This week’s Beyond the Data spotlights a true MVP in the partner world. He excels at connecting with Snowflake AI Data Cloud, keeping partner sales managers updated on phData’s successes, managing connection requests, supporting sellers with partner programs, and tracking the impact of these partnerships, all of which contribute to phData’s success.Â
On the agenda today:
Role, Responsibilities, and Daily Work
Insights, Impact, and Industry Trends
Personal Reflections and Future Aspirations
Meet Our Head of Snowflake Alliances
Name: Steven Price
Title: Head of Snowflake Alliances
Fun fact: I was in San Diego in 2009, at the House of Blues downtown, having dinner (because my roommate at the time worked there, and the meal was basically free). She encouraged me to go downstairs to the event hall, where a stage and room held about 50 people. A woman was on stage singing with just a piano – no band. It was mesmerizing the sound of her voice. By far the most impressive, soulful voice I’d heard in person. When the lady stopped singing, she had a British accent. It turns out it was Adele’s first album, shortly after she released 19.
Introduce Yourself and Tell Us a Bit About Your Background and Interests
My name is Steven Price, and I am the Head of Snowflake Alliances at phData. Born and raised in Charlotte, NC, I began a journey that shaped my adult life shortly after graduating from North Carolina A&T State University. My career took me first to Minneapolis, MN, where I pursued a career in sports, and then to San Diego, CA, where I earned my MBA from San Diego State University.Â
For the next 15 years, I worked as an NFL scout. I met my wife Sara in Minneapolis, and together, we traveled to Houston, TX, and Rutherford, NJ, growing our family along the way. We have three children: our daughter Monroe and our sons Marlo and Malakai.Â
Ultimately, we felt the strong pull to return to the Midwest, seeking stability and a closer connection to family and friends in Minnesota. Throughout my career, I have honed my skills in identifying talent on and off the field. My expertise now centers around Snowflake, where I leverage strategic insights to drive impactful outcomes.
What Are 3 Key Lessons You've Learned from Your Experience as Head of Snowflake Alliances at phData?
Lesson 1
Relationships Matter – we sell services, not software, so our people are the product. Maintaining quality relationships with our partners is critical to our success.
Lesson 2
Agility – the Tech world moves incredibly fast. Things change, and we must be flexible to meet the changing demands of our partners and customers.
Lesson 3
Follow Through – the best way to make someone feel like they matter is to be accountable for your commitments. I strive daily to prioritize relationships, be flexible and have impeccable follow-through.
What Makes a Partner Stand Out at phData?
A partnership is a two-way street – the most valuable partnerships we have, we provide value to each other equally.
How Does Your Experience as an NFL Scout Translate to the phData Partner Team?
An NFL scout is tasked with finding quality information to assist leadership in making the right decisions regarding building a roster. Partnerships/Alliances work similarly. When I was a scout, I needed to quickly establish trust with the various coaches and schools I interacted with. I had to provide them with good information about their players’ prospects—how our team and, ultimately, the league valued them.Â
I also had to share data-driven information with my teams on whether/how a player would be successful at our club. In the phData ecosystem, we have similar needs – assessing quality alignment and developing strategy by carrying information from partners to our leadership and sales orgs to most effectively support our customers.
What’s Your Favorite Memorable Moment from Working at phData?
My most memorable moments were attending my first Data Cloud World Tour event and Snowflake Summit. In the NFL, the only major “conference” we participated in was the NFL Combine. With the league only having 32 teams, the number of attendees exceeds the hundreds. At these Snowflake events, thousands of people from various partners, vendors, and customers were present. The scale of events in the tech industry was visually impressive.
What Do You Actually Do on a Given Day as Head of Snowflake Alliances at phData?
We are fully remote – so my day consists of many Zoom calls! I typically have between 6-12 calls a day, depending on how close we are to the end of the sales quarter. I spend time connecting with Snowflake and informing various Partner Sales Managers of where phData is succeeding across the territories.
 I also spend a lot of time on Slack fielding various connection requests from our sales org to different teams within Snowflake. A piece of my job is to enable our sellers with the various partner programs available to them to accelerate deals and help get customers to close. In the evenings, it’s all about metrics – ensuring we have systems to track and measure our impact in the partnership.
What Would You Like to Learn or Improve in Your Role as Head of Snowflake Alliances?
The tech itself is fascinating. I’ve leveraged various tools to accelerate my learning ability on the modern stack and where, how, and why some of the various ecosystem partners sit. I think I eventually want to learn code, and I think being somewhat hands-on with the keyboard could be valuable long term.
What Industry Changes or Trends Do You Believe Will Have the Biggest Impact on phData in Your Role?
phData is growing! We have just over 600 employees, and our leadership intends for us to continue expanding. We will have more Partner Managers in separate roles. I anticipate some will be dedicated to the development portion of our business (metrics, partner programs, operations), and a Partner Manager will be dedicated to the sales functions (alignment, account management, sales strategy).
What Does Your Day Look Like Outside of Work with Your Wife and Kids?
My human consequences are all under the age of 5, so it’s an active household! We have 2 French bulldogs and a rescue pit/lab mix, so there’s never a dull moment. From pancakes to parks to play dates and swimming lessons, when it’s not work, it’s all the kids’ things that occupy our time.
Stay in Touch with Steven!
From sharing partner awards to posting where phData’s next event is, Steven is worth the follow on LinkedIn!
