If your team feels busy but not fast, Amp It Up is the jolt of voltage you’ve been missing. Frank Slootman, three-time CEO behind Data Domain, ServiceNow, and Snowflake, doesn’t offer theory or platitudes. He offers a wake-up call: raise standards, narrow focus, and move with real urgency, or get comfortable watching bolder competitors pass you by.
This book reads like time with a blunt operator who’s allergic to drift and meetings that go nowhere. Slootman argues that culture isn’t posters and perks; it’s the daily cadence of choices: what you prioritize, what you tolerate, and how decisively you act when performance slips.
Expect clear rules for trimming projects, clarifying goals, hiring for slope over pedigree, and building a company that plays offense, not defense. Whether you’re leading a startup or a mature team stuck in “nice but slow,” Amp It Up is a practical manual for converting talk into tempo and ambition into execution.
Overview
Amp It Up is a compact playbook for leaders who want to turn sluggish organizations into high-output machines. Slootman’s core thesis is simple: companies don’t stall because they lack strategy; they stall because their standards are too low, their focus is too wide, and their tempo is too slow. Fix those three levers, and performance compounds.
The book guides readers through creating a culture that is visibly intolerant of mediocrity and complacency. That starts with sharpening the mission (“why we exist” in one sentence), stripping away projects that don’t directly serve it, and forcing clear ownership so decisions don’t die in committee. Meetings, roadmaps, and reviews are retooled around outcomes; what moved the needle rather than activity.
Hiring and talent management get the same treatment. Slootman argues for slope over pedigree: people who learn fast, raise the bar, and change the trajectory of the team. Leaders are urged to prune politely but decisively, promote difference-makers early, and constantly recruit, because velocity is a function of who’s on the field.
Finally, Slootman pushes operators to play offense: simplify products, pursue the biggest use cases, tighten feedback loops with customers, and measure only what matters. The tone is blunt and practical throughout; every chapter translates into actions you can run this quarter to raise expectations, narrow priorities, and increase the organization’s speed.
Key Takeaways From “Amp It Up”
1. Raise the bar, then guard it
Define “what great looks like” with concrete examples (quality bars, SLAs, demo standards). Audit work against that bar in public forums so expectations are unmistakable. Praise outliers, not averages, and fix or exit gaps quickly.
2. Narrow the focus
Choose a few bets that clearly link to revenue, retention, or strategic dominance. Publish a “must-do list” and a “kill list” to prevent resources from being allocated to nice-to-have work. Revisit quarterly and cut again.
3. Increase the tempo
Shorten planning and execution cycles (e.g., two-week sprints with hard demos). Decide with 70–80% of the data, then adjust; waiting for certainty is slower and costlier. Make response times visible so speed becomes the norm.
4. Clarify the mission in one sentence
Write a crisp, testable statement of purpose that every team can repeat. Tie projects to that sentence so people see why their work matters. If an initiative doesn’t ladder up, it’s noise.
5. Create true ownership (not committees)
Assign a single Directly Responsible Individual for every important outcome. Give them the authority to call shots and the obligation to report results. Use committees for input, not for decisions.
6. Hire for slope, not pedigree
Prioritize trajectory, rate of learning, grit, and bar-raising impact over logos on a résumé. Interview for evidence of upward curve (new scope, tougher problems, faster cycles). Move passengers out kindly but decisively.
7. Run a visible operating cadence
Hold weekly business reviews focused on outcomes: what moved, why, and what changes now. Standardize dashboards and pre-reads to reduce status theater. Your meeting rhythm should mirror your strategy: fast, focused, repetitive.
8. Measure what matters (and very little else)
Pick 3–5 leading indicators that predict success (e.g., active use, sales cycle time, gross margin). Kill vanity metrics and sprawling dashboards. Owners should explain the variance and commit to next actions.
9. Simplify to amplify
Prune features, SKUs, and processes that add complexity without value. Package clearly so customers “get it” in one breath. Fewer moving parts mean faster execution and a better experience.
10. Play offense with customers
Live in high-value use cases, not abstract roadmaps. Push for commitments, such as production rollouts and referenceability, over endless pilots. Close feedback loops quickly to sharpen product-market fit.
11. Communicate bluntly and often
Say the important things ten times, ten ways, until they echo back unprompted. Use direct language that leaves no ambiguity about priorities, standards, and timelines. Candor reduces drift.
12. Culture is what you tolerate
Rewards and consequences teach faster than slogans. When behavior or performance misses the mark, act: coach, reassign, or part ways. People learn the real standard by watching what leadership permits.
About the Author
Frank Slootman is a veteran technology operator and author best known for leading three iconic enterprise companies through breakout phases. He helmed Data Domain as CEO through its hypergrowth and sale to EMC in 2009, then ran the new EMC Data Domain division post-acquisition.
He later served as CEO and President of ServiceNow (2011–2017), taking it public in 2012 and scaling the business from roughly $100M in revenue.
In 2019, he became CEO of Snowflake and led the company to its landmark 2020 IPO before stepping down as CEO in February 2024 (remaining Chairman).
Slootman has written two management books, Tape Sucks: Inside Data Domain (2011) and Amp It Up (2022), distilling his playbook for urgency, focus, and high standards.
Final Thoughts
Amp It Up is a reminder that most performance problems are leadership problems, specifically, problems of standards, focus, and tempo.
A good exercise to do after reading: write your one-sentence mission, choose three bets that truly move the business, set a visible weekly operating cadence, and staff for slope; people who raise the bar the moment they arrive. Culture will follow your calendar and your hiring decisions.
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