#205

“People underestimate what it is to go through a complete reset,” says Snowflake CEO Sridhar Ramaswamy. And he knows it: After an incredible 15-year run at Google, he started over from zero with an AI search startup, Neeva. And in hindsight, he regrets not trying to port over more of the skills that had made him a successful leader before. “You should be truthful with yourself about what is it that you know that you're really good at,” he says.

In this episode, Sridhar and Joubin discuss Morgan Stanley, working with urgency, avoiding comparisons, following your passions, Steph Curry, summer school, the Google bubble, axes of improvement, Vivek Raghunathan, Bill Coughran, Bell Labs, Mark McLaughlin, Nikesh Arora, daily emails, Chris Degnan, competitiveness, aircraft carriers, and size 31 pants.

Chapters:
00:00:00 - Introduction
00:02:20 - How to Keep Cool Under Pressure
00:08:19 - Raising Kids Without Comparison
00:11:39 - Choosing a Career that Society Values
00:15:19 - Encouraging Without Flaunting Personal Success
00:18:02 - Why Success Makes It Harder to Relate to Others
00:22:19 - Why Feedback Can Be Deceiving
00:30:02 - The Big Mistake People Make When Changing Jobs
00:35:08 - Staying Positive When Others Win
00:38:55 - Sridhar Ramaswamy taking over Snowflake
00:45:49 - Why Snowflake's CEO Transition Was a Bold Move
00:53:13 - The Two Traits Every Top Leader Must Have
00:56:19 - Why Daily Accountability is Key to Success
01:08:59 - What Really Matters to Top CEOs?
01:13:13 - Is Snowflake hiring?