Think Like Amazon – Details, episodes & analysis

Ronak spent over 9 years at Amazon, where he led large businesses across Fulfillment, Ultra-fast delivery, Real Estate, Process Improvement, and Last Mile Delivery. Ronak was also the youngest Regional Director in Amazon history, with placement into Amazon’s highest volume, most critical region of fulfillment. After nearly a decade with the company, Ronak left Amazon to join Odeko as Chief Supply Chain Officer. 

In this episode, Ronak shares how his career in operations leadership quickly unfolded and the leadership principles that helped him achieve success in the programs, centers, and regions he led. You’ll hear Ronak share how Deliver Results rounded out his perspective on maximizing the collective impact of Amazon’s leadership principles, how leadership transparency helped him turn around a 2,800-employee site, and how, with the right focus and motivation, leaders can help their teams operate at a high level, whether at Amazon or in any business arena. 

Ronak on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ronak-patel-nashville/

Follow us on LinkedIn! https://www.linkedin.com/company/think-like-amazon-podcast/

Jennifer spent over 16 years at Amazon across various roles that included Financial Analyst, Product Manager, Head of Vendor Management, and Category Leader. During this time, Jennifer’s teams helped create new input metrics and ask questions to evolve Amazon’s use of data in the quest for operational excellence. Jennifer has since taken this ability to lead through data and questioning to launch a marketplace service for BuildDirect Technologies and consult various consumer brands in their Amazon and e-commerce negotiations and growth strategies. 

In this episode, Jennifer shares context behind her career journey and how she used preceding roles to prepare for later leadership roles as Amazon director and executive at Build Direct. She also shared practical examples from her experience asking questions and identifying data to improve business operations. 

You’ll also hear Jennifer share:

·        How increased transparency into variable product costs quickly clarified needed actions

·        Why Dive Deep is such a fundamental principle for managing a P&L and marketplace business

·        How listening to key customer anecdotes helped create a better assortment strategy in the Watches category

·        How leaders can apply the Dive Deep principle when moving to a completely new business

·        How to improve negotiations with the right use of questions and data

Jennifer on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jennifer-arthur-460768/

Jennifer’s email: jennifer@jmaconsultingco.com

Follow us on LinkedIn! https://www.linkedin.com/company/think-like-amazon-podcast/

Kyle spent over 7 years at Amazon where he launched multiple billion-dollar programs, including Amazon Renewed and Amazon Exclusives – now known as Amazon Launchpad. Since leaving Amazon in 2020, Kyle has co-founded two companies, The Lab Consult, which helps e-commerce brands implement systems to scale profitably online, and Foundry Brands, an FBA brand aggregator that recently raised $100M to buy and grow consumer brands.

In this episode, Kyle shares examples of how listening to his customers (Amazon sellers) helped him to Think Big and set a vision for programs that have grown into billion-dollar Amazon businesses. Kyle's methods of asking questions and uncovering opportunities, and his insights on when to bet big on new initiatives, offer usable tips for aspiring entrepreneurs both inside larger companies and setting out to launch the next big thing.


Mentioned in the podcast:

The Lab Consult: https://www.thelabconsult.com/

Foundry Brands: https://www.foundrybrands.com/

Kyle on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kyle-walker-a2697015/

Faisal spent over 7 years at Amazon as a Director over the early growth of several businesses including Mobile Electronics, Amazon Warehouse, Amazon BuyBack, Amazon TradeIn, and Amazon Basics. Building these programs  helped Faisal hone his ability to Dive Deep into business processes and health. Since leaving Amazon in 2011, Faisal held a number of VP and C-level roles for companies such as eBay, Groupon, Staples, and Google, before joining Fabric as CEO in 2020. 

In this episode, Faisal shares key examples and insights about the Dive Deep principle and his approach to leadership and building an organizational culture. At Fabric – a fast-growing tech startup with two funding rounds in the first half 2021 – Faisal has pulled talent, practices, and values from Amazon, Google, and other top companies to form the current culture at Fabric. Listeners are likely to find valuable insights into how leaders can evaluate the best principles of past companies and apply them in their current work and team building.  

Mentioned in the podcast:

Fabric: fabric.inc

Faisal on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/faisal/

Faisal on Twitter: @FaisMasud

Coffee + Commerce Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/coffee-commerce/id1546141800


More from the episode:

1:40 – Faisal’s journey at Amazon and insights behind the businesses he led

7:20 – Challenges to scaling Amazon TradeIn

9:20 – Single-threaded leaders and document writing as key mechanisms to drive stakeholder engagement

10:29 – Using customer-level anecdotes and asking uncomfortable questions to understand the health of a business

20:00 – Dive Deep mechanisms from Amazon that have and have not transferred well in other organizations

25:33 – Top leadership practices that Faisal picked up outside of Amazon

29:16 – Establishing cultural values (i.e. leadership principles) at Fabric

30:49 – Amazon practices and principles adapted at Fabric

34:25 – How leaders can Dive Deep, regardless of the business culture they find themselves in

Elizabeth spent 15 years at Amazon where she grew multiple billion-dollar businesses and held several roles including Director of Lawn & Garden and Director and General Manager of Business & Technology for Selling Partner Success prior to joining Kraft Heinz as VP of Global eCommerce. 

In our conversation, Elizabeth shares the people-leadership practices that she built throughout her Amazon career and continues to apply in her role at Kraft Heinz. We also dig into how to balance flexibility with having relentlessly high standards and how to develop operational excellence when leading nascent businesses. You’ll be sure to enjoy Elizabeth’s candid advice, stories, and mechanisms throughout this episode. 

Mentioned in the podcast: 

Elizabeth on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/elizabeth-bennett-5b82361/

John Rossman joined Amazon in 2002 as Director of Merchant Integration where he led the launch of Amazon’s 3P marketplace business. John also went on to lead the e-commerce solutions business for enterprise clients such as Target.com and Toys R Us before leaving in late 2005 to advise many companies on innovation and digital strategy and write three books on applying Amazon’s principles and mechanisms in business. 

In our conversation, we discuss the foundational considerations and steps to launching Amazon’s seller marketplace, including tradeoffs and key internal decisions to think long term about building a platform business. We examine the Invent & Simplify leadership principle and several practices leaders can take to better operate their businesses while continually innovating. Finally, we discuss Amazon’s newly-released leadership principles and what the next 25 years may look like for Amazon.

Learn more about John: 

On LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/john-rossman/

At Rossman Partners: https://the-amazon-way.com/rossman-partners

Published Books: https://the-amazon-way.com/books/

More from the episode: 

1:50 – What it was like joining Amazon in 2002

7:20 – Amazon’s early vision for its Marketplace business and focus on customer trust

11:45 – The challenges to launching an integrated and seamless online shopping experience

17:45 – Forcing functions to help leaders ensure simplicity and clarity

21:50 – Early efforts to simplify selling on Amazon for brands and resellers

26:10 – Clarifying and simplifying as hallmark attributes of Amazon

28:50 – Learning from Amazon’s focus on measurement to create action and accountability

31:26 – Thoughts on Amazon’s two new leadership principles

Godwin spent 5 years at Amazon as a senior leader of product, retail and program teams. In each role, he led new innovations or launches for Amazon customers. Post Amazon, Godwin spent two years leading a business turnaround and is currently the co-founder at a real-estate tech startup where he continues to leverage the innovation processes he practiced at Amazon. 

In this episode, you’ll hear how Godwin uses customer focus and document writing to develop and refine new solutions for customers. Specifically, Godwin shares how he uses Press Release and Frequently Asked Question (PRFAQ) doc writing to clarify customer benefits and business requirements, which Amazon leadership principles he’s leveraged in businesses outside of Amazon, and why he continues to use written narratives in his startup work today. 

Mentioned in the podcast: 

Godwin on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/godwinpavamani/

Vive: https://gotvive.com/

Dave spent over 10 years at Amazon where he was a Technology Director prior to being asked to build the technology foundations for Bezos Academy. 

In Part 2 of our conversation, Dave shares his experience as a bar raiser and member of Amazon’s Bar Raiser Core team, a committee tasked with directing how Amazon’s bar raiser hiring program would operate and grow. In this segment of the conversation, Dave shares how Amazon thinks about managing both the quality and quantity of bar raisers to meet the organizations growing needs and demands. Any business curious about designing, managing, or optimizing a hiring control program will find great insights from Dave’s thoughts and experience in this episode.  

Follow Dave: 

On LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/scarletink/

Leadership blog: https://www.scarletink.com/

Dave spent over 10 years at Amazon where he was a Technology Director prior to being asked to build the technology foundations for Bezos Academy. 

In Part 1 of our conversation, Dave shares his experience and advice on how to develop leaders and accelerate their learning and career development. During his years at Amazon, Dave coached, mentored, and promoted many Amazon leaders and was also promoted three times himself. Throughout the conversation, Dave shares insights, lessons learned, and best practices for developing the best talent. If you are working to develop your leadership scope or building your people management skills, you’ll be sure to pick up some actionable steps from this episode.

Follow Dave: 

On LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/scarletink/

Leadership blog: https://www.scarletink.com/

Colin spent 12 years on Amazon’s senior leadership team, including two years as “Chief of Staff” to Jeff Bezos. During this time, Colin had a front-row seat to the development and implementation of Amazon’s core operating principles and mechanisms, such as written memos, single-threaded teams, and the bar raiser program. 

In early 2021, Colin, along with fellow ex-Amazon VP Bill Carr, released the book “Working Backwards: Insights, Stories, and Secrets from Inside Amazon.” 


In this episode, host Tyler Wallis sits down with Colin to discuss questions submitted by podcast listeners. The ensuing conversation dives deep into Amazon’s innovation machine, what it was like shadowing Jeff Bezos, and how companies of various sizes and industries are applying Amazon’s operating principles to realize growth in their own organizations. 

Check out Colin’s book:  https://www.workingbackwards.com/

Follow Colin on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/colinbryar/