Companies mistakenly bundle management with authority, forcing top performers onto a management track to gain influence. Separate them. Define management's role as coordination and context-sharing, allowing senior individual contributors to drive decisions without managing people.

Contrary to the common ambition of top executives, Snowflake's sales and marketing leaders found fulfillment by mastering their specific domains. They had no desire to become CEO, allowing them to shed their egos and focus purely on the craft of their functions, a rare and refreshing mindset in Silicon Valley.

Assigning expansion quotas to Customer Success (CS) is a critical mistake. CS should focus on implementation, adoption, and value realization, creating the conditions for growth. However, the act of selling the expansion is a core sales responsibility that requires a sales skillset and incentive structure.

Snowflake hired its first salesperson pre-revenue not to sell, but to get the product into customers' hands to break it. This person acted as a de facto product manager, gathering critical feedback that led to a core architectural change, proving the value of a GTM hire before product-market fit.

Some CEOs encourage tension between sales and marketing. A more effective model is for the CRO and CMO to build enough trust to handle all disagreements—like lead quality or follow-up—behind closed doors. This prevents a culture of finger-pointing and presents a united front to leadership.

To avoid biased prioritization, structure Marketing Ops as an independent unit rather than placing it under Demand Gen or a sales-led RevOps team. This allows Mops to be a neutral hub, prioritizing projects based on their impact on total company revenue, not just one department's goals.

When evaluating sales leaders, prioritize their track record in recruiting above all else. Exceptional leaders are talent magnets who build scalable teams through strong hiring and enablement. Their ability to attract A-players is the foundation of a predictable revenue machine.

Technical founders often mistakenly fall in love with product marketers first. However, at the early stage, the single most important function of marketing is generating leads. A new CMO who prioritizes a website redesign over demand gen is a major red flag; the focus must be on building pipeline.

When direct access to top talent is blocked by competitors, savvy leaders identify other successful companies with strong sales cultures (a "lineage") and strategically recruit from that pool. This allows them to tap into a new vein of proven, high-potential talent.