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16 Ways To Make Your Business More Amazonian
How to take Amazon's leadership principles and apply them to your own business. 🌳
Bill Kerr
April 17, 2025
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The Amazon Leadership Principles
We recently wrote a deep dive on the story of Jeff Bezos. A five thousand word tome to the man who build Amazon, the ~$2T behemoth we all know so well today. What we didn’t go deep into however was Amazon’s famous leadership principles. Why? Well, it’s simple really—they deserved a couple of thousands words of their own.
Today’s piece though, is not a narrative. It’s a blueprint. A blueprint, with some helpful tools of how you, and your company, project, school, community can be more Amazonian, or in other words; more excellent.
Excellence really is what Jeff and Amazon stand for. Read Elon’s recent biography and you will see a man that stands for pushing the pace, cutting away the fat, diving in the deep end, then figuring out how to swim. Bezos is not that. He is more of a tactician. Someone who does his best work with the scalpel, not the mallet.
I think as leaders it is our job to become masters of organisational design. So my hope is that by reading today’s piece, and putting our helpful little tool to the test, you find something that makes your organisation 1% better. Let’s jump right into it.
Original 14 founding principles
1/ 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.
Amazon’s principles starts and end with customer obsession. In their famous shareholder letters penned by Bezos, the word customer was used over 600 times.
Compared that to revenue, that was used just 30 times. Famously, in the first days of Amazon, Bezos would bring an empty chair into meetings to remind everyone of the voice of the customer. Bill Gates would say; “Your most unhappy customers are your greatest source of learning." My guess is Bezos would agree.
2/ 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.’
Famous British Prime Minister, and for all his faults, one of the best leaders of the modern era, Winston Churchill would say; "The price of greatness is responsibility."
Uncle Ben from Spider-Man would echo Winston we he would utter “With great power comes great responsibility.” Again, Bezos would agree.
Long-term thinking is both a requirement and an outcome of true ownership. Owners are different from tenants. I know of a couple who rented out their house, and the family who moved in nailed their Christmas tree to the hardwood floors instead of using a tree stand. Expedient, I suppose, and admittedly these were particularly bad tenants, but no owner would be so short-sighted. Similarly, many investors are effectively short-term tenants, turning their portfolios so quickly they are really just renting the stocks that they temporarily ‘own.’
3/ 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.
"Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication," Leonardo Da Vinci would say. SpaceX were able to make reusable rockets due to simplicity and invention. Simplicity is classic, minimalistic, beautiful.
Invention is by its very nature disruptive. If you want to be understood at all times, then don’t do anything new.
4/ Dive Deep
Leaders operate at all levels, stay connected to the details, audit frequently, and are skeptical when metrics and anecdote differ. No task is beneath them.
A great example of diving deep is Amazon’s famed six page memos. At meetings between execs the first step would be for the team to read a detailed six page narrative on the topic at hand.
Bezos believe that turned an idea into a fully formed narrative would help crystallise an argument and present all of the facts in a digestible way, leading to a more productive conversation; and a better outcome.
5/ 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.
Leaders at Amazon were often tasks to deliver results inside of they they can control. Focussing on key inputs rather outputs, or in other words, things you cannot control.
Input metrics track things like selection, price, or convenience—factors that Amazon can control through actions such as adding items to the catalog, lowering cost so prices can be lowered, or positioning inventory to facilitate faster delivery to customers.
Output metrics—things like orders, revenue, and profit—are important, but they generally can’t be directly manipulated in a sustainable manner over the long term. Input metrics measure things that, done right, bring about the desired results in your output metrics.
...
Controllable input metrics are a quantitative (diving deep with data) and qualitative (anecdotes) way of measuring how well the organization is satisfying these customer interests so that the output metrics trend the way the company desires.
For more from Bill Carr on what it was like working inside of Amazon check this amazing interview on Lenny’s Podcast or this one on the a16z Podcast.
6/ 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.
Jeff would say; “People who are right a lot, they listen a lot. And people who are right a lot change their mind a lot. And people who are right a lot, they seek to disconfirm their most profoundly held convictions.”
He also would say “All my best decisions in business and in life have been made with heart, intuition, and guts, not analysis.” A stance I feel equal parts refreshing and fascinating.
7/ 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.
On a personal level, this might be the principle I align with the most. As CEO at Athyna, I back myself in to win, not because of skill, or hard work, or intelligence, but because of learning. I will am relentlessly learning at all times, and to be honest, I know that most of my competition would not say the same. Advantage, me.
8/ 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.
We all know that the fastest way to turn A-players into B-players is to surround them by C-players. A fish rots from the head, the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree—use any analogy you like really.
But know this; how you hire and who you hire will dictate the shape and success of your company long into the future. Invest in people, culture, management training, the whole nine yards, and your organisation will thrive.
Stole this image from a competitor.
The only thing worse than training your employees and having them leave is not training them and having them stay.
9/ 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 drive 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.
Ralph Marston said that “Excellence is not a skill, it's an attitude.” And I firmly believe that how you do something, is how you do everything. Set high standards and insist your team matches them. Jeff Bezos is famous for setting incredibly high expectations and for years was seen as difficult to work with.
10/ 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.
This is a thread that runs through all of the world best founders, inventors and leaders. They see the world as it is today, and they set out to change it, usually for the better, and usually on a grandest scale.
Bezos would say that “A single big winning bet can more than cover the cost of many losers.” Nobody remembers the many losers that Amazon has had. But we do remember AWS, the Kindle, Audible, the Echo and Amazon.com itself. The price of success is failure.
If your dreams don't scare you, they are too small.
11/ Bias for Action
Speed matters in business. Many decisions and actions are reversible and do not need extensive study. We value calculated risk taking.
Amazon are able to move fast because of Jeff’s framework around decision-making. One-way doors mean, no turning back. Most decisions are not one-way doors. Most decisions are actually two way doors, meaning if we fail, we turn back, we reverse, and we learn. Most two-way decisions will not kill your company. Important to remember when feeling gun shy to make a decision.
Action is the foundational key to all success. - Pablo Picasso. |  |
12/ Frugality
Accomplish more with less. Constraints breed resourcefulness, self-sufficiency and invention. There are no extra points for growing headcount, budget size, or fixed expense.
Despite having literally more money than God, Warren Buffett, CEO of Berkshire Hathaway, is famous for his frugal life. He still lives in the same house he bought in 1958 for $31,500. The idea of frugality as a principle, isn’t altogether so evocative, but it one of the reasons for Amazon’s success.
They know that people will always want the best prices—which they offer. This would be impossible to do without a fanatical obsessions with frugality across the board.
Beware of small expenses; a small leak will sink a great ship.
13/ 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.
Trust is built by doing hard things well over time and being open and authentic. From managers, to teams, to customers, Amazon strives for trust. “Our pricing objective is to earn customer trust,” Bezos would say, “Not to optimize short-term profit dollars.”
The final requirement of effective leadership is to earn trust. Otherwise, there won’t be any followers — and the only definition of a leader is someone who has followers.
14/ 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.
Another incredible principle is disagree and commit. Amazon made this principle famous but the principle can find be found in the annals of another Silicon Valley tech giant from days past in Intel. Their creed was very similar to Amazons; “Practice constructive confrontation. Argue and debate regardless of rank, and then commit once a decision is made—disagree and commit." Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery as they say.
How to disagree and commit by Jeff Bezos.
— Bill Kerr (@bill_kerrrrr)
12:36 AM • Jan 21, 2024
To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment.
And the new kids on the block
We are not going to focus heavily on the two newest Amazon principles, as they are very Amazon specific. They ambitious and amazing but not so applicable to other companies out there. Nevertheless, here they are.
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.
In summary
What Jeff and the team at Amazon have built will be studied by bright-eyed MBA students for decades to come. And one of the really cool things is that Jeff has echoed the principles on countless occasions over years. And the principles are still playing out at Amazon today.
I think for a lot of startups today, we get carried away with getting featured in TechCrunch, our next valuation goal, and growing our personal brand. All the bullshit that we think is important in setting the foundation. Not enough time gets spent on thing like the mission, vision, and values. And even less on the principles of how you operate.
Extra learning
So how do we apply all of this? How can we be more Amazonian. More excellent inside of our businesses. Well, one way is you could use own Amazonian Principles Audit tool. Inside of this tool you can not only rate your company on each of Amazon’s principles but set goals for yourself to improve.
Not feeling particular customer centric? Cool. Set some short, mid and long term goals on how you can improve here. |  Principles. |
Need to improve the bias for action inside of your company? We have the interview questions to help you hire people that will take you there. After all, we should all aim to be a little more Amazonian right?
And that’s it! Hope you enjoy the resource, you can find it here.
BRAIN FOOD 🧠
Super interview with Jamie Dimon, a man most would agree would be one of the greatest leaders in the U.S. if given the chance. He gives a really sober look at how the tariffs are effecting the markets, looking forward to as much as we can, and how companies can navigate the Trump administration.
TWEETS OF THE WEEK 🐣
one of the classic symptoms of ADHD is the ability to focus — but only on what you find interesting. that isn't a pathology, that's a personality, and adderall isn't medicine. it's a drug we use to turn young, thoughtful men into robots.
— Mike Solana (@micsolana)
4:57 PM • Apr 15, 2025
I’m sorry but @LHSummers’s face on the All-In podcast is just a perfect encapsulation of how I personally am doing at the moment
— Martha Gimbel (@marthagimbel)
2:07 PM • Apr 13, 2025
You know the economy, health, education, and AI are in good hands in the Trump administration.
Here is the Secretary of Education talking about having A1 as part of the education system in the U.S.
She's literally calling it “A One.”
— Bill Kerr (@bill_kerrrrr)
6:43 PM • Apr 16, 2025
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