Commonplace Expertise

Colin Bryar on the Practice of Amazon's Weekly Business Review

Nov 16, 2023

Former Amazon senior leadership team member, Colin Bryar, discusses his experience working at Amazon and being Jeff Bezos's shadow. They delve into the practice of Amazon's Weekly Business Review, the challenges of measuring controllable input metrics, and the importance of customer understanding and innovation. They also discuss the qualities of a good operator, the concept of operating cadence, and career planning.

01:11:36

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Episode guests

Colin Bryar

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Podcast summary created with Snipd AI

Quick takeaways

The Amazon Weekly Business Review (WBR) is a secret operating weapon that drives operational excellence by analyzing customer experience and business performance.

The WBR is a comprehensive process that can be applied to various areas of a business, including inventory management, HR, and recruiting.

Being a good operator requires a deep understanding of the business, data-driven decision-making, effective time management, and a continuous focus on customer experience.

Deep dives

Operating well as a business leader

Colin Breyer, former Amazon executive, discusses the key principles and practices for operating a successful business.

Understanding the Difference Between Controllable Input Metrics and Output Metrics

03:51

What does the WBR feel like?

01:24

Collecting Data, Reacting to Launches, and Including Business Lines in WBR

02:19

Applying Lessons and Processes to Early Stage Startups

01:43

Introduction

4min

Early Days at Amazon: Growth, Challenges, and Close-Knit Community

8min

The Development of the Weekly Business Review Mechanism

10min

Analyzing Input Metrics to Drive Desired Output Metrics

19min

Measuring Controllable Input Metrics

20min

Insights on Surveys, Customer Understanding, and Innovation

3min

Exploring What Makes a Good Operator and the Importance of Operating Cadence

3min

Focusing on Input Metrics and Career Planning

5min

Colin Bryar joined Amazon really early in its life and spent twelve years as part of Amazon's senior leadership team.

For two of those years he was 'Technical Assistant' to Jeff Bezos, as known as 'Jeff's shadow', during which he spent each day attending meetings, traveling with, and discussing business and life with Jeff. After Amazon, he and his family relocated to Singapore for two years where Colin served as Chief Operating Officer of e-commerce company RedMart, which was subsequently sold to Alibaba. Along with his ex-Amazonian colleague Bill Carr, Colin is co-author of Working Backwards, a book on an insider's look at how Amazon works. Bill and Colin are co-founders of Working Backwards LLC, where they coach executives at both large and early-stage companies on how to implement the management practices developed at Amazon.

This podcast is a really deep dive into the practice of the Amazon Weekly Business Review, which remains to this day one of Amazon's secret operating weapons, and a big part of what makes for a great operator.

Working Backwards, book: https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/53138083
Working Backwards https://www.workingbackwards.com/
Commoncog summary of Working Backwards: https://commoncog.com/working-backwards/

(00:00) - Introduction
(01:24) - Colin's Background
(04:00) - Joining Amazon
(06:31) - The Data Situation in Early Amazon
(08:22) - Being Jeff Bezos's Shadow
(10:37) - Living in Singapore
(12:07) - Writing Working Backwards with Bill Carr
(15:17) - The History of the Weekly Business Review
(17:50) - How the Amazon WBR is different
(20:45) - Customer Experience Metrics vs Business Metrics
(22:33) - Controllable Input Metrics vs Output Metrics
(30:39) - What a Typical WBR Looks Like
(34:22) - Why Glancing at Metrics is Important
(35:43) - What kinds of discussions should you have in the WBR?
(37:30) - Understanding Variation
(41:28) - Stories About Figuring Out Controllable Input Metrics
(48:19) - Applying the WBR to internal business functions
(49:49) - Introducing the WBR to a New Company
(55:55) - Applying the WBR to New Products
(01:01:04) - Not Using Surveys as Primary Research on Customers
(01:04:17) - What Makes for a Good Operator?
(01:05:23) - Operating Cadence
(01:07:05) - What Colin Wishes All Operators Knew Tomorrow
(01:07:57) - What You'd Wish You'd Known
(01:09:50) - Would Many of These Lessons Apply to Early Stage Startups?

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Commonplace Expertise

Colin Bryar on the Practice of Amazon's Weekly Business Review

Episode guests

Podcast summary created with Snipd AI

Quick takeaways

Deep dives

Operating well as a business leader

Colin's journey to Amazon

The evolution of the Weekly Business Review (WBR)

Controllable input metrics and the importance of customer focus

Implementing the Weekly Business Review (WBR)

Characteristics of a Good Operator and the Importance of Operational Excellence

Understanding the Difference Between Controllable Input Metrics and Output Metrics

What does the WBR feel like?

Collecting Data, Reacting to Launches, and Including Business Lines in WBR

Applying Lessons and Processes to Early Stage Startups

Get the Snipd
podcast app

AI-powered
podcast player

Discover
highlights

Save any
moment

Share
& Export

AI-powered
podcast player

Discover
highlights

Commonplace Expertise

Colin Bryar on the Practice of Amazon's Weekly Business Review

Episode guests

Podcast summary created with Snipd AI

Quick takeaways

Deep dives

Operating well as a business leader

Colin's journey to Amazon

The evolution of the Weekly Business Review (WBR)

Controllable input metrics and the importance of customer focus

Implementing the Weekly Business Review (WBR)

Characteristics of a Good Operator and the Importance of Operational Excellence

Understanding the Difference Between Controllable Input Metrics and Output Metrics

What does the WBR feel like?

Collecting Data, Reacting to Launches, and Including Business Lines in WBR

Applying Lessons and Processes to Early Stage Startups

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