Buyer-Led M&A™ Strategy at Snowflake with Stefan WIlliams

Kison Patel interviews Stefan Williams, VP of Corporate Development and Snowflake Ventures at Snowflake, about Snowflake's approach to M&A, strategic investments, and startup programs. Williams discusses his background, Snowflake's culture of excellence, and how they build M&A capabilities by starting with small, product-focused acquisitions. He emphasizes the importance of integration, cultural fit, and building relationships with target companies. The conversation covers building an M&A function from scratch, aligning strategy across the organization, and managing concurrent deals. Williams shares insights on venture investments, strategic partnerships, and how Snowflake stays ahead in the AI-driven world, including the importance of customer success, a founder's hunger and humility, and avoiding deals where convincing someone to sell is necessary.