What can today’s startups learn from Amazon’s so-called “invention machine” and a culture of growth and innovation that led to several successful and diverse lines of products? As it scaled, how did Amazon define and adapt its culture and practices to promote innovation even as it got more complex and large? Longtime Amazon execs Colin Bryar and Bill Carr take us behind-the-scenes.
In this episode from February 2021, early Amazon execs Colin Bryar and Bill Carr -- in conversation with a16z's Sonal Chokshi -- go beyond the well-known artifacts of Amazon innovation, like the memo and the press release, and share the leadership principles, decision making practices, and operational processes that helped Amazon continue to innovate, invent new products and learn from its mistakes, as it scaled.
It’s all based on their book, Working Backwards: Insights, Stories, and Secrets from Inside Amazon, drawing from the 27 years combined experience of being in the room where it happened at Amazon.