#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:

• Connect with Thomas
  • Twitter
  • LinkedIn
• Connect with Joubin
  • Twitter
  • LinkedIn
  • Email: grit@kleinerperkins.com
• Learn more about Kleiner Perkins
• This episode was edited by Eric Johnson from LightningPod.fm