Grit

Leadership Lessons From Snowflake’s Sales & Marketing Duo | Chris Degnan and Denise Persson

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Oct 6, 2025
Chris Degnan, former Chief Revenue Officer at Snowflake, and Denise Persson, the company's Chief Marketing Officer, delve into their experiences in hypergrowth. They reveal the secrets behind aligning sales and marketing to foster a customer-first culture. Topics include when to hire experienced operators, the importance of trust and immediate execution in partnerships, and the rituals that shaped Snowflake’s culture. Their new book, Make It Snow, offers insights into scaling businesses while emphasizing the need for coachability and the right fit for company stages.
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INSIGHT

Distribution Was As Important As Product

  • Snowflake's go-to-market strength was as critical to investor confidence as its product quality.
  • Chris and Denise credit tightly aligned sales and marketing for building distribution that outcompeted partners like Microsoft.
INSIGHT

Customer-Driven Beats Function-Driven

  • Treat the whole company as customer-driven, not any single function as supreme.
  • Marketing must enable sales while product marketing, demand, and messaging all carry equal weight.
ADVICE

Fix Demand Gen First

  • Prioritize demand generation immediately when you join a growth company.
  • Fix the demand problem in the first 90 days or you risk losing the role.
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