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Make It Snow: From Zero to Billions—How Snowflake Scaled Its Go-to-Market Organization
Follow along on the journey of the founding, development, and breakaway success of a multi-billion-dollar tech company
Written by insiders Denise Persson and Chris Degnan, CMO and CRO of Snowflake, the global force helping mobilize the world’s data, Make It Snow explores the lifespan to date of the wildly successful enterprise company, from fighting tooth and nail to simply survive during its early days, to its disruption of the industry and corresponding rapid growth, all the way to its IPO in 2020 in the highest valuation of a software company in the history of Wall Street.
This book covers each stage in the creation of Snowflake, including Startup, Build Stage, and Scaling Stage. Readers will learn about:
-The company’s origins and the state of the market in data management and analytics before Snowflake came on the scene
-Friction between marketing and sales teams at Snowflake and how these issues were resolved
-Why gaining the trust of customers was so important to Snowflake’s early success
-Making difficult decisions like hiring and firing talent as the company grew
An insightful commentary on the history and development of one of the biggest tech success stories in recent years, Make It Snow earns a well-deserved spot on the bookshelves of curious entrepreneurs, investors, and executives looking to learn from the lessons of a company with billions in revenue.
Written by insiders Denise Persson and Chris Degnan, CMO and CRO of Snowflake, the global force helping mobilize the world’s data, Make It Snow explores the lifespan to date of the wildly successful enterprise company, from fighting tooth and nail to simply survive during its early days, to its disruption of the industry and corresponding rapid growth, all the way to its IPO in 2020 in the highest valuation of a software company in the history of Wall Street.
This book covers each stage in the creation of Snowflake, including Startup, Build Stage, and Scaling Stage. Readers will learn about:
-The company’s origins and the state of the market in data management and analytics before Snowflake came on the scene
-Friction between marketing and sales teams at Snowflake and how these issues were resolved
-Why gaining the trust of customers was so important to Snowflake’s early success
-Making difficult decisions like hiring and firing talent as the company grew
An insightful commentary on the history and development of one of the biggest tech success stories in recent years, Make It Snow earns a well-deserved spot on the bookshelves of curious entrepreneurs, investors, and executives looking to learn from the lessons of a company with billions in revenue.
240 pages, Hardcover
Published September 30, 2025
5 people are currently reading
1765 people want to read
About the author
Denise Persson
4 books7 followersDenise serves as Snowflake’s Chief Marketing Officer and has been with the company since 2016. Denise oversees worldwide marketing initiatives, and has played a pivotal role in driving growth and scaling Snowflake's revenue from $1 million to over $2 billion.
Denise has over 25 years of technology marketing experience at high-growth companies. Prior to joining Snowflake, she served as CMO for Apigee, an API platform company that went public in 2015 and Google acquired in 2016. She began her career at collaboration software company Genesys, where she built and led a global marketing organization. Denise also helped lead Genesys through its expansion to become a successful IPO and acquired company.
Denise holds a BA in Business Administration and Economics from Stockholm University, and holds an MBA from Georgetown University.
Denise has over 25 years of technology marketing experience at high-growth companies. Prior to joining Snowflake, she served as CMO for Apigee, an API platform company that went public in 2015 and Google acquired in 2016. She began her career at collaboration software company Genesys, where she built and led a global marketing organization. Denise also helped lead Genesys through its expansion to become a successful IPO and acquired company.
Denise holds a BA in Business Administration and Economics from Stockholm University, and holds an MBA from Georgetown University.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
October 10, 2025
Make It Snow: From Zero to Billions - How Snowflake Scaled Its Go-to-Market Organization
by Denise Persson & Chris Degnan
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Thank you BookHighlight for the gifted copy! ❄️💼
Vibe Check: startup grind 💻, strategy goldmine 📈, behind-the-scenes brilliance 🚀, corporate resilience at its finest 🧠
What I Liked:
• A genuinely insider perspective. You can tell Persson and Degnan lived this story—every chapter feels like a front-row seat to Snowflake’s climb from scrappy startup to data-industry titan. 💪
• Loved how they structured the book into stages (Startup, Build, Scale). It’s clear, organized, and actually useful for founders or GTM leaders.
• The transparency about early friction between sales and marketing was refreshing. They didn’t sanitize the messy parts, and that’s where the best lessons came through. ⚡
• Strong focus on culture and customer trust as key differentiators—it’s not just about growth metrics, it’s about the people and principles behind them.
• The writing style strikes a nice balance between narrative storytelling and practical insight. Feels like a conversation with mentors, not a dry business manual.
What Didn’t Work for Me:
• Some sections dive deep into B2B SaaS strategy jargon that might overwhelm casual readers. 🧾
• I wanted just a little more about the personal leadership evolution of Persson and Degnan—it’s touched on but not deeply explored.
Final Thoughts:
Smart, sharp, and full of valuable takeaways, Make It Snow is the ultimate playbook for scaling a high-growth tech company without losing your soul in the process. It’s about grit, trust, and relentless execution. Entrepreneurs, sales leaders, and anyone building something big—this one deserves a permanent spot on your shelf. ❄️📘
by Denise Persson & Chris Degnan
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Thank you BookHighlight for the gifted copy! ❄️💼
Vibe Check: startup grind 💻, strategy goldmine 📈, behind-the-scenes brilliance 🚀, corporate resilience at its finest 🧠
What I Liked:
• A genuinely insider perspective. You can tell Persson and Degnan lived this story—every chapter feels like a front-row seat to Snowflake’s climb from scrappy startup to data-industry titan. 💪
• Loved how they structured the book into stages (Startup, Build, Scale). It’s clear, organized, and actually useful for founders or GTM leaders.
• The transparency about early friction between sales and marketing was refreshing. They didn’t sanitize the messy parts, and that’s where the best lessons came through. ⚡
• Strong focus on culture and customer trust as key differentiators—it’s not just about growth metrics, it’s about the people and principles behind them.
• The writing style strikes a nice balance between narrative storytelling and practical insight. Feels like a conversation with mentors, not a dry business manual.
What Didn’t Work for Me:
• Some sections dive deep into B2B SaaS strategy jargon that might overwhelm casual readers. 🧾
• I wanted just a little more about the personal leadership evolution of Persson and Degnan—it’s touched on but not deeply explored.
Final Thoughts:
Smart, sharp, and full of valuable takeaways, Make It Snow is the ultimate playbook for scaling a high-growth tech company without losing your soul in the process. It’s about grit, trust, and relentless execution. Entrepreneurs, sales leaders, and anyone building something big—this one deserves a permanent spot on your shelf. ❄️📘
September 28, 2025
Make It Snow by Denise Persson is an insightful and compelling look behind the scenes of Snowflake’s meteoric rise. Persson and Degnan offer a candid, insider perspective on the challenges of building a billion-dollar tech company, from navigating early survival struggles to scaling teams and aligning marketing and sales for explosive growth. The book goes beyond numbers and charts, diving into the human side of leadership, difficult decisions, and customer trust that fueled Snowflake’s success. It’s a must-read for entrepreneurs, executives, and anyone fascinated by how visionary companies transform industries while staying true to their core values.
October 19, 2025
Some decent stories insights, but it could have been half the length and most of the insights were pretty obvious. It's basically a story about how sales and marketing need to work together. 5.5/10
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews