Creating a company that doesn’t penalize people for failures: no performance bonuses | 2min snip from Lenny's Podcast: Product | Growth

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

Lenny's Podcast: Product | Growth | Career

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Creating a company that doesn’t penalize people for failures: no performance bonuses

In many companies, working on a failed project can ruin your career and affect your compensation. However, our company had a different approach. Our compensation system didn't have performance bonuses and was based on the stock price, which encouraged long-term thinking. Because of this, I decided to move from working on the largest profit and loss (P&L) departments to digital media. Even though there was no established business there, my compensation wouldn't be affected. Our performance management system focused on evaluating actual contributions and outputs, rather than just being in a successful business. We cared about building, improving selection, and lowering prices.

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Bill Carr is the co-author of Working Backwards: Insights, Stories, and Secrets from Inside Amazon. With a background at Amazon of over 15 years, Bill played a pivotal role in shaping the company’s global digital music and video ventures, including Amazon Music, Prime Video, and Amazon Studios. After Amazon, Bill was an Executive in Residence with Maveron, an early-stage, consumer-only venture capital firm. He later served as the chief operating officer of OfferUp, the largest mobile marketplace for local buyers and sellers in the U.S. Today he’s the co-founder of Working Backwards LLC, where he helps companies implement Amazon’s time-tested management strategies. In this episode, we discuss:

• What exactly “working backwards” is, and how you do it

• Why having “single-threaded leaders” is so effective

• Inside Amazon’s intense product review process

• How to actually follow the “disagree and commit” principle

• The thinking behind the principle “Leaders are right, a lot”

• Input vs. output metrics

• Fostering a culture of risk-taking and innovation

• The role and responsibilities of a “bar raiser” in your hiring, and how it significantly improves the success rate of new hires

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Find the full transcript at: https://www.lennyspodcast.com/unpacking-amazons-unique-ways-of-working-bill-carr-author-of-working-backwards/

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Where to find Bill Carr:

• X: https://twitter.com/BillCarr89

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bill-carr/

• Website: https://www.workingbackwards.com/

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Where to find Lenny:

• Newsletter: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com

• X: https://twitter.com/lennysan

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lennyrachitsky/