TAPE SUCKS Quotes

“How do you get your organization to behave with a fail-fast mentality? First, start at the top. Lead by example: quickly and publicly acknowledge your mistakes, and move on. Act matter of fact-ly. I've had to clean up my own messes for everybody to see. Talk about it publicly, what you were thinking at the time, what was learned from it; this signals to the organization that it is okay to make mistakes and openly own them.”
― Frank Slootman, TAPE SUCKS: Inside Data Domain, A Silicon Valley Growth Story

“The CEO is the "Chief Combatant," warrior number one. Instilling a fighting spirit into your company is key to winning in the market place. CEOs can't manage from behind the desk—you need to be the first guy or gal over the barricades, gloves off. You need to know from experience what it's like getting your nose bloodied; otherwise, your troops can't relate to you and you can't relate to them.”
― Frank Slootman, TAPE SUCKS: Inside Data Domain, A Silicon Valley Growth Story

“We looked for energy, pedigree, passion, ambition, intelligence, intensity, and desire for the job. We staffed many (if not most) of our executive and key managerial roles that way.”
― Frank Slootman, TAPE SUCKS: Inside Data Domain, A Silicon Valley Growth Story

“Start with the application or use case, not the technology. Don't make it an after-thought. Ass-backwards, it is awfully hard to successfully recover from a technology-led venture that cannot locate its target. Like an unguided missile, it will just burn itself out and splash down in oblivion.”
― Frank Slootman, TAPE SUCKS: Inside Data Domain, A Silicon Valley Growth Story

“So, creative destruction is an axiom of business: you are not going to grow much without exacting a proportional decrease in business somewhere else. You better know whose livelihood you're going to mess with.”
― Frank Slootman, TAPE SUCKS: Inside Data Domain, A Silicon Valley Growth Story

“When you are a startup trying to sell a new product or service concept, you need a clear sense of where the money is coming from. Put differently, what is your intended customer not going to buy in order to make room for your product or service in his or her spending allocation? Who are you displacing and why?”
― Frank Slootman, TAPE SUCKS: Inside Data Domain, A Silicon Valley Growth Story

“you”
― Frank Slootman, TAPE SUCKS: Inside Data Domain, A Silicon Valley Growth Story