Interlude - Index of

102 | Turbulent Adolescence
It’s a good lesson in CEO thinking to understand why Dan
thought this made sense. He had four main requirements for
a VP of engineering: he wanted someone who understood our
technology; he wanted someone who understood our market
and customers; he wanted someone who fit NetApp’s culture;
and finally, he wanted someone with good management experience.
I had no management experience, but he argued that
nobody would meet all four requirements. Our technology
and our market were so new that we probably couldn’t find an
outsider who was familiar with them. I met three of the four,
and he said he’d rather take a risk on me than on some new
person he didn’t know. Dan’s bet was that I could learn, and if
not, he could always fire me.
I took the job. (Maybe
Understanding CEOs
this time I would be the
A young engineer was leaving the
bull.)
office at 7 p.m. when he found the
CEO standing in front of a paper
••
shredder with a document in his
hand. “Listen,” said the CEO, My predecessor was Helen
“this is important, and my secre- Bradley, one of the VPs
tary has left. Can you make this that Dan hired in 1995 to
thing work?”
prepare for going public.
“Certainly,” said the young
She had told him that she
engineer. He turned the
would take the job for four
machine on, inserted the paper,
and pressed the start button. years, and it turned out she
“Excellent, excellent!” said the meant exactly four years,
CEO as his paper disappeared so in 1999, Dan needed a
inside the machine. “I only need new VP. Helen grew engi-
one copy.”
neering from 16 people to