CEO of $4.2 billion tech giant says defying Silicon Valley's ‘move fast and break things’ mantra was essential to growing his business

dbt Labs founder and CEO Tristan Handy. (Credit: Courtesy of dbt Labs)

• Tristan Handy, CEO of $4.2 billion software company DBT Labs, says he defied a common Silicon Valley myth to grow his business. In an industry where Mark Zuckerberg’s "move fast, break things" culture is the norm, he advises startups to take time in the beginning to build a strong foundation. Otherwise, innovation can be stifled by all the noise. 

Thirteen years after Mark Zuckerberg coined the phrase "move fast and break things" at Facebook, Silicon Valley is still moving as fast as ever. Just look at how founders scrambled to keep up with DeepSeek last month. But the 44-year-old CEO behind the $4.2 billion tech giant DBT Labs proves that easing in is essential to really pick things up down the line. Once a strong base is built, it's much easier to scale quickly; DBT Labs' annual recurring revenue went from $2 million to $100 million in the four years post-foundation building, from 2020 to 2024.