No Priors Ep. 23 | With Snowflake's CEO Frank Slootman

Our guest today needs no introduction. Frank Slootman is the legendary three-time CEO of Data Domain, ServiceNow, and Snowflake, and one of the most looked-up-to leaders in technology for his relentless execution. We're excited to talk to him about what's on the horizon for Snowflake, and how he looks at the AI opportunity. Frank, good to see you. Thanks for being here.

Absolutely. Good to see you, Sarah.

Let's start with just a little bit of personal background. You, uh, have had an amazing journey. You grew up in Holland. You're the first person in your family to go to college. What were you like as a kid and, uh, in college, and, uh, how did you end up, um, in, in product management and computing in the US?

Yeah, that's kind of a c- you know, big wide-ranging, uh, question. I sometimes have to, you know, go back and, uh, figure out wha- what was the method to the madness because, you know, sometimes your life looks like a random walk, you know? In other words, it's just a series of events that kind of, you know, go from one to the other. But, uh, you know, I, I was always a relatively focused, disciplined kid, if, if, if, if I were to describe myself, in almost any, uh, realm, whether it was school or sports or any of those things. It's just the nature of the beast, um, you know, I would say. And, you know, definitely, uh, you know, a bit of a chip on my shoulder, uh, which I generally like in people, by the way. (laughs) You need to have a reason to get up in the morning, and, and, and have something to prove to the world or whoever. Those are all useful things. You know, obviously, I ended up in the US because I think the US is a- is, is obviously a much better... maybe not obvious, but it's obvious to me that it's a much better canvas to, uh, for, for, for people like me. And obviously, we see it all around us, right? People that come from all over the world here because they have, you know, far greater opportunity than they would have where they came from. And, um, you know, it certainly is true for me. I mean, there's no doubt that I would've done in where I came from, uh, what I've done here. So, uh, I'm very grateful, you know, uh, having had that opportunity. I always tell younger people, you know, it's, it's very important where you decide to be. Don't just go where your friends are. (laughs)

To the point of, of choosing the right place, be it geography, yes, and thank you America, my parents were also immigrants, you talk about being on the right elevator, and some of the companies you worked at, you know, weren't the hottest companies at the time when you joined. Like, tell us about those choices.