated view on how companies should be run for a growth based on author experience. Most valuable to people who want to build a business / operate it - even if not at the scale of author's experience.
Last few chapters are highlights from the book but also relevant for people who do not want to run the company - especially the one with career/growth approach. I Amp It up 100% based on my own career experience approach.
A book from operator for operators.
It is short, it provides an opinionated view on how companies should be run for a growth based on author experience. Most valuable to people who want to build a business / operate it - even if not at the scale of author's experience.
Last few chapters are highlights from the book but also relevant for people who do not want to run the company - especially the one with career/growth approach. I Amp It up 100% based on my own career experience approach.
A book from operator for operators.
Read
February 14, 2022Frank Slootman is a remarkable man. While the book has a few unsurprising ideas and notions, there were enough moments that were pleasantly surprising…like the stress on architecture vs sales, battling entitlement and managing boards. Always interesting to hear war stories from operators vs generic advice - the book scores on that front.
April 10, 2022
Slootman has an operational track record that makes his thoughts about running tech companies worth knowing. Written from the front lines of company building.
November 14, 2022
Above average for its type.
August 4, 2022
What a BOSS of a book. This 3-time super successful CEO shares very tactical ways to increase the pace of the company and raise the expectations. I'm a fan!
March 18, 2022
This book details business lessons from Snowflake's CEO, Frank Slootman. I picked it up after reading about it on Tom Tungusz' blog. The book is about transforming an organization for maximum growth and scale. It can be finished in a single sitting, especially when you pick and choose parts.
Some of my favorite takeaways:
Don't set up a Customer Success organization. Rather, have technical support own customer issues, sales the relationship, and product the long-term solution.
Set up incentives to enforce cultural values, such as firing people who violate the cultural values or publicly celebrating or promoting people who do. Without an enforcement mechanism, values don't mean anything.
Instruct your team to "Go direct. If you have a problem that cuts across departments, figure out who in those other departments can most directly help you address the issue, and reach out without hesitation."
Focus on execution, not strategy. "It's hard to beat a well‐executing organization, even if the strategy isn't perfect."
Focus on defining the problem before jumping to solutions. In business, we spend most of our time discussing solutions rather than diagnosing problems. We race to conclusions about what's wrong and what to do about it. Act more like doctors: slow down and critically examine situations and problems before settling down on an explanation, let alone a solution.
Some of my favorite takeaways:
Don't set up a Customer Success organization. Rather, have technical support own customer issues, sales the relationship, and product the long-term solution.
Set up incentives to enforce cultural values, such as firing people who violate the cultural values or publicly celebrating or promoting people who do. Without an enforcement mechanism, values don't mean anything.
Instruct your team to "Go direct. If you have a problem that cuts across departments, figure out who in those other departments can most directly help you address the issue, and reach out without hesitation."
Focus on execution, not strategy. "It's hard to beat a well‐executing organization, even if the strategy isn't perfect."
Focus on defining the problem before jumping to solutions. In business, we spend most of our time discussing solutions rather than diagnosing problems. We race to conclusions about what's wrong and what to do about it. Act more like doctors: slow down and critically examine situations and problems before settling down on an explanation, let alone a solution.
January 30, 2022
pretty good
Parts of it are trite, but the book is short and straightforward - work your ass off and make sure you surround yourself with the A-team.
I will say the last chapter on board management is quite interesting.
Parts of it are trite, but the book is short and straightforward - work your ass off and make sure you surround yourself with the A-team.
I will say the last chapter on board management is quite interesting.
Read
April 21, 2023
Never put your personal decisions to a vote.
I love that quote.
I’m not in the target audience for this book, but I was given a copy and figured I’d read it. Some bits of Slootman’s leadership advice I found interesting:
- Maximizing a company’s growth is so important to him that he doesn’t think trying to dominate the market is enough. He thinks you need to be planning how you’ll expand into a broader market long before you saturate the one you’re in.
- But he warns that you should do this by evolving your already-successful product into something relevant to a larger market, not by “investing heavily in a second major product or service”. He likens the latter to “trying to strike gold a second time”.
- “Worrying about your organization’s strategy before your team is good at executing is pointless.”
- Surprisingly for someone who promotes (to quote the book’s cover) “Increasing Urgency” and “Elevating Intensity”, he argues that businesses often “race to conclusions about what’s wrong and what to do about it” when spending more energy understanding the problem first would be better. “I am generally not a fan of just trying things, throwing ideas against the wall to see if they stick.”
One piece of advice I find a little odd is the emphasis on only having “drivers”, as opposed to “passengers”, as employees. The benefits of highly motivated, self-starter types of folks are obvious, but aren’t they also more prone to butting heads with each other or pulling in different directions? I would think that once an organization gets to a certain size there would be a benefit to having some people who are content to just go with the flow.
This book is riddled with battle metaphors; one chapter begins: “It’s no exaggeration to say that business is war.” (It’s literally an exaggeration, unless Slootman’s been organizing sorties to go murder rival companies’ employees…) He’s aware that “many [employees] will resist the metaphor of war” but he thinks it’s just reality: “At a minimum, noses will get bloodied. At worst, in a few months or years, some firms in our industry will still be in business and others won’t.”
I’d point out that the consequences of a business failing are rather less severe than the war metaphor implies. Employees may have to go find new jobs (maybe not, if it’s an acquisition) and adjust to life in a new company; execs may not get as generous of an exit as they were hoping for; nobody gets to get rich off stock options. Do those outcomes justify the levels of intense day-to-day anxiety and fear that are suggested by a comparison to war? (Founders, admittedly, have more at stake—the company’s failure is likely to be a serious emotional blow and in some cases could put them in dire financial straits personally.)
Slootman is focused on startups, and in that context the advice to be constantly vigilant about the competition makes sense. Interestingly, though, he traces his mentality back to his childhood:
My father was a veteran of two wars, and although he retired from active duty in the 1950s, there was a measure of discipline in our household. Walk straight, shoulders back, don’t slouch. … Don’t let them catch you doing nothing, or they would find a chore for you to do. ...
… My dad didn’t say I needed to get better grades, merely that I had to work up to my potential. … That may appear to be a liberating way to have your parents think about failing grades. In reality, you become haunted by never doing enough, that you are failing to do as much as you are actually capable of.
… I also cleaned factory toilets one summer in the plant where my dad worked. There were at least a thousand people working there, and I cycled through every bathroom facility between 9:00 and 5:00. I had a supervisor, who inspected my work, but he often got to bathrooms I had cleaned first thing in the morning many hours later, after hundreds of people had used them. When he criticized my work, I complained about it to my dad. His answer was stark: “Well, those are the kinds of people you will be working for if you don’t get better grades.” I was 16.
This mentality of living up to your potential has kept up with me ever since. … This is a hard model: you never feel you are doing enough, and a sense of malcontent hovers over you. You need like-minded people around you for this to work.
It’s tragic that we live in a world where it’s sometimes necessary—although much more necessary for some people than for the more privileged among us—to carry such anxiety about what will happen to us if we don’t push ourselves to our limits. I realize it’s important to acknowledge harsh realities so we can be adequately prepared to deal with them, but I also worry that promoting this mentality of life as constant battle contributes to making the world be harsher than it has to be.
(crosspost)
August 6, 2022
Marc Andreseen once said "The good big companies are overstaffed by 2x. The bad big companies are overstaffed by 4x or more." Frank Slootman seems to share his view - his book is about what to do so that by betting on the right people and creating an environment where they give their maximum every day, a company will be able to grow very quickly.
The author knows what he is talking about, because in 1.5 the value of Snowflake, of which he is CEO, has increased.... 10 times. The growth started from a level of billions of dollars.
His approach is based on this:
"in a company we want to achieve above-average goals, so we expect above-average efforts. We don't want to improve the company gradually. We want to improve it above average quickly. The work may not be comfortable for you, but you'll get above-average progression in your career and up the social ladder."
Some people might flatten this tactic to management simply by telling people "work better," "XYZ could look better." Some companies will probably decide to implement this tactic, but will underestimate one thing. In exchange for above-average efforts and contributions to the company's above-average growth, people expect above-average benefits - not incremental ones. Only a small fraction of people will be willing to work above-average hard in exchange for at most mid-market benefits - and wait several years for the prospect of above-average benefits.
The book will be useful to you if:
- you manage a company/people,
- your company is not so much growing as simply functioning,
- there is marasm in your company,
- the company needs serious and difficult changes...,
- the more of the above hyphens you reacted to with "it's like that at my place". - the more you will find it useful.
This book is a mix: "Hard stuff about the hard stuff," "High Output Management" and "Extreme Ownership." The author writes a lot about culture, and passes on a lot of management tips. You have to give him credit for writing about culture in an interesting way - I enjoyed it even though I avoid reading about culture. I 100% agree with him that:
right people + right culture = machine to do great things.
The author knows what he is talking about, because in 1.5 the value of Snowflake, of which he is CEO, has increased.... 10 times. The growth started from a level of billions of dollars.
His approach is based on this:
"in a company we want to achieve above-average goals, so we expect above-average efforts. We don't want to improve the company gradually. We want to improve it above average quickly. The work may not be comfortable for you, but you'll get above-average progression in your career and up the social ladder."
Some people might flatten this tactic to management simply by telling people "work better," "XYZ could look better." Some companies will probably decide to implement this tactic, but will underestimate one thing. In exchange for above-average efforts and contributions to the company's above-average growth, people expect above-average benefits - not incremental ones. Only a small fraction of people will be willing to work above-average hard in exchange for at most mid-market benefits - and wait several years for the prospect of above-average benefits.
The book will be useful to you if:
- you manage a company/people,
- your company is not so much growing as simply functioning,
- there is marasm in your company,
- the company needs serious and difficult changes...,
- the more of the above hyphens you reacted to with "it's like that at my place". - the more you will find it useful.
This book is a mix: "Hard stuff about the hard stuff," "High Output Management" and "Extreme Ownership." The author writes a lot about culture, and passes on a lot of management tips. You have to give him credit for writing about culture in an interesting way - I enjoyed it even though I avoid reading about culture. I 100% agree with him that:
right people + right culture = machine to do great things.
October 19, 2023
Straightforward - work your ass off and surround yourself with an A-team. It is short; it provides an opinionated view on how companies should be run for growth.
Takeaways:
- Navigating the corporate world often feels like an intricate maze. But what if the path to excellence wasn't about reinventing the wheel? What if you could supercharge what already exists instead?
- By elevating intensity, execution, and ambition, companies can bridge the gap between their current state of mediocrity and the success they desire.
- Here’s your takeaway: forget the pricey consultants. As you finesse your execution, you'll find that you will become the best strategist for your venture.
Fav analogy:
- Imagine you’ve just bought a high-performance sports car. It’s sleek, shiny, and on paper, it promises blistering speeds. But there’s a catch: you never learned to drive stick. No matter how advanced or top-of-the-line your car is, without the skills to execute its potential, it’s just a flashy object in your driveway.
- Consider this: companies pour resources into honing sales techniques, but when was the last time you heard about training in execution? Yet, execution, like sales, is a teachable craft, one that’s refined with experience and guidance from seasoned mentors.
Fav quotes:
- “You will have numerous jobs, titles, and pay grades over your career, not just between companies but within companies. At each step, be thoughtful and purposeful rather than opportunistic. Sometimes it might be best to take a step backward in title or pay to set up a better path forward. Your peer group will try to influence your career decisions, but be your own person. Steer your own ship. Never put your personal decisions to a vote.”
- “If you don't know how to execute, every strategy will fail, even the most promising ones. As one of my former bosses observed: “No strategy is better than its execution.”
- “Priority” should ideally only be used as a singular word. The moment you have many priorities, you actually have none.”
Takeaways:
- Navigating the corporate world often feels like an intricate maze. But what if the path to excellence wasn't about reinventing the wheel? What if you could supercharge what already exists instead?
- By elevating intensity, execution, and ambition, companies can bridge the gap between their current state of mediocrity and the success they desire.
- Here’s your takeaway: forget the pricey consultants. As you finesse your execution, you'll find that you will become the best strategist for your venture.
Fav analogy:
- Imagine you’ve just bought a high-performance sports car. It’s sleek, shiny, and on paper, it promises blistering speeds. But there’s a catch: you never learned to drive stick. No matter how advanced or top-of-the-line your car is, without the skills to execute its potential, it’s just a flashy object in your driveway.
- Consider this: companies pour resources into honing sales techniques, but when was the last time you heard about training in execution? Yet, execution, like sales, is a teachable craft, one that’s refined with experience and guidance from seasoned mentors.
Fav quotes:
- “You will have numerous jobs, titles, and pay grades over your career, not just between companies but within companies. At each step, be thoughtful and purposeful rather than opportunistic. Sometimes it might be best to take a step backward in title or pay to set up a better path forward. Your peer group will try to influence your career decisions, but be your own person. Steer your own ship. Never put your personal decisions to a vote.”
- “If you don't know how to execute, every strategy will fail, even the most promising ones. As one of my former bosses observed: “No strategy is better than its execution.”
- “Priority” should ideally only be used as a singular word. The moment you have many priorities, you actually have none.”
December 15, 2023
When I started reading this book, my initial thought was that I would read it for a few minutes and put it on the abandoned list. I initially thought that if someone goes this extra mile, they will burn out, and this guy seems un-truthful. But he did admit that he was burnt out ("I didn't know it at the time, but by 2017 I was burnt out").
Another thought was, why would he continuously push someone, and why would people be willing so much? Then I read lines that said, "Even modest equity allocations can lead to life‐changing gains for employees, which they can apply to buying homes, educating their children, taking care of their loved ones, and securing their retirements", and everything made sense. Towards the end, the book made much more sense than where it started.
Overall, this book is for people leading at a much higher level than most people I even report to. Hearing the story from the CEO was very interesting.
Another thought was, why would he continuously push someone, and why would people be willing so much? Then I read lines that said, "Even modest equity allocations can lead to life‐changing gains for employees, which they can apply to buying homes, educating their children, taking care of their loved ones, and securing their retirements", and everything made sense. Towards the end, the book made much more sense than where it started.
Overall, this book is for people leading at a much higher level than most people I even report to. Hearing the story from the CEO was very interesting.
July 15, 2022
Slootman is the real deal, amazing track record, flawless business acumen. Amp It Up provides terrific insight into precisely how he succeeded.
My favorite quote:
“Our people were counting on me [as CEO] because our company’s fate could have a profound effect on their futures. I would sometimes say in all hands meetings that I was personally committed to help each of our employees reach a different station in life as a function of the company’s fortunes. In exchange I was asking for the best they had to offer. That was the deal: we’d do the best we can for each other.”
My only point of critique: Slootman is 100% dedicated to his work, his world as outlined in the book has no room for personal health or dedication to family, hobbies, friends, etc. Maybe that’s the point? Either succeed before or after experiencing life, or make success your goal in experiencing life.
My favorite quote:
“Our people were counting on me [as CEO] because our company’s fate could have a profound effect on their futures. I would sometimes say in all hands meetings that I was personally committed to help each of our employees reach a different station in life as a function of the company’s fortunes. In exchange I was asking for the best they had to offer. That was the deal: we’d do the best we can for each other.”
My only point of critique: Slootman is 100% dedicated to his work, his world as outlined in the book has no room for personal health or dedication to family, hobbies, friends, etc. Maybe that’s the point? Either succeed before or after experiencing life, or make success your goal in experiencing life.
October 19, 2023
"Amp It Up: Leading for Hypergrowth by Raising Expectations, Increasing Urgency, and Elevating Intensity" by Frank Slootman is a comprehensive and insightful guide that delves into the nuances of maximizing an organization's potential. Slootman introduces the concept of "amping it up," which involves a strategic approach to amplify an organization's energy, drive, and cohesiveness to achieve unprecedented success in the corporate landscape.
The book emphasizes the significance of execution, highlighting its pivotal role in steering an organization towards success. While strategy is essential, the book underlines that it must be firmly rooted in the realities of the market, and execution is what ultimately propels a company forward. It emphasizes the need for fostering a strong team, nurturing a robust company culture, and promoting collaboration across different departments to ensure smooth sailing in the competitive business environment.
Moreover, the book emphasizes the importance of conducting thorough analyses and maintaining genuine customer focus. It encourages leaders to approach business challenges with a fresh perspective, avoiding shortcuts and delving deep into the roots of issues to find effective solutions. Additionally, it advocates for maintaining a balanced pace and carefully seizing opportunities to ensure sustainable growth and success.
Furthermore, the book sheds light on the significance of dreaming audaciously and seizing opportunities to push the boundaries of what an organization can achieve. It emphasizes the importance of strategic decision-making and the ability to adapt to changing market dynamics. Slootman emphasizes the importance of crafting leadership as a continual journey of growth, highlighting the significance of resilience, commitment, and self-awareness in becoming an effective and inspiring leader.
Overall, "Amp It Up" provides valuable insights and practical strategies that can help any organization transcend mediocrity and achieve unparalleled success in today's dynamic and competitive business landscape. The book serves as a comprehensive roadmap for leaders and executives looking to elevate their organizations to new heights of success and influence.
The book emphasizes the significance of execution, highlighting its pivotal role in steering an organization towards success. While strategy is essential, the book underlines that it must be firmly rooted in the realities of the market, and execution is what ultimately propels a company forward. It emphasizes the need for fostering a strong team, nurturing a robust company culture, and promoting collaboration across different departments to ensure smooth sailing in the competitive business environment.
Moreover, the book emphasizes the importance of conducting thorough analyses and maintaining genuine customer focus. It encourages leaders to approach business challenges with a fresh perspective, avoiding shortcuts and delving deep into the roots of issues to find effective solutions. Additionally, it advocates for maintaining a balanced pace and carefully seizing opportunities to ensure sustainable growth and success.
Furthermore, the book sheds light on the significance of dreaming audaciously and seizing opportunities to push the boundaries of what an organization can achieve. It emphasizes the importance of strategic decision-making and the ability to adapt to changing market dynamics. Slootman emphasizes the importance of crafting leadership as a continual journey of growth, highlighting the significance of resilience, commitment, and self-awareness in becoming an effective and inspiring leader.
Overall, "Amp It Up" provides valuable insights and practical strategies that can help any organization transcend mediocrity and achieve unparalleled success in today's dynamic and competitive business landscape. The book serves as a comprehensive roadmap for leaders and executives looking to elevate their organizations to new heights of success and influence.
December 10, 2023
A good down-to-earth guide for how to do anything in your day-to-day business life.
Frank is quite different from other inspirational leaders, and reminded me more of Ben Horowitz with his “Hard thing about hard things”. He stresses hard work, execution and relentlessness over bright ideas, and advices to constantly push.
I could recommend this book to anyone who questions if they’re good enough to succeed despite lacking certain qualities, as it helps to build confidence and provides lots of practical recommendations.
Frank is quite different from other inspirational leaders, and reminded me more of Ben Horowitz with his “Hard thing about hard things”. He stresses hard work, execution and relentlessness over bright ideas, and advices to constantly push.
I could recommend this book to anyone who questions if they’re good enough to succeed despite lacking certain qualities, as it helps to build confidence and provides lots of practical recommendations.
March 4, 2022
One of the better books of this genre. Execution is better than any strategy.
August 4, 2022
Classic case of a blog post extended and puffed up into a book. Loved the key content but it is too long and written poorly.
January 2, 2023
First read of 2023 is a business book. Kind of read it for work, don’t judge me!!! Pretty good if not a little broad in tone and ‘recommendations'.
January 16, 2024
Read it for work. Didn’t like his egotistical tone but learned a few interesting things about hiring, performance culture, and leadership qualities.
March 7, 2022
Short, relatively simple, and to the point. Enough useful viewpoints in there for a top rating!
May 20, 2022
I’ve always been at least decent at strategy, but Slootman focuses on execution and the tactical ways managers can drive high performance cultures. I’d give this book 10 stars if I could.
May 22, 2023
This book made me want to run through a wall (in a good way).
I have long been an admirer of Frank Slootman. He has a knack for communicating a clear, motivating message in a simple matter of fact way. It’s energizing and makes you want to drive forward whatever project you’re working on. To me it echoes similar writing on how to create high performance cultures. Consistent, clear and high expectations. It does not mean it will be fun to work there, but, for the right people, it will be hard for them to want to work anywhere else.
There’s a documentary about the re-opening of 11 Madison Park (fancy restaurant) I watched on Netflix a while back. You got a sense of two things, there were high exceptions, and there was pride in those high expectations. For everyone from the chefs, to the sommeliers, to the hosts, to the servers, you could see the focus, preparation, and energy they brought to the task at hand. It created a self-accountability and amazing results. The sentiments of the book are really similar. It’s about outcompeting competition, creating unique and special experiences, and creating pride in shared success.
It’s hard to fight inertia in an organization. If the organization moves slow, high performers will either be dulled to this median or will leave, if it’s high, a low performer will rise to that or leave. I think the latter is much more appealing.
One problem with this book is he talks a ton about “execution”, but then really doesn’t give a ton of advice on it. Maybe the sentiment is the advice, but still, could probably have used some more tactical insights.
I have long been an admirer of Frank Slootman. He has a knack for communicating a clear, motivating message in a simple matter of fact way. It’s energizing and makes you want to drive forward whatever project you’re working on. To me it echoes similar writing on how to create high performance cultures. Consistent, clear and high expectations. It does not mean it will be fun to work there, but, for the right people, it will be hard for them to want to work anywhere else.
There’s a documentary about the re-opening of 11 Madison Park (fancy restaurant) I watched on Netflix a while back. You got a sense of two things, there were high exceptions, and there was pride in those high expectations. For everyone from the chefs, to the sommeliers, to the hosts, to the servers, you could see the focus, preparation, and energy they brought to the task at hand. It created a self-accountability and amazing results. The sentiments of the book are really similar. It’s about outcompeting competition, creating unique and special experiences, and creating pride in shared success.
It’s hard to fight inertia in an organization. If the organization moves slow, high performers will either be dulled to this median or will leave, if it’s high, a low performer will rise to that or leave. I think the latter is much more appealing.
One problem with this book is he talks a ton about “execution”, but then really doesn’t give a ton of advice on it. Maybe the sentiment is the advice, but still, could probably have used some more tactical insights.
March 20, 2022
One of the better business books going around - short and to the point so you can power through it in a weekend and take the learnings
June 12, 2022
The book has lots of high level ideas but is very hard for me to digest. Maybe I will visit it again when I have more context of how companies works.
August 13, 2022
Absolutely worth a read to get a contemporary view on tech executives. But god please do not mimic his management style. He has spent 30 years defining his Ricky Bobby “if you ain’t first yer last” style of management and to try and mimic all of the lessons at once will lead to a pressure cooker, low recognition and low gratitude culture without the absolute slam dunk product market fits his companies have had. Fantastic lessons on execution from Slootman but good god what a potential disaster in the hands of the wrong founder.
April 15, 2022
Required reading for work. Like many biz books, it had about 15-20 pages of content that are then surrounded by 200 pages of personal stories/examples to make it long enough to turn it into a book. Nothing earth shattering here. Probably the most salient point in the book was around the value of execution over strategy. Not that strategy isn’t important but that a strong strategy will never overcome poor execution.
May 11, 2023
Before reading this book, I had never believed in the saying that the effect books have on you depends on your place in life. And it came at the perfect time, OMG!! Absolutely amazing!
I'm not sure how to put it into words, but this book landed on the top 5 of my list of nonfiction that "changed my life," and I heartily recommend it to anyone who wants to dive headfirst into leading the life of their dreams.
I'm not sure how to put it into words, but this book landed on the top 5 of my list of nonfiction that "changed my life," and I heartily recommend it to anyone who wants to dive headfirst into leading the life of their dreams.
June 16, 2023
Frank is a legend in tech. Some of the examples are his personal examples. They need to reader to break it down and apply themselves. Definitely a decent book full of perspectives. Not hall of fame worthy though
December 16, 2022
Really enjoyed this book! Very practical book about execution and leadership written in an easy to follow manner with interesting stories to back the points up.Frank Slootman is the real deal! I was energized after reading this as the name of the book foreshadowed.
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