#101 CEO Google Cloud, Thomas Kurian: Competitor-Aware and Customer-Obsessed
Grit29 Elo 2022

#101 CEO Google Cloud, Thomas Kurian: Competitor-Aware and Customer-Obsessed

“When I grew up in Bangalore, I’d never seen a computer,” says Thomas Kurian. The former president of Oracle, now the CEO of Google Cloud, remembers learning how to write while sitting outside his childhood home, and doing homework by candlelight during power blackouts. He credits his “trailblazer” mother, who instilled curiosity and discipline in all her children, with helping them understand the value of education beyond doing well on the next test. Something must have stuck, because Thomas is not the only Kurian in a major leadership position in Silicon Valley; his twin brother, George, is the CEO of NetApp.

In this episode, Thomas and Joubin discuss how he accidentally got into computer programming, giving children the freedom to be curious, how to order a sandwich, leading 60 software acquisitions, knowing your own value-add, innovation through experimentation, investing in the future, and being competitor-aware and customer-obsessed.

In this episode, we cover:

  • Thomas’ childhood in India (03:45)
  • His twin brother George — the CEO of NetApp — and their trailblazing mother (07:40)
  • Nostalgia for simpler times without responsibilities (14:03)
  • Working up the ranks at Oracle, from product manager to president (21:40)
  • The Google Cloud opportunity (30:12)
  • How to succeed inside a huge organization (32:38)
  • The big difference between Oracle and Google Cloud in 2019 (39:35)
  • The “mother of God” opportunity of the cloud (42:35)
  • The advice Thomas gives to other CEOs (48:25)

Links:

Jaksot(279)

#126 CRO Gem, Lesley Young: Hard Yards

#126 CRO Gem, Lesley Young: Hard Yards

Guest: Lesley Young, CRO of GemLesley Young’s favorite book is “The Obstacle Is The Way,” in which Ryan Holiday argues that the process of working hard to achieve something is more important than the ...

20 Helmi 20231h 10min

#125 CRO Starburst, Javier Molina: Reading Cues

#125 CRO Starburst, Javier Molina: Reading Cues

Guest: Javier Molina, CRO of StarburstStarburst CRO Javier Molina’s peers, former colleagues, and even his wife often tell him the same thing: He’s difficult to read.  That doesn’t mean he’s not liste...

13 Helmi 20231h 11min

#124 Founding CRO at Procore, Dennis Lyandres: Defining "Winning"

#124 Founding CRO at Procore, Dennis Lyandres: Defining "Winning"

All of Dennis Lyandres’ mentors — and even his parents — thought he was making a mistake when he joined Procore in 2014. At the time, he was working at the “it” company in Silicon Valley, Cloudera, an...

6 Helmi 20231h 21min

#123 CEO GitHub, Thomas Dohmke: Open-Source Values

#123 CEO GitHub, Thomas Dohmke: Open-Source Values

In the middle of the Great Recession, Thomas Dohmke quit a stable job at a good company because “I wanted to build stuff again.” Specifically, he was inspired by the release of the first software deve...

30 Tammi 20231h 11min

#122 President & Board Member at Freshworks, Dennis Woodside: What If This Goes Really Well?

#122 President & Board Member at Freshworks, Dennis Woodside: What If This Goes Really Well?

Freshworks president Dennis Woodside copes with stress by running as often as he can, a habit that began when he was CEO of Motorola Mobility. So far, he has run “16 to 17” Ironman triathlons. He’s al...

23 Tammi 20231h 5min

#121 Founder & Co-CEO Brex, Henrique Dubugras: Pivot or Else

#121 Founder & Co-CEO Brex, Henrique Dubugras: Pivot or Else

The best advice Brex founder and co-CEO Henrique Dubugras ever received came from Snap CEO Evan Spiegel: The best CEOs, Spiegel told him, are “extremely authentic to themselves ... If you try to emula...

16 Tammi 202355min

#120 Chairman & CEO ServiceNow, Bill McDermott: Full Speed Ahead

#120 Chairman & CEO ServiceNow, Bill McDermott: Full Speed Ahead

“When you create something,” says ServiceNow CEO Bill McDermott, “that gives you the ability to help and do good and achieve for the most people possible.” Bill left his first corporate job at Xerox f...

9 Tammi 20231h 4min

#119 Co-founder & CEO Gong, Amit Bendov: No Royalty

#119 Co-founder & CEO Gong, Amit Bendov: No Royalty

With more than 1,200 employees, it isn’t easy for Gong co-founder and CEO Amit Bendov to stay in touch with everyone. So, his team has established a series of regular programs to communicate the compa...

2 Tammi 20231h 1min

Suosittua kategoriassa Liike-elämä ja talous

sijotuskasti
psykopodiaa-podcast
mimmit-sijoittaa
rss-rahapodi
rss-lahtijat
rss-draivi
oppimisen-psykologia
rss-porssipuhetta
rss-rahamania
rahapuhetta
taloudellinen-mielenrauha
rss-neuvottelija-sami-miettinen
rss-bisnesta-bebeja
rss-paatos-podcast-suomen-kovimmat-paatoksentekijat-2
rss-seuraava-potilas
rss-inderes
rss-40-ajatusta-aanesta
kasvun-kipuja
rss-h-asselmoilanen
rss-porssipodi