Ex-Amazon VP tells us what it’s really like working with Jeff Bezos

Bezos's Leadership Style and Feedback [00:00:00]

• Ethan Evans describes Jeff Bezos as "very demanding" and rarely offering praise, instead focusing on areas for improvement.
• Bezos's feedback was often correct, with great taste, but his sole focus on criticism could be detrimental to those with "thin skin."
• A story illustrates Bezos's delayed praise, where he added a "good job" after a lengthy critique, suggesting a learned behavior.

  "And then literally turned back to the table. And said, oh, yeah, but good job. You're doing great. And walked back out."

The Fire Phone Fiasco [00:00:00]

• Bezos's belief in his own vision, stemming from past successes, led to the costly failure of the Fire Phone.
• Despite warnings, Bezos pursued the product, illustrating how even brilliant leaders can drive a company off a cliff.
• The company ignored widespread feedback that the Fire Phone was not a good product.

  "Everyone was trying to tell him the Fire Phone was not a good product. It's like trying to tell a new father that baby is butt ugly."

"Question Mark" Emails and Accountability [00:00:00]

• Bezos used "question mark" emails as a scalable method to address customer complaints.
• A single question mark in an email meant the recipient had 24 hours to explain the issue and propose a solution.
• This system ensured accountability and drove problem-solving across the organization.

  "You'd get an email and it would be a forward of that complaint with just a single question mark at the top and everybody would call these question mark emails and everybody knew what that meant."

Strategic Patience, Tactical Impatience [00:00:00]

• Bezos advocated for patience with long-term strategic goals while demanding daily progress.
• Important initiatives like Prime or space exploration require decades of work, necessitating consistent, incremental progress.
• This approach balances a long-term vision with a relentless focus on daily execution.

  "So his point was to do anything great. You're going to have to be patient for the end result, but every day you better be making every tiny bit of progress you can squeeze out."

Work-Life Harmony vs. Balance [00:00:00]

• Bezos preferred "work-life harmony" over "work-life balance," suggesting that enjoying work could lead to a harmonious life.
• Amazon's culture encouraged long hours, with the expectation of working "long, hard, and smart."
• The company acknowledged that Amazon might not be the right fit for everyone, especially those prioritizing traditional work-life balance.

  "I don't like the term work-life balance. I prefer work-life harmony."

The "Amazon Mafia" and Wealth [00:00:00]

• The massive growth of Amazon stock enriched many employees, with stock increasing over 9,000% during Evans's tenure.
• Some employees struggled with the transition from high Amazon compensation to lower market salaries after stock vests.
• The wealth generated led to some employees losing touch with reality, exemplified by suggestions like prioritizing Sonos system automation.

  "The most interesting thing was watching people lose touch. With the super wealthy, it wasn't that they took a private jet or that they had three houses."

Staying Grounded: Anecdotes Over Data [00:00:00]

• Bezos famously trusted "anecdotes" over data, believing that individual customer stories represented critical, albeit small, percentage issues.
• The "question mark" emails were a way to surface these critical anecdotes and ensure they were addressed.
• This approach countered the potential for large-scale data to obscure individual customer problems.

  "Jeff said between data and anecdotes, trust the anecdotes."

The "B-Team" Remark [00:00:00]

• Bezos once famously ridiculed a team by asking if the "A-Team" was available, implying they were the "B-Team."
• This harsh feedback could be devastating to morale, though Evans suggests it stemmed from Bezos's own frustration.
• Such incidents highlight Bezos's cutting remarks and "attack mode" when displeased.

  "So is the A-team for this project available? Because this is clearly the B-team."

The "I Got This" Guy [00:00:00]

• Evans discusses the "trust equation" (intimacy, credibility, integrity) and how Emmett Shaw prioritized credibility.
• He highlights the value of individuals who reliably deliver, even if not the absolute smartest.
• These reliable individuals, the "I got this" guys, were crucial for Bezos to delegate tasks he couldn't personally oversee.

  "I just care that when you say I got this, that means you got this."

The Origin of Amazon Prime [00:00:00]

• Prime, initially called "Project 100," was conceived partly to provide positive news to investors during a difficult financial period.
• The initial idea focused on fast shipping, not ancillary perks.
• Jeff Bezos believed in the long-term vision of two-day delivery, knowing it could evolve to one-day delivery.

  "So Prime was originally called Project 100 because they had to figure out how to announce it and start doing it in 100 days."

Free Shipping Experimentation [00:00:00]

• Before Prime, Amazon experimented with free shipping, initially requiring a $100 minimum purchase.
• This threshold was gradually lowered to $25, a point where profit margins on items like DVDs allowed for free shipping on multi-item orders.
• This experimentation revealed the unit economics needed to make free shipping viable.

  "The secret they figured out by experimentation was at that point in time, the big things we shipped, I mentioned, were books, music, DVDs."

Website Design: Speed Over Beauty [00:00:00]

• Amazon's website design prioritized speed and sales conversions over aesthetic appeal.
• A/B testing, known as "Web Lab," determined what drove sales, not visual trends.
• Slow page load times were identified as a major driver of customer abandonment.

  "So the biggest single metric was not what are you putting on there, but how you militantly could not add a millisecond to load time."

The "Dumb Shit" Principle [00:00:00]

• Evans suggests Amazon's success was partly due to its willingness to sell "dumb shit" (low-cost, impulse items) quickly and cheaply.
• Bezos believed in offering customers choice, even if it meant selling items that might be considered frivolous.
• This strategy countered competitors like Walmart, aiming to be the best at offering what customers wanted.

  "Amazon should sell the dumb shit fastest and cheapest."

Benjamin Graham's Influence [00:00:00]

• Jeff Bezos frequently quoted Benjamin Graham, emphasizing the difference between the market as a "voting machine" (short-term) and a "weighing machine" (long-term).
• Bezos used this to advise against reacting to stock price volatility, focusing instead on increasing Amazon's intrinsic value over time.
• The principle guided Amazon's focus on long-term cash flow over short-term GAAP results.

  "The only thing we can do is focus on increasing our weight over time and that will eventually, you know, eventually it'll be pulled back to the norm."

The CFO's "Pennies" [00:00:00]

• Evans recounts an argument where Bezos told his CFO, Tom Skutak, "Remember our roles here. You count the pennies. I use the pennies."
• This demonstrated Bezos's decisive approach to investment and his expectation that the CFO's role was to report financial status, not dictate spending.
• It highlights Bezos's sharp edge and his ability to put people in their place.

  "Tom, well, how much is that Tom? I might want to spend it."

Personal Happiness and Coaching [00:00:00]

• Evans now finds greater happiness (rated 11/10) and work-life harmony in his coaching business than his 7-8/10 happiness at Amazon.
• He values the autonomy of working for himself, even with a comparable income and fewer hours.
• A significant challenge post-Amazon is the loss of a defined identity and platform.

  "I tell people I'm much happier now. But also, I didn't know that would be true."

Building Towards Good [00:00:00]

• Evans's long-term vision is to create a community of people with the financial means and confidence to pursue their desire to "do good."
• He believes in planning and encourages people to define their long-term goals beyond just financial security.
• This involves helping individuals move from dreaming about doing good to actively achieving it.

  "My vision is create more people who have the money and the confidence to then do something good in the world."

Using Twitch for Practice [00:00:00]

• Evans used Twitch to practice public speaking and career coaching, despite initial skepticism and Amazon's PR restrictions.
• He circumvented rules by framing it as product expertise and gaining CEO approval.
• This experience highlights the value of using current opportunities to build towards future goals.

  "I figured like, how can I get around this stupid PR restriction?"

Honest Empathy in Communication [00:00:00]

• Evans attributes his ability to deliver difficult truths without causing offense to "honest empathy" and caring about the person first.
• He references the book "Leadership and Self-Deception" by the Arbinger Institute.
• As a coach, he uses a signature line to set expectations for delivering tough feedback, framing it as part of the paid service.

  "It comes from a book a little bit less known called Leadership and Self-Deception by the Arbinger Institute."