Right People. Right Time

Scaling a hyper-growth startup is fun, exciting, scary, hectic, daunting and exhilarating – and sometimes you feel all those things in the same day! However, one of the absolute best experiences is getting to meet and hire great people. As CEO, my hiring is mostly focused on the executive team, but I also work very closely and strategically with the board of directors. When you get a great executive team combined with great talent and chemistry on the board, then you have the makings of something special.

Today we announced our first independent board director, Robin Matlock, and within the past few weeks we also hired our new CMO, Anita Pandey. Bringing these two powerhouse executives together at Dremio was not just serendipity, it was the result of months of looking for just the right mix of go-to-market (GTM) experience and talent to scale big and scale fast.

Dremio has experienced incredible growth on all fronts over the past year, which has brought more clarity to just how impactful reimagined data lakes are becoming for our customers. Going from zero to over 11,000 people registering for our brand new Subsurface events is evidence of the hunger people have to learn more about real-world implementations. Cloud data lakes deliver rich functionality and incredible flexibility when built on an open data architecture vs. the painful data copying required by data warehouses.

The data analytics market is now going through a period of high intensity, rapid learning. For Dremio to meet that demand, we will execute an aggressive, well-orchestrated GTM plan that delivers information and answers to our customers where they need them, when they need them and how they need them. And THAT is where Anita and Robin come into play.

Robin’s experience as a world-class operator will be invaluable not just in the boardroom, but also in working closely with me, Anita and the rest of the team on building and executing our GTM strategy. For a private company, “independent” board members are neither financial investors nor operating executives and that gives them a unique and valuable perspective on the business. We are fortunate to have her on the team and are all excited about the impact she is going to make.

Anita has seen just about everything during her successful career journey that has spanned startups, IPOs, acquisitions and executive roles at iconic global tech companies. Given how big our opportunity is and how critical GTM strategy and execution are in realizing it, Anita’s joining as CMO is instrumental in kicking us into yet another growth gear. Her dynamic personality, boundless energy and customer passion were felt from the very first week she arrived.

Dremio’s technology has always been cutting edge and revolutionary, but technology alone isn’t enough. Customers are craving knowledge and clarity in their decision-making processes. They need to feel confident in what they are doing and need vendors to become partners who are in their corner. They want to understand where technologies fit – and where they don’t. They need the right tools for the right job at the right time. These things, and more, are what modern GTM strategies are all about. With that understanding, having people like Anita and Robin on the team will enable us to delight customers on their journey into the new and exciting world of open cloud data lakes. That’s why we’re so excited to have them on the team!