#219 CEO Tanium, Dan Streetman: Critical Responsibility

Dec 2, 2024

Dan Streetman, CEO of Tanium and a West Point graduate with combat experience, draws fascinating parallels between military operations and business leadership. He discusses the significance of aligning a team around a shared mission, akin to military 'commander's intent.' Streetman shares insights on transitioning from military to civilian life, emphasizing resilience and the lessons learned through mentorship. He also tackles the challenges of transforming business models and the importance of integrity in high-pressure environments, offering a refreshing perspective on leadership.

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ADVICE

Commander's Intent

Clearly communicate your organization's mission and your intent.
This empowers your team to find solutions you might not have considered.

ANECDOTE

Returning to Service

Dan Streetman felt an obligation to serve after 9/11 and rejoined the military.
He served in Iraq for nearly a year as a strategist.

ADVICE

Post-Deployment Adjustment

Readjusting to normal life after deployment can be challenging; find healthy outlets.
Dan Streetman used Ironman triathlons to refocus his energy and stay driven.

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Guest: Dan Streetman, CEO of Tanium

A graduate of West Point who served in Iraq combat operations, Tanium CEO Dan Streetman can’t help but compare his business career to his military experience. Understanding huge structures and processes is a crucial skill at both Tanium and in the Army, he says, as are the skills for aligning people around a shared mission.

“Before you go on an operation, you write a thing called an operations order ... [and] one of the most important things at the operations order is this paragraph called the commander's intent,” he explains, “which describes how you believe the mission is going to be accomplished and why it's important.”

“You may end up doing something completely different. But as long as you understand the mission and the commander's intent, the organization can do amazing things.”

Chapters:

(01:05) - Election Day
(02:44) - Ranger School
(06:42) - Parenting and business school
(09:59) - Military structures
(12:27) - Serving in Iraq
(15:59) - Back to normal life
(21:37) - Working out
(24:14) - Quality sleep
(26:37) - Non-founder CEOs
(31:35) - Getting the job
(35:56) - Earning respect
(38:49) - TIBCO
(43:40) - Redline
(46:37) - Going public
(53:54) - Time horizons
(58:35) - Free AI
(01:03:11) - Whar “grit” mans to Dan
(01:03:40) - Who Tanium is hiring

Mentioned in this episode: Ronald Reagan, Terri Streetman, Ironman Triathlons, Jeff Bezos and Amazon, Stanley McChrystal, Jon Abizaid, Charles Jacoby, Thomas Siebel and C3, Salesforce, Bill McDermott, Carl Eschenbach, Marc Benioff, Garmin, Mark McLaughlin, Thinking in Bets by Annie Duke, World Series of Poker, Amdocs, David and Orion Hindawi, Citrix, Harvard University, Pets.com, Ben Horowitz, Vista Equity Partners, Vivek Ranadivé, Robert Smith, Operation Warp Speed, BreakLine, Bipul Sinha and Rubrik, Mikhail Gorbachev, F. Scott Fitzgerald, OpenAI and ChatGPT, and Google.

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This episode was edited by Eric Johnson from LightningPod.fm