#435

Mentioned in 40 episodes

Working Backwards

Insights, Stories, and Secrets from Inside Amazon

Book • 2021

Working Backwards provides a detailed look at Amazon's approach to culture, leadership, and innovation.

The book is written by Colin Bryar and Bill Carr, who collectively have 27 years of experience at Amazon.

It outlines the company's 14 leadership principles and how they are applied in practice, focusing on customer obsession, long-term thinking, and operational excellence.

The book is divided into two parts: the first part explains the leadership principles and practices, while the second part includes case studies on the development of products like Kindle, Amazon Prime, and Amazon Web Services.

The authors provide practical steps and insights that can be applied to any business, regardless of size or industry.

Mentioned by

Lenny Rachitsky

Scott Williamson

Jason Calacanis

Mentioned in 40 episodes

Recommended by

David Senra

as a book offering insights into working with Jeff Bezos and Amazon's principles.

#321 Working with Jeff Bezos

Mentioned by

Ben Gilbert

when discussing the origin stories of AWS.

Amazon Web Services

Recommended by

Alisa Cohn

for its insights into Amazon's management practices.

Scripts for difficult conversations: Giving hard feedback, navigating defensiveness, the three questions you should end every meeting with, more | Alisa Cohn (executive coach)

Mentioned by

Lenny Rachitsky

in the context of Amazon's working backwards methodology.

Inside monday.com’s transformation: radical transparency, impact over output, and their path to $1B ARR | Daniel Lereya (Chief Product and Technology Officer)

Mentioned by

Ethan Evans

; he reveals that Carr initially considered a different title for his book, "The Invention Machine."

Taking control of your career | Ethan Evans (Amazon)

Recommended by

Ravi Mehta

for understanding Amazon's unique approach to product building.

Building your product strategy stack | Ravi Mehta (Tinder, Facebook, Tripadvisor, Outpace)

Mentioned by

David Senra

as a recently released book about Amazon's business strategies.

#179 Jeff Bezos

Mentioned by

Marty Cagan

as an example of a book describing good product practices.

The nature of product | Marty Cagan, Silicon Valley Product Group

Mentioned by

Lenny Rachitsky

as a synthesis of lessons learned from many years at Amazon.

Unpacking Amazon’s unique ways of working | Bill Carr (author of Working Backwards)

Mentioned by

David Senra

as a book detailing Amazon's internal processes and decision-making.

#180 Jeff Bezos (Invention of a Global Empire)

Mentioned by

John Cutler

when discussing Amazon's hiring practices.

What differentiates the highest-performing product teams | John Cutler (Amplitude, The Beautiful Mess)

Recommended by

David Senra

as an insightful biography offering a unique perspective on Amazon's principles and practices.

Jeff Bezos (Insights, Stories, and Secrets)

Mentioned by

David Senra

in the context of Jeff Bezos's approach to reading and analysis.

#187 Albert Einstein

Mentioned by

Lenny Rachitsky

and

Anuj Rathi

in the context of implementing a product development framework.

The full-stack PM | Anuj Rathi (Swiggy, Jupiter Money, Flipkart)

Mentioned by

Miles Grimshaw

as a book about Amazon's culture and customer-centric approach.

20VC: Benchmark General Partner, Miles Grimshaw on The Five Pillars of Venture Capital, Why Data Can Be a Trap When Early-Stage Investing, Investing Lessons from Missing Figma and Plaid & The New Business Model for AI & Why Co-Pilot is an Incumbent Strate

Recommended by

Scott Williamson

as a book that offers insights into Amazon's product development process.

20Product: The Five Step Process to Hiring the Best Product People, The Four Core Skills the Best PMs Need to Have, The Two Product Documents that Drive World Class Product Teams & Why the Best PMs are Writers with Scott Williamson, Former CPO @ Gitlab

Mentioned by

Jason Calacanis

in relation to Amazon insights.

The Incredible Double Interview: Superhuman and Robinhood | E2090

Recommended by

Alisa Cohn

and

Colin Bryar

as a book filled with deep insights and clear tactics about how Amazon built a distinctive management approach and culture.

#81: Colin Bryar, Co-Author of "Working Backwards;" former Chief of Staff to Jeff Bezos — How Amazon built its processes, the birth of the 6-page memo, and how to instill psychological safety in a competitive culture

Mentioned by

Cedric Chin

when discussing books that helped shape his perspective on data-driven business.

Data as an assembly line (w/ Cedric Chin)

Mentioned by

Cliff Obrecht

as a business book he is currently reading.

20VC: Canva Co-Founder, Cliff Obrecht on The Journey From 100 VC Rejections to a $40BN Company, Why Good Enough is Not Good Enough, The Secret to Hiring Non-Obvious Talent and Relationships to Money and Why They Are Giving Away Billions

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