Brian Bourque tweeted some especially valuable information that I am grateful for sharing now.* * *
1. Hire Builders: Amazon looks for people who are curious and want to invent new things. Find those who ask questions, dissect the status quo and look for better ways to solve problems. People who see product launch as the start of an iterative process.
2. Use Separate & Autonomous Teams: Focus a group of builders on a single problem or customer. Single-purpose teams make more headway than a shared resource. Splitting priorities leads to underinvestment in ideas that aren’t “sure things.”
3. Give Teams the Tools & Permission to Move Fast: Enable your builders to execute quickly and make reversible decisions on their own. Speed matters. Executing quickly requires the right tools and leadership principles.
4. Have Blind Faith, But No False Hope: Builders will come up with ideas that are rejected because they’re new. Validate with feedback loops from customers. Improve the odds of success by working backwards from the customer POV. Write a launch Press Release before building.
5. Define a Minimum Loveable Product: A launch product must be good enough to be loved, but no better. Teams often wait too long to go to market, losing valuable time to competitors. It’s usually best to get your MLP to customers and iterate quickly from there.
6. Have a Long-Term View: It can take a long time to get transformational inventions right. Many people give up too quickly. In Amazon’s first shareholder letter, they promised to pursue long-term market leadership over short-term profits. They still do, to great effect.
7. Brace Yourself for Failure: Winners fail more often than anyone. If you’re building new stuff, it won’t all work out. Encourage healthy risk-taking in employees so they don’t shy away from challenges with uncertain outcomes.
Summary
1. Hire builders
2. Use separate & autonomous teams
3. Enable teams to move fast
4. Have blind faith, not false hope
5. Minimum loveable product
6. Have a long-term view
7. Brace yourself for failure
* * *
Here is a direct link to Amazon CEO Andy Jassey’s Letter to Shareholders.
Brian Bourque is SVP Marketing of SmartAsset.
I also highly recommend XXXXX in which Jeff Bezos shares his perspectives.