Dave Hitz

In 1992, Dave Hitz co-founded NetApp, a small data management company in Silicon Valley that basically invented, then dominated what then was a whole new market segment called “network attached storage.” During his 27-year tenure, NetApp grew to a leading enterprise storage solutions provider not just for tech companies but for the military and other government agencies, the entertainment industry, and more. 

Hitz played many roles at NetApp, including programmer, architect, vice president of engineering, strategist, cheerleader, and coach. Before his career in Silicon Valley, which included previous stints at MIPS and Auspex, Dave worked for a couple of pivotal years as a cowboy on a cattle ranch, where he learned valuable lessons that informed his business career. He chronicled much of this journey in his book, How to Castrate a Bull: Unexpected Lessons on Risk, Growth, and Success in Business. The title, as he often explains, is a metaphor, though he does give explicit instructions on the real thing late in the book.