Think Like Amazon

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/

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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: [email protected]

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In part two of this 2-episode special with Steve Frazier, a former 20-year Amazon VP, we pick up in talking about how to use data, focus on inputs, and exercise strong judgement in prioritizing your team’s attention in a scaling business.

You’ll hear Steve share: 

·        Why businesses should focus on operational performance reviews, even on day 1

·        The 2 magical metrics that helped Amazon stay focused on the right actions as it scaled

·        The litmus test for a leader to know they have their team focused on the right inputs

·        Why Amazon focuses on the smallest defects in performance

·        Learning from both successes and failures

·        How being a reporter for The Wall Street Journal helped shape Steve’s approach in business

Steve on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sfrazier/

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Steve spent over 20 years as a VP at Amazon where he launched multiple businesses and led organizations around the globe. During his Amazon career, Steve spent time as the country manager for Amazon UK and Amazon China, in addition to roles leading North American Retail expansion and the rollout of international consumer programs. 

In this first installment of our two-episode conversation with Steve, we discuss Amazon’s approach to expanding businesses internationally and what it was like to lead international teams during Amazon’s earlier years. Steve shares how Amazon prioritized efforts to launch internationally, including a few mistakes made along the way and the mental models that ultimately led to Amazon’s international success. 

You’ll also hear Steve share: 

·        How to manage risk and capital expenditure when setting the pace for international expansion

·        When to copy past models vs. create a localized strategy

·        The four decision buckets that need should be covered when launching a new country, and the relative Importance of getting each category right

·        A few costly mistakes, and how Amazon learned from these experiences

·        How to adapt a launch strategy in step with the growing product or service offering of your business

·        Practices for disseminating learning during a launch in order to de-risk future market launches

Steve on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sfrazier/

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Umer spent nearly 12 years at Amazon as a software development leader across a diverse set of businesses including Amazon’s data warehouse, reverse logistics, Prime Now program, Amazon Fresh, and Whole Foods Market. Umer left Amazon in early 2018 to co-found Veeve, a contact-less shopping checkout solution, and in early 2021, Umer took on the role of CTO at fabric.inc, a high-growth startup providing headless commerce solutions for retail businesses.

In this interview, Umer shares how Amazon mechanisms helped him scale businesses to hundreds of employees and billions in revenue. Umer discusses how he identifies the right objectives and mechanisms needed to fit the core goals and lifecycle of a businesses and when to think about improving or changing and pivot existing mechanisms. You’ll also here examples of three mechanisms that Umer used at Amazon and has successfully applied in leading tech startups: Corrections of Errors, PRFAQs, and Change Management. Umer also addresses how mechanisms can help with VC fundraising and in building company culture.

Mentioned in the Episode: 

fabric Blog: https://resources.fabric.inc/blog

Umer on Twitter: @umersadiq 

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Mandy spent over 13 years at Amazon across a number of roles including as leader of product management, marketing, and retail buying teams, running Prime Pantry, leading the supply chain function for Amazon Private Label, and leading worldwide employee performance management programs. Since Amazon, Mandy has joined The Bouqs, an innovative e-commerce floral delivery service, where she is now VP of People and applying her input focused approach to driving improvements to organizational health. 

In this episode, Mandy shares how gaining broad functional experience in the first half of a career can be a key asset as a leader, the 3 pillars to becoming an effective multi-function leader, how to use inputs to make decisions at a large scale, and why organizations should collect more employee data to navigate successfully through changing work environments. If you’re trying to scale your impact, are involved in people management, or perhaps are just curious about how to leverage your past functional experience, this is a conversation you won't want to miss.

Mentioned in the episode:

The Bouqs:  Bouqs.com

Mandy on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mandybottorff/

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Justin spent 10 years at Amazon where he helped lead Baby Registry to becoming the #1 US registry, reinvented the vendor negotiation process that led to $1B in profitability improvements, and received a "Just Do It" award from Jeff Bezos for inventing a new communication system for vendors and sellers. In 2019, Justin left his role as Director of Amazon Device Sales and Marketing Technology to pursue several entrepreneurial endeavors. Today, Justin is the CEO of Data Spark, a technology company bringing actionable insights to brands and sellers on Walmart Marketplace.

In this episode, Justin returns to the podcast to discuss Amazon’s Earn Trust principle. As you listen, you’ll hear Justin share actionable steps to build stronger trust as a leader in your organization. A few highlights from our conversation include:

·        Why Earn Trust is the principle that surfaces most as people move up in their career

·        How one Amazon VP turned Earn Trust into a mechanism

·        The 4 elements that make up trust

·        Dealing with a blind spot and why Justin spent a whole day traveling for a 30-minute 1:1 meeting that made all the difference

·        Taming the ego by remembering what you want the most and the power of option

Mentioned in the podcast: 

Data Spark:  https://dataspark.co/

Justin on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/justinmaner/

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Chad spent nearly 16 years at Amazon which included roles as Director of Fulfillment by Amazon and Director of Global Sales. Having joined Amazon in 1999, Chad helped build and develop many teams to lead these and other core Amazon businesses. Chad left Amazon in 2015 to build and co-lead The Goelzer Home Team and improve the customer focus and use of technology in real estate. 

In this episode, you’ll enjoy Chad’s passion for creating and communicating a business vision and building teams. Chad shares his framework for building a team and making key hires as well as his fresh approach to inviting deep questions about business health. You’ll be sure to enjoy Chad’s enthusiasm, candor, and advice throughout this episode. 

Mentioned in the podcast: 

The Goelzer Home Team: https://goelzerhometeam.com/

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Dave spent nearly 12 years at Amazon moving from a Development Manager to a Technology Director. In early 2020, Dave took on the role as Head of Technology for Bezos Academy where he spent over a year building their technology foundation. Since leaving Amazon and Bezos Academy in 2021, Dave has begun publishing regular leadership articles on his newsletter, Scarlet Ink.

In this episode, Dave and I dive into the Frugality principle and how it is ingrained in the resource allocation, long-term thinking, and innovation engine of Amazon. Dave shares how frugality, when properly applied, can lead to better product roadmaps, higher profit, greater levels of innovation, and improved employee engagement and autonomy. Dave also shares a few of the needed ingredients an organization should include to mitigate the potential downsides of a constraints-based approach to assigning resources and defining roadmaps.  

Mentioned in the podcast:

Scarlet Ink: https://www.scarletink.com/ 

Dave on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/scarletink/

Melissa spent 19 years at Amazon, progressing through over ten roles that included Technical Advisor to Jeff Wilke, VP of Sports, Outdoors, and Toys, and VP of Sales and Marketing for Amazon Devices. After leaving Amazon, Melissa spent a year as COO of Glossier and recently launched a venture-backed startup, Modern Age, to help people live longer, healthier, happier lives. 

In our conversation, we discuss Amazon’s Learn & Be Curious principle and how consistent curiosity and focused learning have helped Melissa find success throughout her career while innovating for customers and developing others along the way. If you’ve found yourself wanting to live an invigorating career and stay excited about each day of work, you’re sure to find practical advice in Melissa’s wisdom and inspiration from her journey.

Mentioned in the podcast: 

Modern Age: https://modern-age.com/

Melissa on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kirmayer/