Smash Notes
Who Invented Amazon Prime? · My First Million

My First Million

Ex-Amazon VP tells us what it’s really like working with Jeff Bezos

Sam's database on how long it takes to become a millionaire: https://clickhubspot.com/tewg Episode 877: Shaan Puri ( https://x.com/ShaanVP ) and Sam Parr ( https://x.com/theSamParr ) talk to Ethan Evans about what it’s really like to work with Jeff Bezos. — Show Notes: (0:00) Intro (3:15) Criticism without praise (5:15) The every-great-man flaw (7:05)…

People

Notes

  1. Why Did Jeff Bezos Only Give Criticism? at 3:27

    Ethan Evans says Jeff Bezos was not mean, but he was demanding, and he almost never said anything good. He would hear an idea and name the three things to fix. Full answer

  2. Why Did Jeff Bezos Ship the Fire Phone? at 4:09

    Ethan Evans says Jeff Bezos fell into the flaw of every great man. Full answer

  3. Why Did Jeff Bezos Call a Team the B Team? at 6:31

    Ethan Evans says Jeff Bezos once stopped a meeting and asked whether the A team for the project was available, because the people in the room were clearly the… Full answer

  4. Why Did Jeff Bezos Trust Anecdotes Over Data? at 18:04

    Ethan Evans says Jeff Bezos kept his Amazon email open to the world. Full answer

  5. Why Did Jeff Bezos Send Question Mark Emails? at 19:58

    Ethan Evans says a question mark email was how Jeff Bezos scaled customer obsession when he was too busy to investigate every complaint. Full answer

  6. What Does Strategically Patient Mean to Jeff Bezos? at 23:12

    Ethan Evans says "strategically patient, tactically impatient" was a Jeff Bezos idea. Important things take a long time. Full answer

  7. Why Do High Performers Feel Bad at Amazon? at 24:51

    Ethan Evans says Amazon talked about the hours in euphemisms. Jeff Bezos's line was that he did not like "work-life balance." He preferred "work-life harmony." Full answer

  8. How Much Did Ethan Evans Make at Amazon? at 32:28

    Ethan Evans says his target pay in his last year at Amazon was $900,000. The stock usually did better than the target, so he tended to make a low $1 million. Full answer

  9. Did Jeff Bezos Want Amazon to Become a Bank? at 41:58

    Ethan Evans says Jeff Bezos always declined pitches to turn Amazon into a bank. People kept pitching finance because Bezos came from D. E. Full answer

  10. Who Invented Amazon Prime? at 47:20

    Ethan Evans says two people claim Amazon Prime. Charlie Ward, then a principal engineer and later a VP, says he invented it. Full answer

  11. Why Does Amazon's Website Look Ugly? at 52:31

    Sam Parr uses Amazon as the example of bad design beating good design. A fashionable designer thinks good design means colors and a flat layout. Full answer

  12. Who Did Jeff Bezos Quote About the Stock Market? at 57:35

    Ethan Evans says the person Jeff Bezos quoted a lot was Benjamin Graham, the investor Warren Buffett also follows. Full answer

Related notes

Related episodes

Plays from this note through the rest of the episode.

Note

Weekly highlights

One letter a week.

The notes worth hearing, with the minute they were said.