Linda Thompson's Key Ideas from Amp It Up
by Frank Slootman

Building a championship team is not about marquee names but rather people with drive, initiative, and a track record of outperformance.

• Skills can be taught, but the right attitude cannot.
• Have high standards in hiring.
• Let low performers go quickly.

Creating a high-performance culture requires leaders to set an intense pace and lead by example.

The culture must align around key principles and values like customer focus, excellence, innovation, and teamwork.

Culture is established early and hard to change later.

• Establish a simple, focused strategy and make it widely understood.
• Set almost impossible goals to shock the system.
• Do not spread resources too thin.
• Make hard strategic choices to amplify strengths.
• Bold strategies excite top talent.

All efforts must align around strategy. Build streamlined, metrics-driven management systems to track progress. Stay close to the details of execution.

Push for speed but not recklessness. Do not tolerate mediocre execution or excuses.

Build products that are not just incrementally better but fundamentally unique. Go beyond customer asks to delight them. Take risks on innovation but demand rigor.

Ensure development priorities align tightly with strategy. Kill less differentiated products.

• Motivate the sales team through contests and incentives.
• Set high aspirations and track results relentlessly.
• Use metrics to drive sales behavior aligned with strategy.
• Spend time coaching major deals.
• Make sales a core competence, not an afterthought.

Big marketing budgets are wasted without sustained programs to engage customers and promote differentiated positioning. Nurture target customer relationships. Promote thought leadership.

Build programs around key strategies and messages.