Book Notes #51: Working Backwards by Bill Carr and Colin Bryar

Title: Working Backwards: Insights, Stories, and Secrets from Inside Amazon
Author: Colin Bryar and Bill Carr
Year: 2021
Pages: 320

Amazon didn’t become one of the most successful companies in the world by accident.

Behind the fast shipping and endless selection is a carefully crafted culture, a set of clear principles, and some surprisingly simple tools.

Working Backwards, written by two long-time Amazon executives, Colin Bryar and Bill Carr, gives us a front-row seat to how the company thinks, decides, hires, builds, and learns.

But this isn’t just a book about Amazon—it’s a book about how any company, team, or person can improve how they work by thinking a little differently.

As a result, I gave this book a rating of 7.0/10.

For me, a book with a note 10 is one I consider reading again every year. Among the books I rank with 10, for example, are How to Win Friends and Influence People and Factfulness.

3 Reasons to Read Working Backwards

Book Overview

Have you ever wondered what really makes Amazon work?

Not just the fast deliveries or endless product selection, but the way the company operates behind the scenes—how decisions are made, how products are built, and how a business that started with books became one of the most powerful forces in tech and retail.

Working Backwards, written by two former Amazon executives, Colin Bryar and Bill Carr, takes us on a fascinating tour through the inner workings of the company, revealing the principles and processes that shaped its culture and fueled its incredible growth.

One of the central themes that runs through the book is Amazon’s deep obsession with the customer. It’s not just a catchphrase. At Amazon, everything starts and ends with the customer experience.

From Jeff Bezos personally reviewing customer service emails in the early days to teams designing new products by imagining what the perfect press release would look like, customer focus isn’t just encouraged—it’s expected.

The idea is simple: if you make the customer experience better, everything else will follow. Revenue, loyalty, innovation—they’re all byproducts of putting the customer first.

The authors introduce one of Amazon’s most fascinating tools: the Working Backwards process. It’s a method used to develop new ideas by starting with the end in mind. Before building anything, teams write a hypothetical press release and a list of FAQs that imagine the product as if it were already launched. This exercise forces clarity.

It makes people think about why the product matters, who it’s for, what problems it solves, and how it’s different. What’s interesting is that this process doesn’t begin with features or tech specs—it begins with how a customer would talk about it. And once that’s clear, the team works backward to bring it to life.

This mindset was key in the development of products like the Kindle and Amazon Web Services (AWS).

Instead of simply building what competitors were already doing, Amazon reimagined the entire experience from the ground up. With Kindle, they didn’t just digitize books—they solved for things like instant access, readability, and battery life.

With AWS, they realized that developers needed flexible, reliable infrastructure without the pain of managing servers. In both cases, the idea wasn’t to beat the competition—it was to create something customers would truly love.

Hiring is another area where Amazon refuses to settle. The book explains how the company developed the Bar Raiser process, a unique approach that ensures every new hire is at least as good as, if not better than, the average Amazonian.

It’s not about filling roles quickly—it’s about protecting the culture and constantly raising the talent bar. A Bar Raiser can even veto a hire if they don’t believe the candidate meets Amazon’s standards. This may seem harsh, but it’s part of a long-term strategy: hire people who not only fit but push the company forward.

Then there’s how Amazon measures success. While most companies focus on outputs—like revenue, profits, or market share—Amazon zeroes in on inputs. These are things you can control, like how many products are in stock, how fast pages load, or how easy it is to find what you’re looking for.

The logic is that if you get the inputs right, the outputs will follow. It’s a subtle but powerful shift in thinking. Rather than obsessing over quarterly results, Amazon invests in the things that drive long-term growth.

Meetings at Amazon are also different. PowerPoint is banned. Instead, everyone reads a six-page narrative at the beginning of the meeting in complete silence. It sounds strange at first, but the effect is profound. Everyone starts with the same information.

The quality of the writing forces the author to think more clearly, and the discussion that follows is sharper and more focused. It’s not about who gives the best presentation—it’s about who brings the clearest thinking to the table.

As the book wraps up, the authors reflect on what it means to be Amazonian beyond Amazon. The mindset—long-term thinking, a bias for action, customer obsession, and a willingness to challenge assumptions—can be applied anywhere. But they’re clear that adopting Amazon’s way of working isn’t easy.

It demands rigor, persistence, and sometimes a complete shift in how a company operates. Yet the payoff, they argue, is worth it.

Whether you’re running a startup or leading a team inside a big organization, these principles can help you build something that lasts.

Reading Working Backwards doesn’t just teach you how Amazon operates—it invites you to rethink how you work.

It challenges you to question if your decisions are truly driven by customer needs, if your metrics are helping or distracting you, and whether your processes are supporting real innovation or just maintaining the status quo.

It’s not a how-to manual. It’s a story about culture, clarity, and the discipline of doing things right—even when they’re hard. And by the end of it, you’re left with a simple question: What if we started working backwards too?

At the core of Amazon’s approach are 14 leadership principles:

Customer Obsession: Leaders start with the customer and work backwards. They work vigorously to earn and keep customer trust. Although leaders pay attention to competitors, they obsess over customers.

Ownership: Leaders are owners. They think long-term and don’t sacrifice long-term value for short-term results. They act on behalf of the entire company, beyond just their own team. They never say “that’s not my job.”

Invent and Simplify: Leaders expect and require innovation and invention from their teams and always find ways to simplify. They are externally aware, look for new ideas from everywhere, and are not limited by “not invented here.” As we do new things, we accept that we may be misunderstood for long periods of time.

Are Right, A Lot: Leaders are right a lot. They have strong judgment and good instincts. They seek diverse perspectives and work to disconfirm their beliefs.

Learn and Be Curious: Leaders are never done learning and always seek to improve themselves. They are curious about new possibilities and act to explore them.

Hire and Develop the Best: Leaders raise the performance bar with every hire and promotion. They recognize exceptional talent and willingly move them throughout the organization. Leaders develop leaders and take seriously their role in coaching others. We work on behalf of our people to invent mechanisms for development like Career Choice.

Insist on the Highest Standards: Leaders have relentlessly high standards — many people may think these standards are unreasonably high. Leaders are continually raising the bar and driving their teams to deliver high-quality products, services, and processes. Leaders ensure that defects do not get sent down the line and that problems are fixed so they stay fixed.

Think Big: Thinking small is a self-fulfilling prophecy. Leaders create and communicate a bold direction that inspires results. They think differently and look around corners for ways to serve customers.

Bias for Action: Speed matters in business. Many decisions and actions are reversible and do not need extensive study. We value calculated risk-taking. 

Frugality: Accomplish more with less. Constraints breed resourcefulness, self-sufficiency, and invention. There are no extra points for growing headcount, budget size, or fixed expenses.

Earn Trust: Leaders listen attentively, speak candidly, and treat others respectfully. They are vocally self-critical, even when doing so is awkward or embarrassing. Leaders do not believe their or their team’s body odor smells of perfume. They benchmark themselves and their teams against the best.

Dive Deep:Leaders operate at all levels, stay connected to the details, audit frequently, and are skeptical when metrics and anecdotes differ. No task is beneath them.

Have Backbone; Disagree and Commit: Leaders are obligated to respectfully challenge decisions when they disagree, even when doing so is uncomfortable or exhausting. Leaders have conviction and are tenacious. They do not compromise for the sake of social cohesion. Once a decision is determined, they commit wholly.

Deliver Results: Leaders focus on the key inputs for their business and deliver them with the right quality and in a timely fashion. Despite setbacks, they rise to the occasion and never settle.

Strive to be Earth’s Best Employer: Leaders work every day to create a safer, more productive, higher performing, more diverse, and more just work environment. They lead with empathy, have fun at work, and make it easy for others to have fun. Leaders ask themselves: Are my fellow employees growing? Are they empowered? Are they ready for what’s next? Leaders have a vision for and commitment to their employees’ personal success, whether that be at Amazon or elsewhere.

Success and Scale Bring Broad Responsibility: We started in a garage, but we’re not there anymore. We are big, we impact the world, and we are far from perfect. We must be humble and thoughtful about even the secondary effects of our actions. Our local communities, planet, and future generations need us to be better every day. We must begin each day with a determination to make better, do better, and be better for our customers, our employees, our partners, and the world at large. And we must end every day knowing we can do even more tomorrow. Leaders create more than they consume and always leave things better than how they found them.

These principles are not the only way to build a high-performing organization, but they have obviously and clearly worked for one of the world’s most successful companies of the current era.

Chapter by Chapter

Chapter 1 – Building Blocks: Leadership Principles and Mechanisms

Culture Built from Day One

From the beginning, Jeff Bezos didn’t just build a company—he built a culture. Amazon’s DNA was shaped by clear principles like customer obsession and high standards, which guided every decision, every email, and even how packages were shipped. Bezos believed that one bad customer experience could undo hundreds of good ones, and he held his small team to exacting expectations.

When Growth Demands Structure

As Amazon expanded, Jeff could no longer personally set the tone for every new hire. That’s when the company began formalizing what leadership meant. HR leader Robin Andrulevich led a months-long process interviewing top Amazonians to distill the unwritten culture into what became Amazon’s Leadership Principles—initially ten, now fourteen. These principles captured what already existed, rather than inventing something new.

Principles That Guide Everything

Amazon’s Leadership Principles aren’t posters on the wall—they’re used in hiring, performance reviews, meetings, and product decisions. They’re deeply embedded in how the company operates. You don’t memorize them—you live them. Whether it’s “Dive Deep,” “Think Big,” or “Have Backbone; Disagree and Commit,” these principles shape how Amazon thinks and acts.

Mechanisms Make It Stick

Intentions alone aren’t enough—Amazon uses mechanisms to make sure its principles lead to action. The company’s annual planning cycle (OP1 and OP2), S-Team goals, and long-term-focused compensation all align teams around the same priorities. These tools help scale the culture without losing it.

Incentives That Support the Long Game

Instead of chasing short-term performance bonuses, Amazon’s leaders are compensated primarily through equity. This rewards long-term thinking and discourages behavior that’s misaligned with customer value. Even subsidiaries like Zappos and IMDb follow this model, ensuring consistency across the broader organization.

Culture That Scales Without Losing Its Soul

As Amazon grew, it evolved its principles—adding new ones like “Learn and Be Curious,” and refining others. But the core idea remained: build a culture that supports bold ideas, high standards, and relentless customer focus. That’s what keeps Amazon peculiar—and effective.

Chapter 2 – Hiring: Amazon’s Unique Bar Raiser Process

The Importance of a Rigorous Hiring Process

Hiring is one of the most important decisions for any company, yet most organizations fail to give it the attention it deserves. The chapter starts with a powerful comparison: a CEO might spend hours analyzing major investments, but many companies don’t invest that much thought into hiring key people. At Amazon, this realization led to the development of the Bar Raiser process.

The Early Hiring Struggles at Amazon

Initially, Amazon struggled with hiring. Early on, the company hired people based on their SAT scores and how well they could answer abstract questions, like “How many windows are there in Seattle?” While these questions revealed intelligence, they didn’t tell Amazon whether someone would thrive in its culture. Bezos emphasized hiring “missionaries, not mercenaries”—people who believed in the company’s mission and would stick around for the long term.

Introducing the Bar Raiser Process

The Bar Raiser program, which began in 1999, was designed to address this problem. It was a structured approach to hiring that would ensure new hires were always at or above the bar set by the company. It wasn’t just about finding competent people; it was about ensuring that each new hire would raise the company’s standards. The program wasn’t top-down—it was born from a need to maintain Amazon’s culture as it grew.

How the Bar Raiser Process Works

The Bar Raiser process is a comprehensive, structured hiring system that includes several key steps:

1. Job Description: Clear and specific job descriptions are critical. They set the tone for the entire process and ensure everyone knows exactly what they’re hiring for.
2. Résumé Review: Recruiters and hiring managers sift through résumés to find candidates who meet the job requirements.
3. Phone Screen: This initial screening call ensures the candidate aligns with the job requirements before moving on to the in-house interview loop.
4. In-House Interview Loop: The in-house interviews involve multiple team members and include behavioral questions based on Amazon’s Leadership Principles. A Bar Raiser is always involved in this process to ensure consistency and prevent biases from influencing decisions.
5. Written Feedback: After interviews, each interviewer provides detailed written feedback to eliminate ambiguity and biases.
6. Debrief/Hiring Meeting: All interviewers meet to discuss feedback and make a final decision. The Bar Raiser ensures that biases are avoided and that the hiring decision is based on data.
7. Reference Check: Although this step has become less central, it’s still a part of the process to confirm a candidate’s background.
8. Offer and Onboarding: The hiring manager personally makes the offer to the candidate and stays engaged through the onboarding process.

The Role of the Bar Raiser

The Bar Raiser is a trained interviewer who participates in every hiring loop. Their role is to ensure that candidates meet Amazon’s high standards and that biases are minimized. They can veto any hire and override the hiring manager if the candidate doesn’t meet the bar. This process helps keep the standards high and ensures that every new hire strengthens the company.

Why the Bar Raiser Process Works

The Bar Raiser process is scalable, repeatable, and teachable. It reduces the chances of making a bad hire and ensures that Amazon’s culture and standards are maintained. While many hiring processes rely on “gut feel,” the Bar Raiser system is data-driven, reducing personal biases and increasing the likelihood of making good hiring decisions.

The Benefits of a Consistent Process

The Bar Raiser process ensures that Amazon hires people who not only meet the company’s high standards but also embody its culture. The process has been critical to Amazon’s success and has helped the company grow while maintaining its unique culture.

Challenges and Variations of the Bar Raiser

Despite its success, the Bar Raiser process has faced resistance, especially from managers who are under pressure to hire quickly. However, Amazon has never allowed shortcuts, ensuring that hiring decisions are made thoughtfully and without urgency. The process has also evolved over time, with adaptations to improve diversity and inclusion.

Chapter 3 – Organizing: Separable, Single-Threaded Leadership

The Growing Challenge of Coordination

As Amazon grew, so did its complexity. What once felt like a small, nimble team became a large machine with many interdependent parts. The problem was clear: coordination. The bigger Amazon got, the more time teams spent talking instead of building. More employees meant more dependencies, and every dependency required coordination, which slowed everything down.

The Need for Single-Threaded Leadership

Amazon realized that too much coordination was stifling progress. The solution was single-threaded leadership—a person completely dedicated to one project, with full responsibility for driving it forward. This approach made sense for innovation because it allowed leaders to focus entirely on solving one problem, without being distracted by other responsibilities.

The Two-Pizza Team Concept

Jeff Bezos proposed a radical solution: two-pizza teams, where each team could be no larger than what two pizzas could feed. These teams would operate autonomously, with minimal dependencies on other teams. The idea was that the smaller and more focused the team, the faster it could innovate. The real challenge, however, was to ensure each team had a clear purpose and the authority to execute without interference.

The Shift to Autonomous Teams

The move to autonomous, single-threaded teams wasn’t instantaneous. It required significant changes to Amazon’s software architecture and organizational structure. Teams needed to be self-contained, with clear ownership over their areas. This shift allowed Amazon to scale quickly without sacrificing innovation. Teams could now operate independently, using APIs to interact with other teams without constant coordination.

Building the Right Team

For this model to work, the teams needed strong, multidisciplined leaders. These leaders were responsible for hiring, managing, and directing their teams, ensuring they had the autonomy to make decisions and the accountability to meet their goals.

Learning from the Early Days

As Amazon’s teams embraced autonomy, it became clear that success didn’t happen overnight. Some teams struggled with dependencies and had to spend significant time removing obstacles before they could innovate. The most successful teams, however, invested the upfront time to eliminate these dependencies, setting the stage for faster, more effective innovation.

A Key Insight: Smaller Isn’t Always Better

While the two-pizza model worked well in product development, it wasn’t always the right fit in other areas like legal or HR. Over time, Amazon realized that what really mattered was not just the size of the team, but whether it had the right leadership and the freedom to execute. This led to the evolution of the single-threaded leader (STL), which was a more scalable and flexible version of the original two-pizza team concept.

The Power of Single-Threaded Leadership

The concept of single-threaded leadership revolutionized how Amazon operated. By giving leaders full responsibility for a single project, Amazon ensured that teams could move quickly and without being bogged down by competing priorities. This approach allowed Amazon to maintain its rapid pace of innovation, even as it expanded.

Chapter 4 – Communicating: Narratives and the Six-Pager

Why Amazon Banned PowerPoint

Amazon’s approach to communication is unique—no PowerPoint presentations in S-Team meetings. Instead, Amazon uses written narratives, with the six-pager being the most common format. This shift came after Jeff Bezos and his team realized that PowerPoint couldn’t capture the complexity of ideas and decision-making they needed. PowerPoint slides often oversimplified, stripped nuance, and distracted from real, deep discussions.

The Silent Reading Period

When a meeting starts, everyone sits quietly for 20 minutes to read the six-pager before any discussion begins. This period of silence can feel awkward at first, but it serves a critical purpose. It allows everyone to digest the information thoroughly and come to the meeting prepared to dive into the discussion. This also helps create a more level playing field, where the quality of the idea, not the presenter’s performance, drives the conversation.

The Six-Pager Format

The six-pager serves as the primary communication tool at Amazon, replacing PowerPoint entirely. It’s a written document—no bullet points, no flashy slides, just clear, well-thought-out prose. The idea is that writing a detailed narrative forces the author to think through the idea deeply, structure it logically, and anticipate questions or objections. The six-pager is concise (maximum six pages), focused, and includes key data and analysis without relying on visual gimmicks.

The Cognitive Benefits of Narratives

The narrative format has several key advantages over PowerPoint. First, it promotes clarity of thought. Writing a narrative forces the writer to fully articulate their arguments and ideas. It also allows for better interconnection of ideas, something that PowerPoint’s linear format can’t achieve. The result is a more informed, more engaged discussion. The narrative information multiplier shows that a six-pager contains 7 to 9 times the information of a typical PowerPoint slide.

The Advantages for Presenters and Readers

For presenters, the narrative format removes the pressure of performing in front of an audience. It’s not about flashy slides or persuasive speaking; it’s about the quality of the idea itself. For readers, the format ensures they’re getting complete information. They can read at their own pace, annotate the document, and engage with the content deeply. Everyone has access to the same information before the discussion starts, leveling the playing field and fostering better feedback.

Critical Thinking and Feedback

The narrative format encourages deeper critical thinking, both from the presenter and the audience. Readers are expected to challenge the content, ask tough questions, and suggest improvements. This process of collaborative feedback leads to better ideas and stronger decisions. It’s a culture of “thinking deeply together”—both the writer and the reader are responsible for refining the ideas and making them better.

Making the Switch to Narratives

Transitioning from PowerPoint wasn’t easy. It required a cultural shift, and at first, people resisted. But once they saw the benefits of clear, deep thinking and more focused discussions, the change became a key part of Amazon’s success.

The six-pager has become central to Amazon’s decision-making process. It’s not just about communication—it’s about ensuring that ideas are thoroughly examined, understood, and refined before any decision is made.

Chapter 5 – Working Backwards: Start with the Desired Customer Experience

Starting with the Customer

Amazon’s innovation process isn’t about rushing to build a product and then figuring out how to sell it. Instead, it’s about starting with the customer experience and working backward from there. This approach is called “Working Backwards,” and it has been central to Amazon’s success. It’s a systematic way to create new products, and it begins by defining the customer experience before anything is built.

The PR/FAQ: A Critical Tool

The main tool used in the Working Backwards process is the PR/FAQ—a combination of a press release and a list of frequently asked questions. This document is written before the product is built. It starts with a press release as if the product is already ready to launch, announcing the product from the customer’s point of view. The accompanying FAQ addresses the likely questions from both customers and internal stakeholders, forcing the team to think through every aspect of the product in detail.

The Birth of Working Backwards

The process wasn’t born out of perfection—it was a result of trial and error. Early on, Amazon’s product teams would present ideas with PowerPoint slides and financial models, but Jeff Bezos wasn’t satisfied. He wanted teams to dig deeper into the customer experience—not just the business side of things. This led to the development of the PR/FAQ, which pushed teams to work backward from the customer’s perspective rather than starting with the product or technology.

The First Test: Digital Media

Bill Carr, who was tasked with building Amazon’s digital media business, shares how this method transformed their approach. Initially, the team relied on traditional business models, focusing on financial projections and market share. But Jeff pushed them to rethink their approach. Instead of starting with spreadsheets, they started writing narratives—detailed documents that forced them to fully consider every aspect of the customer experience. The PR/FAQ approach helped them realize that a great product wasn’t just about having good technology; it had to solve real customer problems.

The Kindle Example: The Power of the PR/FAQ

One of the most famous examples of the Working Backwards method is the creation of the Kindle. In the early stages, the team was focused on the technical challenges of creating a new e-book reader. But after writing the PR/FAQ, they shifted their focus to what the customer truly needed: a great reading experience, easy access to books, and a device that was simple to use. By focusing on the customer first, they were able to create the breakthrough Kindle device.

The Benefits of the PR/FAQ

The PR/FAQ forces teams to think in terms of customer impact, not just internal metrics. It makes everyone involved clearly understand why the product exists and how it will improve the customer’s experience. It also highlights potential issues and challenges early in the process, preventing costly mistakes later. This is a data-driven, iterative approach to decision-making that ensures a product isn’t just good for the company—it’s great for the customer.

Key Takeaways

• The Working Backwards approach puts the customer at the center of the product development process, ensuring that innovation aligns with customer needs.
• The PR/FAQ is the tool that Amazon uses to clarify product ideas before they’re built, forcing teams to think through the product in detail.
• This process encourages deeper thinking, better decision-making, and faster, more impactful innovation.

Chapter 6 – Metrics: Manage Your Inputs, Not Your Outputs

The Problem with Output Metrics

At many companies, leaders focus on output metrics like revenue, stock price, or customer numbers. These metrics are important but are often out of their direct control. For example, the stock price might rise or fall based on many factors—some beyond a CEO’s influence. The lesson is clear: you can’t directly control these outputs. What you can control are input metrics—the activities and actions that, if done well, will drive the desired results.

Amazon’s Approach to Metrics

At Amazon, the focus is always on input metrics—controllable factors like selection, price, and convenience. These inputs directly influence the output metrics such as revenue or profit. The key is that input metrics provide better guidance and allow Amazon to take actions that lead to long-term success. Output metrics, while important, only reflect the results and can’t drive change on their own.

The Flywheel: Connecting Inputs to Outputs

Jeff Bezos visualized this with the Amazon flywheel: a closed-loop system where improvements in input metrics lead to positive changes in output metrics, which in turn feed back into improving the inputs. For instance, improving customer experience leads to more traffic, which attracts more sellers, expanding selection and continuing the cycle of growth.

The Importance of Defining the Right Metrics

Choosing the right input metrics is critical. One of the mistakes Amazon made early on was focusing on the wrong metrics. For example, the company initially tracked the number of product pages added, believing that more pages meant better selection. But this didn’t lead to increased sales. They eventually shifted to more meaningful metrics like the number of detail page views and availability of products.

Bias and the Need for Unbiased Data

A major challenge in managing metrics is avoiding bias. It’s natural for people to highlight metrics that show their area in a good light, but Amazon strives to eliminate that bias, especially in business reviews. The data should be objective, reflecting the true health of the business. Having unbiased metrics is key to making informed decisions and preventing misleading conclusions.

The Weekly Business Review (WBR)

Amazon’s Weekly Business Review (WBR) is a key tool for monitoring metrics. The WBR involves reviewing all relevant metrics—both input and output—on a weekly basis. It includes analyzing trends, investigating variances, and deciding what actions to take. The process involves deep dives into customer-related data, tracking both the short-term and long-term health of the business. By doing this regularly, Amazon can act quickly to address issues and ensure that the business stays on track.

Lessons Learned from the WBR Process

Over time, Amazon learned that focusing only on output metrics could be misleading. By improving the input metrics—such as adding high-demand items and optimizing the customer experience—Amazon ensured that the output metrics would follow. The WBR process allows leaders to identify early signs of issues and take corrective actions before they become major problems.

Chapter 7 – Kindle

The Shift to Digital Media

In 2004, Amazon recognized the inevitable shift toward digital media. The company knew that the future of books, music, and video would be digital, just as digital music had begun replacing CDs. Jeff Bezos, believing that Amazon needed to act quickly, initiated the digital media business and assembled a team to lead the way. Initially, this team was small, and the project seemed risky, but Bezos’ commitment to long-term thinking and customer obsession was key.

The Kindle’s Beginnings: Building a Unique Product

The Kindle project wasn’t an easy path—it was filled with uncertainties and difficult decisions. Should Amazon build its own e-reader device or outsource it? Should it focus on books, music, or video? The decision was ultimately made to focus on books, as they were Amazon’s largest category and offered the best opportunity for differentiation. The team, led by Steve Kessel, faced constant debates and challenges, but they maintained a strong focus on creating the best customer experience possible.

Innovating Beyond the Competition

Amazon’s approach wasn’t to follow what competitors were doing but to invent a new experience. Jeff Bezos rejected the idea of copying existing products like the iPod or iTunes. Instead, he emphasized true invention to create something unique for customers. This mindset was crucial for developing the Kindle, as Amazon didn’t want to just build another e-reader—it wanted to revolutionize the way people read.

The Importance of Hardware Development

One of the most controversial decisions was to build the Kindle device in-house, despite Amazon’s lack of experience with hardware. Many within the company believed it was too risky and expensive, but Bezos and Kessel were convinced that controlling the device would allow them to create the best possible customer experience. By building the device themselves, Amazon could innovate on both hardware and software, ensuring an integrated and seamless product.

Key Features of the Kindle

The Kindle’s breakthrough came from two key features: wireless delivery (Whispernet) and the E Ink display. Whispernet allowed users to download books instantly without needing a computer or cable, while the E Ink screen provided a paper-like reading experience that was easy on the eyes and had a long battery life. These innovations set Kindle apart from the competition and helped Amazon create a product that customers loved.

The Challenges of E-Book Pricing

Amazon also faced challenges with pricing. To make e-books attractive to customers, the Kindle was launched with a selection of bestsellers at a price of $9.99, even though that was close to Amazon’s cost. This price point was risky, but Amazon believed that getting customers to buy Kindle and e-books was more important than short-term profits.

The Launch and the Oprah Effect

The Kindle launched in November 2007 and sold out in less than six hours. Despite some early negative reviews, the device’s success was cemented when Oprah Winfrey featured it on her show in 2008, calling it her “new favorite thing.” This exposure led to an explosion in sales, and the Kindle became a mainstream success.

Chapter 8 – Prime

The Need for Growth

In 2004, Amazon’s growth rate had started to slow, despite its success. Though sales were increasing, they were not growing fast enough to keep pace with the expanding online retail market. The challenge was clear: Amazon needed a radical approach to reinvigorate its growth. Jeff Bezos and his team were determined to find a way to encourage more customers to shop online with Amazon, offering a shopping experience that was simply unbeatable.

The Birth of Amazon Prime

In mid-October 2004, Bezos sent an urgent email to Amazon’s leadership team, urging them to launch a membership program offering free shipping. The goal was to drastically improve the customer experience around shipping and grow Amazon’s retail business. Despite skepticism and logistical challenges, Jeff’s decision reflected a core Amazonian belief—customer obsession.

Rather than relying on traditional promotions or short-term fixes, Bezos pushed the team to build a program that would change the very expectations of online shopping. This led to the creation of Amazon Prime, a membership program offering free two-day shipping for a fixed annual fee. The program was designed to address customer concerns about shipping costs and speed while offering an all-encompassing convenience that would make Amazon the go-to retailer for a variety of products.

The Logistics Challenge

Building Prime wasn’t simple. Amazon had to rethink its logistics infrastructure. At the time, Amazon’s fulfillment centers were optimized for cost-effective shipping times, but they couldn’t handle the rapid fulfillment required for two-day shipping across the U.S. To meet this new demand, Amazon had to make significant changes to its network, including adding more fulfillment centers near urban areas to improve delivery speed.

The Innovation of Amazon Prime

Despite internal resistance and doubts about its long-term sustainability, Amazon launched Prime in February 2005. In its early days, the program didn’t take off as expected, as it mostly attracted heavy buyers who were already spending significant amounts on expedited shipping. However, over time, Prime revolutionized the shopping experience, offering unparalleled convenience and speed.

The Strategic Impact

The real success of Amazon Prime was in its ability to shift customer behavior. Over time, the program became the key driver of Amazon’s growth, transforming the company into a dominant force in e-commerce. Prime not only increased customer loyalty, but also contributed significantly to Amazon’s bottom line, turning Amazon from a successful online bookstore into a top player in the retail industry.

Chapter 9 – Prime Video

A Disastrous Unboxing

The chapter opens with Amazon’s first digital video initiative, Amazon Unbox, which was met with significant challenges. When the team unveiled the service in a public meeting, the video demo failed spectacularly—playing upside down. This was just the beginning of what would become Amazon’s biggest misstep. Unbox was plagued with slow download speeds, buggy software, and digital rights management issues. The product launch was a disaster, and the team faced intense pressure to turn it around.

Learning from Mistakes

Despite the initial failure, Amazon didn’t give up. Instead, they learned from the missteps. Jeff Bezos emphasized the importance of long-term thinking and learning from failure, and the team took this to heart. The company analyzed the issues with Unbox, especially around digital rights, slow download speeds, and customer experience, and started working toward a better solution.

The Launch of Prime Instant Video

In 2011, after years of setbacks, Amazon launched Prime Instant Video as part of the Prime membership, offering 5,000 movies and TV shows to customers at no extra charge. This move was designed to bolster Amazon Prime’s value and drive more subscriptions. The decision to bundle video streaming into Prime was a game-changer. It immediately differentiated Amazon from its competitors and added significant value to the Prime membership.

Building on Prime Video

The road to Prime Video’s success wasn’t easy. Amazon faced resistance from device manufacturers and had to build its own line of devices, like the Kindle Fire, to ensure the best customer experience. The company also invested heavily in acquiring content, spending millions of dollars on movie and TV show licensing. Over time, Amazon Prime Video became a core part of Amazon Prime, and the company began producing its own original content to stand out in the increasingly competitive video streaming market.

The Evolution of Amazon Studios

By creating Amazon Studios, Amazon started producing original TV shows and movies. With shows like Transparent and The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, Amazon established itself as a major player in original content creation, competing directly with Netflix and Hulu. Amazon Studios revolutionized how content was produced and distributed by giving viewers more influence in selecting the shows they wanted to see. This approach made Amazon unique in the entertainment industry, as they prioritized customer feedback in greenlighting projects.

Prime Video’s Role in Amazon’s Strategy

Amazon’s entry into the video streaming world was part of a larger vision to make Prime the most irresistible value for customers. By offering free streaming as part of the Prime membership, Amazon leveraged the service to increase subscriptions and deepen customer loyalty. As Amazon Prime grew, so did Prime Video, becoming an integral part of Amazon’s strategy to dominate the digital media space.

Chapter 10 – AWS

The Start of a New Business

In 2002, Amazon’s expansion into cloud computing marked a bold new direction for the company. Jeff Bezos and his team saw the growing potential of web services, a new area that could significantly impact the future of technology. At the time, cloud computing wasn’t even a widely recognized term, and Amazon wasn’t known for this kind of business. But Jeff’s vision of innovating and simplifying processes led to the creation of Amazon Web Services (AWS), a new initiative that would eventually change the landscape of cloud computing.

The Early Challenges

AWS began from a seemingly small experiment within Amazon, but it quickly became clear that it had huge potential. Initially, Amazon was using web services internally for its own operations, such as managing product data and handling affiliates. The company recognized that the technology behind these services could be valuable to external software developers. This realization led to the launch of the Amazon Product API, the first step in making AWS a reality.

Creating the Customer-Centric Cloud

One of the biggest challenges AWS faced was building a product that would appeal to a new type of customer: software developers. These developers had different needs compared to Amazon’s traditional retail customers, so the team had to rethink how they approached product development. They employed Amazon’s signature Working Backwards approach—starting with the customer experience and working backward to build the right technology.

The Working Backwards process proved invaluable in shaping AWS. The team focused on understanding the true needs of developers and worked relentlessly to provide solutions that addressed those needs. Unlike other companies, Amazon didn’t try to create products that solely benefited its own retail business but instead aimed to create general-purpose services that could be used across industries.

The Rise of AWS

As AWS evolved, the team recognized that many of the challenges developers faced—such as managing storage and computing power—were problems Amazon was already solving internally. By offering these resources as scalable, pay-as-you-go web services, Amazon provided developers with powerful tools to build and deploy applications without the need for massive infrastructure investments.

Services like Amazon S3 (Simple Storage Service) and Amazon EC2 (Elastic Compute Cloud) became cornerstones of AWS, revolutionizing how businesses managed data and computing. The pricing model was key to AWS’s success—customers only paid for what they used, which was a huge improvement over the traditional models requiring upfront capital investment.

The Importance of the Right Team and Mindset

The success of AWS can be attributed to Amazon’s unique culture and leadership principles. The Invent and Simplify principle played a pivotal role, pushing teams to think creatively and overcome technical challenges. Additionally, the focus on Customer Obsession meant that AWS was built to truly serve the needs of developers, making it easy for them to integrate Amazon’s technology into their own systems.

Lessons Learned and Long-Term Vision

AWS’s rapid growth is a testament to Amazon’s ability to think big and innovate. The early launch of AWS helped Amazon stay ahead of competitors and establish a dominant position in cloud computing. Today, AWS is a multi-billion dollar business, contributing significantly to Amazon’s overall success.

In the early stages, AWS’s leadership team knew the risks but decided to act quickly and take bold steps. As Jeff Bezos explained, Amazon’s culture encourages calculated risk-taking, and this mindset helped AWS become one of the world’s leading cloud platforms.

Being Amazonian Beyond Amazon

The Impact of the Amazonian Mindset

Being Amazonian isn’t just about working at Amazon—it’s about adopting a mindset that influences how you think, make decisions, and approach challenges. It’s about deferring gratification, tackling tough problems, and learning from failures to achieve long-term success. The authors reflect on how the principles they learned at Amazon continue to shape their careers and personal ventures, and how these same principles can be applied across industries and even in non-business environments.

Adopting Amazon’s Practices Elsewhere

While Amazon’s approach may not always yield immediate success when transplanted to other companies, it has proven effective in many cases. The Amazonian Day One mentality—which emphasizes constant innovation, customer obsession, and a long-term outlook—is fractal, meaning it can scale and work at any level of business, from small startups to large organizations. However, adopting these practices isn’t easy—it requires a commitment to change and persistence in implementing new processes, such as Bar Raiser hiring, single-threaded leadership, and Working Backwards.

Challenges and Rewards

The authors emphasize that being Amazonian can be intense, requiring hard work, dedication, and a willingness to accept failure as part of the process. Yet, the rewards are clear: the satisfaction of building products and services that truly change industries and deliver exceptional customer experiences. This approach fosters a culture where failure is seen as an opportunity to learn and iterate rather than something to be ashamed of.

Practical Steps to Start Being Amazonian

For those looking to adopt Amazonian practices in their own businesses, the authors suggest several concrete steps:

1. Ban PowerPoint for complex discussions and start using six-page narratives and PR/FAQ documents to foster clearer, deeper thinking.
2. Establish the Bar Raiser hiring process to ensure that new hires meet Amazon’s high standards.
3. Focus on controllable input metrics, which are more actionable than traditional output metrics.
4. Organize teams with single-threaded leaders who have the autonomy to focus on one mission.
5. Revise compensation structures to align incentives with long-term success.
6. Articulate your company’s culture and ensure it’s reflected in all processes.
7. Define leadership principles collaboratively and integrate them into every part of the business.
8. Map your flywheel, identifying the key drivers of growth and understanding how they feed into each other.

The authors stress that the Amazon approach isn’t the only path to success, but it’s certainly one that has proven effective in building a high-growth, innovative, and customer-centric business.

At the very least, considering how being Amazonian might benefit your organization—and most importantly, your customers—is worth it.

4 Key Ideas from Working Backwards

6 Main Lessons from Working Backwards

My Book Highlights & Quotes

“… The best way to fail at inventing something is by making it somebody’s part-time job…”

“… In a company known for its inventiveness, separable, single-threaded leadership has been one of Amazon’s most useful inventions. We discuss it in chapter three. This is the organizational strategy that minimizes the drag on efficiency created by intra-organizational dependencies. The basic premise is, for each initiative or project, there is a single leader whose focus is that project and that project alone, and that leader oversees teams of people whose attention is similarly focused on that one project…”

“… When you encounter a problem, the probability you’re actually looking at the actual root cause of the problem in the initial 24 hours is pretty close to zero, because it turns out that behind every issue there’s a very interesting story.” In the end, if you stick with identifying the true root causes of variation and eliminating them, you’ll have a predictable, in-control process that you can optimize…”

“… The customer is also at the center of how we analyze and manage performance metrics. Our emphasis is on what we call controllable input metrics, rather than output metrics. Controllable input metrics (e.g., reducing internal costs so you can affordably lower product prices, adding new items for sale on the website, or reducing standard delivery time) measure the set of activities that, if done well, will yield the desired results, or output metrics (such as monthly revenue and stock price). We detail these metrics as well as how to discover and track them in chapter six…”

“… In the 2016 shareholder letter, even though he wasn’t explicitly talking about two-pizza teams, Jeff suggested that “most decisions should probably be made with somewhere around 70% of the information you wish you had. If you wait for 90%, in most cases, you’re probably being slow. Plus, either way, you need to be good at quickly recognizing and correcting bad decisions. If you’re good at course correcting, being wrong may be less costly than you think, whereas being slow is going to be expensive for sure…”

“… Our culture is four things: customer obsession instead of competitor obsession; willingness to think long term, with a longer investment horizon than most of our peers; eagerness to invent, which of course goes hand in hand with failure; and then, finally, taking professional pride in operational excellence…”

“… In a period of torrid headcount growth, founders and early employees often feel that they’re losing control of the company—it has become something different than what they set out to create. Looking back, they realize that the root cause of the problem can be traced to an ill-defined or absent hiring process. They were hiring scores of people who would change the company culture rather than those who would embody, reinforce, and add to it…”

“… I heard [Bezos] say many times that if we wanted Amazon to be a place where builders can build, we needed to eliminate communication, not encourage it… Jeff’s vision was that we needed to focus on loosely coupled interaction via machines through well-defined APIs rather than via humans through emails and meetings…”

“… The best way to fail at inventing something is by making it somebody’s part-time job…”

“… Be stubborn about the vision but flexible on the details…”

“… We had freed ourselves of the quantitative demands of Excel, the visual seduction of PowerPoint, and the distracting effect of personal performance. The idea had to be in the writing…”

Conclusion

Working Backwards is more than a peek behind the curtain—it’s a masterclass in how great companies think and operate.

The beauty of the book is that it strips away the buzzwords and makes you see that Amazon’s magic isn’t magic at all. It’s habits, discipline, and a relentless focus on the customer.

Whether you’re running a business or just trying to improve how you work, this book offers ideas that are both inspiring and doable.

You don’t have to be Amazon to think like Amazon—you just have to start working backwards.

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