How to find a Killer Idea worth $40B | Co-founder of Snowflake, Benoit Dageville
Summary
TLDRBenoit Dageville, co-founder of Snowflake, shares the journey of creating the company with co-founder Thierry Cruanes. Initially not aiming to start a business, they focused on building a revolutionary cloud-based data and AI access product. Emphasizing simplicity and trust, Dageville highlights the importance of dreaming big, fostering open communication, and trusting team members from day one. He discusses the challenges and strategies in developing Snowflake, ultimately leading to its success as a transformative solution in the data industry.
Takeaways
- 😀 Simplicity is the hallmark of an amazing product; it should be easy to use without extensive knowledge.
- 🌟 The founders of Snowflake, Benville and Cherry, initially aimed to create a revolutionary product rather than a startup.
- 🛠️ Snowflake's inception was rooted in the idea of leveraging cloud technology to simplify data access, which was traditionally complex.
- 💡 The concept of 'fast in the cloud is free' was a pivotal realization, allowing for speed without increased cost to customers.
- 🚀 Snowflake's growth was organic, with a focus on trust and empowering employees to speak up and contribute to the product's development.
- 🔧 The importance of hiring trustworthy individuals is emphasized, as trust is foundational to a company's growth and success.
- 🤔 Trust-building in the US starts at 100% and can be reduced if necessary, contrasting with the European approach of starting from zero and building up.
- 🗣️ Encouraging open discussion and disagreement is seen as a key driver of innovation and creativity within a company.
- 🎯 Focusing on a few key features and personas is more effective than trying to appeal to everyone, which can dilute the product's impact.
- 🌐 Benville's background in database systems and his drive to create led him from France to the US, where he found the opportunity to innovate.
- 🔗 The transcript also mentions Paragon, an embedded integration platform that helps B2B SaaS companies streamline their integration processes.
Q & A
Who are the co-founders of Snowflake mentioned in the transcript?
-The co-founders of Snowflake mentioned in the transcript are Benville and Cherry Cranes.
What was the initial goal of the co-founders when they started Snowflake?
-The initial goal of the co-founders was to build an amazing product, not necessarily to start a company or a startup.
What does the speaker emphasize as the number one quality of an amazing product?
-The speaker emphasizes simplicity as the number one quality of an amazing product.
How does the speaker describe the importance of conflict and disagreement in building amazing technology?
-The speaker describes conflict and disagreement as essential for building amazing technology, as they lead to discussions that result in consensus and better products.
What is the significance of the saying 'go direct' at Snowflake?
-The saying 'go direct' at Snowflake signifies the importance of being able to speak up and express disagreements in a secure environment, which encourages creativity.
What is the speaker's advice on hiring when it comes to growing a company?
-The speaker advises to hire someone that you trust from day one, as trust is critical in allowing employees to do their best work without micromanagement.
What is the difference in trust-building between the US and Europe as described by the speaker?
-In Europe, trust is built gradually, starting from zero, whereas in the US, trust is given 100% from the start and then adjusted if necessary.
What was the main challenge the speaker faced when building integrations for their previous company, Polymail?
-The main challenge was the exhausting process of building integrations with third-party apps and the never-ending maintenance that followed.
What is Paragon and how does it help engineering teams?
-Paragon is an embedded integration platform that allows engineering teams at B2B SaaS companies to ship native integrations seven times faster by focusing only on business logic.
What was the 'killer idea' behind Snowflake that the co-founders believed could revolutionize the industry?
-The 'killer idea' was leveraging the cloud to create a data access solution that was simple to use and could operate significantly faster without costing more for customers.
How did the co-founders approach the challenge of explaining Snowflake's revolutionary nature to potential customers?
-They used familiar concepts and terminology from the traditional data systems to make Snowflake's revolutionary features more approachable and understandable.
Outlines
🚀 Founding Snowflake with a Vision for Data Simplicity
Berville, one of the co-founders of Snowflake, shares the origin story of the company, which was founded on the mission to revolutionize data and AI access in the cloud. He and Cherry Cranes, the other co-founder, initially had no intention of starting a company but were driven by the desire to create an amazing product. They spent months dreaming up big ideas and focusing on simplicity as the key to an incredible product. Berville emphasizes that a product should be easy to use without extensive knowledge, and that great technology is born from disagreements and discussions. Snowflake's growth has been guided by the principle of hiring trustworthy individuals, reflecting the cultural trust differences between Europe and the U.S.
🌐 The Cloud Revolution in Data Systems
In this paragraph, Berville discusses the inception of Snowflake, which began with the founders leaving Oracle to pursue a groundbreaking idea in cloud-based data systems. They spent time brainstorming and dreaming about the potential of cloud technology to transform data access. The founders believed that the cloud could enable a system that was not only faster but also cost-effective, as the speed could be increased without raising costs for customers. This led to the concept that 'fast in the cloud is free.' The narrative highlights the importance of simplicity in product design and the challenges of introducing a revolutionary product to the market without alienating potential users.
🛠 Embracing Simplicity and Trust in Product Development
The final paragraph delves into the critical aspects of creating an amazing product: simplicity and the power of under-the-hood complexity. Berville uses the iPhone as an analogy to illustrate the balance between user-friendly simplicity and advanced technology. He stresses the importance of focusing on a few key features and avoiding the temptation to appeal to everyone, which can dilute the product's effectiveness. The paragraph also touches on the importance of fostering a secure environment for open discussions and disagreements, which are essential for developing great technology. Berville shares insights on trust in hiring, advocating for giving full trust to new hires from the start, and contrasts European and American approaches to trust in professional relationships.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Snowflake
💡Co-founder
💡Dreaming
💡Simplicity
💡Amazing Product
💡Arguments and Discussion
💡Trust
💡Cloud
💡Integrations
💡B2B SaaS Companies
💡Revolution
Highlights
Benville and Cherry Cranes are co-founders of Snowflake, a company aiming to revolutionize data and AI access in the cloud.
The founders' initial goal was to create an amazing product, not necessarily a startup.
The importance of dreaming big and not being scared to explore what could be possible with new ideas.
Simplicity is the number one quality of an amazing product; it should be easy to use without extensive knowledge.
The challenge of creating technology that appeals to everyone without making anyone super happy.
The value of direct communication and conflict in fostering creativity and building great technology.
Snowflake's approach to encouraging open discussion and the security of being able to disagree.
The growth of Snowflake to approximately 9,000 employees and the critical lesson of hiring trustworthy individuals.
The cultural difference in trust-building between Europe and the US, and the importance of starting with full trust.
The backstory of Paragon, an embedded integration platform for B2B SaaS companies to streamline integration efforts.
Benville's French origin and his move to the Bay Area for better opportunities in creating new systems.
The founders' background at Oracle and their departure to pursue the creation of a revolutionary product in the cloud.
The process of ideation and dreaming that led to the concept of Snowflake, focusing on the potential of cloud technology.
The revelation that speed in the cloud can be achieved at no additional cost, leading to the 'fast in the cloud is free' concept.
The strategy of balancing innovation with familiarity to ensure customer adoption and prevent overwhelming users.
The art of explaining new technology in a way that is both familiar and revolutionary to facilitate gradual adoption.
The emphasis on simplicity in product design and the analogy of the iPhone as a simple yet advanced piece of technology.
The importance of focusing on a few key features and personas rather than trying to appeal to everyone.
Transcripts
I'm berville I'm one of the co-founder
at snowflake snowflake is a company
whose mission is to revolutionize access
to data and AI in the cloud myself and
Cherry cranes who is the other
co-founder of snowflake the the funny
thing is that we never wanted to do a
company uh we never wanted to do a
startup really we wanted to build an
amazing product we we spent you know
literally months in my apartment and we
were dreaming you have to dream to find
big idea you you have not to be scared
too dream about what what does it mean
if if if only that was possible what
would be the impacts and then you work
back from that if statement and you see
maybe we can make it happen the number
one quality of an amazing product is
Simplicity if you can use a product
without knowing a lot about these
products this product is going to be
amazing it's always tempting to say oh
I'm going to appeal to everyone when
when you try to make everyone happy no
one will be super happy okay amazing
technology I I always always say is
built from you know arguments and
discussion and I disagree with you I
think we should do this no we should do
that we have a saying in at snowflake go
direct you know we are human beings so
we have conflicts we have disagreements
so so it's important to be able to do
that in a very secure environments where
where people feel that they can they can
speak up they they can say no I I think
this is this is not going to work and it
doesn't matter you know who you are you
know to say these type of things to
encourage creativity you you have to
encourage you know everyone to speak and
as of today we are about you know 9,000
employees the the number one lesson that
we learn you know to grow a company is
to hire someone that you trust otherwise
you you become the B neck if you if you
hire someone you have to absolutely
trust them from day one you don't build
that trust I'm I'm from Europe and
Europe you you don't trust people you
start you know almost with zero you know
as you know these people you give them
points so to speak and then you fully
trust them in the US is the reverse you
start with 100% right you never met this
person you you you give full trust and
then you remove if you see that it
doesn't work you you have to trust and
give you know someone else the
opportunity you know do their thing and
and you know this is why you hire them
so this trust is is a super critical
aspects and and my take is give it% to
them from day one don't do the European
thing back when I was building my ycb
company poly mail our users kept asking
for Integrations with thirdparty apps
like Salesforce HubSpot and slack but we
quickly learned how exhausting it is to
build these Integrations not to mention
the never-ending maintenance that
followed that's why we started Paragon
Paragon is an embedded integration
platform that engineering teams at B2B
SAS companies like copy ai ai 21 and
cinch rely on to ship native integration
seven times faster with Paragon
Engineers only focus on the business
logic not the underlying complexities
leading to more closed deals product
usage retention and customer upsells
scale your products integration roadmap
today learn more at use paragon.com
as you can see from my thick French
accents I am French by origin but I live
in the Bay Area uh for many many years I
came here in ' 96 I did my PhD in
database system but I felt that in
France there was no real opportunity to
create no new system and I'm a Creator
I'm I'm I'm somewhere an artist is
stupid to say but software Engineers
sometime you know feel ofs a little bit
as artist because they build new things
and France was not a good good
environment to do that uh I did research
in France uh but then I left to join
Oracle the core developments myself and
Cherry cranes who is the other
co-founder of snowflake we were both
working in the core database division at
Oracle and you know the the the the
funny thing is that we never wanted to
do a company uh we never wanted to do a
startup really we wanted to build an
amazing product we thought the cloud
could could be a revolution for data
access traditionally people would put
data in their data centers and they
would you know use you know systems to
access this data we thought with the
cloud we could create a solution so
simple uh where people would not have to
you know manage you know infrastructure
they could you know just ask you know
question to their data and you know
snowflake would give them answer and and
to do that we had to do a startup we had
to do a company so cherry and I we left
from from um from Oracle and when we
started with with chry we had no idea
what we were going to do and actually we
had no idea if we were going to find a
great idea in in terms of um of finding
a great idea it takes time uh we started
in August 2012 and we worked until you
know end of 2012 12 to start to build a
team so I had a small apartment on El
Camino Cherry was coming every day to my
apartment we bought a whiteboard um we
had two laptops and we kind of refold
completely from the ground up of what
what cloud means for these Data Systems
how Cloud can be impactful how can we
build snowflake in this completely
different environment than traditional
Lether centers and and we were dreaming
you have to dream to find big idea you
you have not to be be scared to dream
about what what does it mean if if if
only that was possible Right what what
is was what would be the impact and then
you work back from that if statement and
you see maybe we can make it happen
right it was a big if it was a little
bit of a dream but maybe it's not and
let's look at the the the the new
technology and that's the other
important thing is technology unlocked
you know new possibilities and I think
it's important to understand what new
technology can do to an industry and and
think back a little bit and say wow you
know Cloud you know that's what cloud
can do and and that's really what what
what we were looking for is how Cloud
can have a dramatic impact on on this
industry which was you know super old
and and super boring somewhere the world
of data database is I mean it's it's
like boring and what was this great idea
was about you know in the cloud you you
can you know get provision a lot of
resources server machines so if you have
let's say 10 machine or if you have one
100 machines with 10 times more machines
basically you can go 10 times faster so
we say wow and we know how to do that so
we said oh wow in the cloud we can
allocate maybe 100 servers 1,000 servers
and we can go therefore one times faster
1,000 1,000 times faster actually
because we rent the computer resources
to the crow provider when we are done we
can return that and so in the cloud if
you go 10 times times faster you pay
exactly the same price because you use
these resources you know 10 times 100
times 1,000 times less even though you
have more resources because you use them
less you pay the same price so we said
fast in the cloud is free and if we can
do that and this was of course
technically very challenging but if we
can do that we can you know basically
build a system that can go 10 times 100
times faster than any system that exist
today I mean at the time and yet it will
not cost you know for our customers more
so that's the killer idea and and when
we had this idea we we said if we can
make it happen okay if we can build it
then we have an amazing company so so we
knew that this was going to be a
revolution and actually it became a
revolution we started to have one
customer two customers and they were
blown away by by what you could do is
snowf flag and and without complexity it
was simple to use because we remove you
know all the friction we were able to to
get more and more customers and you know
people would talk to each other and then
it gets to this viral you know stat
where you know it it it it exploded we
were very worried about that because we
said if we show that snowflake is so
different people are are going to be
worried too at the same time if you say
is exactly the same as what you are
using you know people are not going to
adopt you so you have to find a good
balance sometime you have to explain
yourself in comparison to existing
technology we for example use same you
know terminology that was used in the
old days so we had you know system
called Warehouse you know everyone knew
Warehouse that's a familiar concept so
you have to use you know existing cont
Concepts uh such that you can help you
know people go your way and and and your
reol ution so somewhere if you say it's
a revolution it's it's possible that it
will not work so you have to bring them
slowly uh not too fast so It's Tricky
it's a very tricky it's a lot of uh
explanation how you explain it how you
make it look you know familiar somewhere
uh even though it's very different so so
it's an
art the number one quality of an amazing
product is simplicity
if you can use a product without knowing
a lot about this product this product is
going to be amazing right think of cars
things of iPhone things of of simple
product these are the one where you say
haha wow and a product which is simple
but at the same time so powerful people
who have complex products but expose
this complexity to the end users are not
making great products so for me it's
first of all you know Simplicity but but
underneath you know again if you take
the analogy of the iPhone the iPhone is
nothing but simple ACH piece of
technology right is probably the most
advanced pie of Technology but when you
use you know this product you know they
are you know simple so that's to me is
probably the number one uh aspect of a
great product you know take free fingers
and you know list all the things that
you could do potentially but but try to
limit it to few very few important thing
and and you rank you you just say you
know our product obviously need this and
that it's always tempting to say oh I'm
going to appeal to everyone uh uh and
then you do a bad job right because you
you know you you try to make everyone
happy when you try to make everyone
happy no one will be super happy okay I
I can tell you uh uh so the way to
streamline you know is both to to to
really focus on few things and also to
make these few things focus on you know
few Persona yeah don't don't try to
appeal to everyone we we we have a
saying in at snowf flag go direct we are
human beings so we have conflicts we
have
disagreements and and that's very
important to recognize right amazing
technology I always say is built from
you know arguments and discussion and I
disagree with you I think we should do
this no we should do that and and these
discussions are the thing that that
really makes the best product at the end
right because you you get to this
consensus you understand you know
different opinions so so it's important
to be able to do that in a very secure
environment where where people feel that
they can they can speak up they they can
say no I I think this is this is not
going to work and and it doesn't matter
you know who you are you know to say
these type of things so so so I think
you have to encourage you know to
encourage creativity you you have to
encourage you know everyone to speak
the most important to grow is is is
indeed to hire someone that you trust
otherwise you become the B neck and and
you don't want to to have this this this
full control of everything how you get
get you gain this trust is interesting
right I I remember actually the first
eyer we had at snowflake our first one
was asking a lot of question before he
wanted to sign he was asking tons of
question you know like okay how is it
going to work like suspicious and he
said benoa he told me one day you know
benoa I'm asking all this question it
was from Europe he say you know I'm I'm
from Europe and Europe you you don't
trust people you start you know almost
with zero and then you know as you know
these people as you start to trust them
you you you know you give them points so
to speak and then you fully trust them
you but you start at zero and and you
build that trust over time he said in
the US is the reverse you start with
100% right you never met this person you
you you give full trust and then you
remove if you see that it doesn't work
and and I would say the the the the
biggest you know thing for me is that
from day one you give full trust if you
if you hire someone you have to
absolutely trust them from day one you
don't build that trust it could not work
we made some you know iring mistake and
we discovered that oh this is not
working you
know for one reason on another then you
can remove this trust but you you start
100% you you have to trust and give you
know uh uh give someone else the
opportunity you know do their thing and
and you know this is why you hire them
so this trust is is a super critical
aspect and and my take is give it 100%
to them from day one don't do the
European thing
[Music]
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