Databricks at $7B ARR growing 80%: inside Ali Ghodsi's contrarian playbook vs Snowflake
curious_vii · x · 2026-10-25
Infra Play #167 revisits why Databricks became the most valuable data+AI company: $7B ARR run rate growing 80% a year — twice as fast as Snowflake with a run rate 30% higher. When Ali Ghodsi took the CEO seat in 2015, revenue was just $1.5M and the board was quietly interviewing replacements. His playbook: find the single biggest bottleneck, then put disproportionate attention on it for 2-3 years. The piece contrasts Databricks' contrarian, domain-grounded bets and technical accountability culture with Snowflake's siloed, money-driven sales org — and why great CEOs can't be conflict-averse.
Related event: Databricks hits $7B ARR, outpacing Snowflake with contrarian playbook(2 posts)→
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