GeekWire

On this episode of the GeekWire Podcast, recorded on location at Amazon re:MARS in Las Vegas, we sit down with Tye Brady, Amazon Robotics chief technologist, to talk about the company's new warehouse robots. Then we jump on the line to reconnect with recent GeekWire Podcast guest Philip Su, a former Microsoft and Facebook software engineering leader who worked the peak season last year inside an Amazon warehouse, to get his take after he watched the keynote.

• Hear more about Philip Su's experience in his 15-episode podcast series, Peak Salvation, and in our prior GeekWire Podcast conversation, published June 11.
• Watch Amazon Robotics chief technologist Ty Brady's re:MARS keynote here, and see our earlier coverage of Amazon's new robots, including videos of them in action.

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In many ways, Jeff Bezos would seem to have it all. But when is enough enough?

In the new book, "Career Self-Care: Find Your Happiness, Success, and Fulfillment at Work," Inc. magazine columnist and Seattle-area author Minda Zetlin points to the Amazon founder's push for financial incentives in the company's search for a second headquarters as a prime example of "the dirty little secret about success."

After Amazon's choice of Queens, N.Y., backfired due to objections over financial incentives, a report by Bloomberg News revealed that Bezos and Amazon had originally been motivated in part by envy over the incentives that Elon Musk and Tesla were getting from Nevada for building their gigafactory there, despite much different circumstances.

Zetlin sees in this anecdote a lesson for the rest of us.

"We spend our whole lives pursuing success. But where is that spot, exactly?" she says. "If you're the richest person in the world, which he was at that time, and you're still not satisfied, you're still not happy, you're still jealous of somebody else, it just seems to illustrate that there is no there there."

Zetlin's book draws on her reporting, interviews and experiences to examine self-care with the underlying assumption that, for many of us, work and the rest of our  lives are now inevitably intertwined. she joins us on this episode of the GeekWire Podcast to talk about these topics and more from her book.

With GeekWire co-founder Todd Bishop. Audio editing by Curt Milton. Theme music by Daniel L.K. Caldwell.

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Philip Su, a software engineering leader turned non-profit founder, decided to shake up his life last fall — seeking an antidote to his seasonal depression in a job with more structure and less pay than he had experienced in many years.

Su worked the peak season at Amazon's giant flagship warehouse south of Seattle, in Kent, Wash., known by the code name BFI4 inside the company. It was a life-changing and eye-opening experience, as Su documents in his 15-episode podcast series, Peak Salvation.

A former Microsoft software engineer who was the second employee at Facebook's Seattle engineering office, Su led the London engineering office for Facebook (now Meta), then founded and ran the global health software nonprofit Audere before adding Amazon warehouse worker to his LinkedIn profile.

A newcomer to the front lines of global fulfillment, Su readily acknowledges that there could very well be good reasons for some of the quirks that he perceived as dysfunctions. Not only that, but he was a short-term worker, with a tenure of less than two months. He’s no logistics expert.

However, he brought fresh eyes and an engineer’s mind to the e-commerce giant’s operational nerve center. So we asked Su what changes he would make, based on his experience and observations. 

With GeekWire's Todd Bishop; Audio editing by Curt Milton.

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What the heck is going on in the economy, and how will the current market gyrations and geopolitical uncertainty impact startups and venture capital?

To help answer these questions we invited Tim Porter to join us this week on the GeekWire Podcast. He's a Madrona Venture Group managing director who has invested in early-stage technology startups at the Seattle-based venture capital firm for the past 15 years, in areas including cloud, AI and enterprise software companies.

Follow along with our extended notes from the discussion.

With GeekWire co-founder John Cook. Edited by Curt Milton; Theme Music by Daniel L.K. Caldwell.

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Conceding that the rise of labor unions in tech may ultimately reach its own business, Microsoft released a new set of principles Thursday acknowledging the rights of its employees to organize, pledging to work constructively with any who do, and making it clear that it hopes they won't feel the need. 

The move follows a union vote last week by the quality assurance team inside Activision-Blizzard subsidiary Raven Software, maker of Call of Duty. Microsoft needs regulatory approval for its $68.7 billion deal to acquire Activision Blizzard. Its approach contrasts with its fellow Seattle-area corporate giants Amazon and Starbucks, which have opposed the formation of labor unions by their workers.

What's really going on here? On this episode, we talk with Microsoft President Brad Smith — getting his explanation of the principles, the reasons for creating them, and the broader context around them. We also get reaction and analysis from Marcus Courtney, who led an effort to organize Microsoft's temporary workforce starting in the late 1990s as co-founder of the Washington Alliance of Technology Workers.

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Addressing the issue of warehouse worker safety in response to a shareholder question this week, Amazon CEO Andy Jassy described the company's safety initiatives — most of them related to technology and invention. The focus on innovation is "true to their DNA," says former Amazon general manager and retail category leader Andrea Leigh, who is now founder and CEO of the Allume Group, an e-commerce learning company. 

Looking at it from Amazon's perspective, the approach makes sense, she points out: "If you have half a million or more warehouse workers, you are probably thinking about it algorithmically."  But labor unions and employees are focused more on the individual human impact. "And I think those two points of view just won't ever marry," Leigh says.

That's one of the takeaways from this discussion with Leigh, recapping and analyzing Amazon's annual meeting this week. Several shareholder proposals at the meeting addressed employee issues including warehouse worker safety and unionization. 

Related Coverage

• In unusually close votes, Amazon shareholders send messages on exec pay, labor, and environment
• Amazon shareholders approve 20:1 stock split, vote down record 15 proposals at annual meeting
• Here’s how Amazon plans to rein in costs in quest to restore its consumer business to profitability
• Has Amazon found its fourth pillar? Revisiting a key question for the company’s future

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Our guest this week is Matt Hulett, a veteran of the Seattle tech community and the author of the new book, Unlock: 5 Questions to Unleash Your Company’s Hidden Power, published by Page Two Books.

A former executive with companies including Expedia, Mpire, Rosetta Stone and RealNetworks, Hulett is now the CEO and president of PetMed Express, a publicly traded, Florida-based online pet pharmacy. 

We talk about finding the right market segment to pursue, how startups and investors should approach the potential of an economic downturn, tips for competing with tech giants, the role that private capital can play in turning around struggling businesses, and how to think about competition, among other topics.

Read our notes on the discussion here.

Related Stories

• Book Excerpt: 5 questions that will help unleash your company’s hidden power
• Expedia Group unveils new tech platform for travel industry, and scoring system for hotels
• Facing NASDAQ delisting, RealNetworks CEO Rob Glaser makes bid to take company private
• Startups, superheroes, and the economy at a crossroads: Voices from Seattle’s tech community

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PITTSBURGH — In his 22 years at Amazon, including his role as the first CEO of the company’s Worldwide Consumer business, Jeff Wilke always kept the place he was raised, and the people he grew up with, in the back of his mind.

“I always wanted to lead in a way that if I went back, and people from high school could ask me anything about what I was encountering, the decisions I made, how I made them, that they’d be proud of me,” Wilke said.

Born at Allegheny General Hospital in 1966, Wilke grew up in the community of Green Tree, Pa., just outside of Pittsburgh. He wore flannel shirts to class at the public high school, Keystone Oaks, and played baseball in the shadow of the water tower still visible from the Parkway on the drive into the city.

In addition to shaping his values as a leader, his hometown gave him a first-hand view of the decline of the steel industry that had put Pittsburgh at the center of the industrial revolution. In the decades that followed, Pittsburgh’s role in the rise of robotics and artificial intelligence have made the city an emblem of U.S. resilience and reinvention.

Since leaving Amazon last year, Wilke has returned to his industrial roots as the chairman and co-founder of Re:Build Manufacturing, a Massachusetts-based company seeking to revive the U.S. manufacturing industry. Re:Build has made nine acquisitions, in areas including engineering services and advanced materials, with 600 employees in eight states.

We caught up with Wilke as part of GeekWire’s recent return to Pittsburgh, talking about his upbringing and history in the city, and his outlook for the future of robotics, AI, automation and U.S. manufacturing.

Previous Podcast: After helping Amazon reinvent commerce, Jeff Wilke turns attention to reviving U.S. manufacturing

Related Coverage: GeekWire's return trip to Pittsburgh

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After holding the GeekWire Awards virtually for the past two years, there was a feeling of real catharsis Thursday evening as hundreds of people streamed through the doors of the Showbox Sodo in Seattle for our annual celebration of the Pacific Northwest's top tech startups, leaders, and innovations.

For the finalists in the 2022 GeekWire Awards, recognition at the superhero-themed show came with the added bonus of knowing that their companies made it through a period of unprecedented challenge and change.

But the week also brought a new sense of uncertainty about what's to come.

[Related Post: 2022 GeekWire Awards revealed: Community celebrates big winners in Pacific NW tech]

Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi's widely cited memo on Monday was a flashpoint for the tech industry, adding to existing concerns by warning of a “seismic shift” in the markets, signaling tougher times and tighter belts ahead. Some of the startup CEOs in attendance acknowledged reading his message closely.

So we took our cues from the backdrop, literally and figuratively — inviting tech leaders aside at the event to ask questions such as:

• What's your take on the possibility of new economic realities?
• What are your biggest challenges and priorities for the rest of the year?
• And, of course: which superhero best reflects your company's ethos?

The result was a glimpse into the collective psyche of the tech community in a key U.S. innovation hub, at a pivotal moment for the country and the world.

Guests on this episode, in order of appearance:

• Xiao Wang, CEO of Boundless Immigration, finalist for CEO of the Year.
• Maria Karaivanova, co-founder & COO of WhyLabs.
• Varun Puri, co-founder of Yoodli, winner of Young Entrepreneur of the Year with his co-founder Esha Joshi.
• Lisa Gurry, COO of Truveta, winner of Health Innovation of the Year
• Dave Cotter, chief product officer of Leafly, and chair of the Washington Technology Industry Association, sponsor of the Public Policy Champion for Innovation Award.
• Laura Ruderman, Technology Alliance CEO.
• David Kirtley, founder and CEO of Helion, finalist for Innovation of the Year.
• Stephanie Winslow, Teacher, South Kitsap High School, one of three STEM Educators of the Year.
• Grant Goodale, carrier experience officer, Convoy, past winner of Next Tech Titan.
• Mo Bhende, co-founder & CEO at Karat, finalist for Next Tech Titan.
• Faisal Masud, CEO of Fabric, finalist for Next Tech Titan.
• Kiana Pan, president of CodingDojo, honoree in the Geeks Give Back category.
• Tushar Garg, CEO of Flyhomes, finalist for Workplace of the Year.
• Byron Baker, head of design at Blink UX, sponsor and judge in UX Design of the Year.

Thanks to the tech leaders who answered our questions, to our GeekWire Awards attendees, finalists, and sponsors, and to our social media partner Jordan Curtis of Line Leader Media for his help with this episode. 

Read about all of the GeekWire Awards finalists and winners in our special coverage.

Related Episodes:

• Immigration and tech: New realities, old problems, and what’s at stake for the future
• Key trends in digital commerce, with the former Amazon exec leading Seattle’s newest unicorn
• Ungrading? Letting kids teach IT? GeekWire Award-winning STEM teachers share innovative strategies

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One of the most memorable lines of the past two decades in video games was delivered not by a character in a game but by an executive on stage.

“My name is Reggie. I’m about kicking ass and taking names — and we’re about making games,” declared Reggie Fils-Aimé, introducing himself during Nintendo’s presentation at the E3 convention in Los Angeles in 2004.

The line represented a new attitude from Nintendo, a statement that the legendary game company hadn’t given up in its battle against the would-be bosses of the industry, Sony and Microsoft. It marked the beginning of a resurgence for the Japanese company and its Redmond, Wash.-based subsidiary, Nintendo of America, which Fils-Aimé would go on to lead as president and chief operating officer.

But it actually wasn’t how that line was originally drafted.

The last-minute change is one of many behind-the-scenes stories told by the retired Nintendo of America executive in his new book, “Disrupting the Game: From the Bronx to the Top of Nintendo.”

The book combines Fils-Aimé’s life story with leadership insights and some eye-opening anecdotes for fans of Nintendo and video games, including inside details about his working relationships with legendary game designer Shigeru Miyamoto and late Nintendo President and CEO Satoru Iwata.

Reggie Fils-Aimé joins us on this episode of the GeekWire Podcast to talk about his career, his book, and what’s next in video games. He also shares the story of that pivotal introductory line, how it was originally supposed to be delivered, and the larger significance of the change that was made on the eve of the event.

Read more on GeekWire.

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