Super U Podcast | Amazon CEO Andy Jassy
Today, You’ll be hearing insights from Andy Jassy. Jassy is President and CEO of Amazon.com. He founded and led Amazon Web Services (AWS) from its inception and served as its CEO until 2021. He joined Amazon in 1997 and, prior to founding AWS, held various leadership roles across the company, including both business-to-business and business-to-consumer. Erik and Andy discuss his origin story, Amazon’s investment strategy, Artificial Intelligence, and why he believes customer satisfaction is what’s most important.
Need a sneak peek? Below are the main takeaways from the episode.
Episode Preview:
“We have a large and highly demanding customer base—rightfully so—who are never shy about telling us what they’d like to see improved in our products and services. In every category we operate in, we face intense competition from well-funded and highly capable companies.
From the very beginning, this has been a core part of Amazon’s culture. I’ve been at Amazon for 22 and a half years now, and I still remember one of the first things Jeff Bezos said when our entire company could fit into a single conference room for an all-hands meeting.
At the time, there were widespread rumors that Barnes & Noble was about to launch its own retail site, and many speculated that it would mark the end of Amazon. Jeff addressed us directly and said, I would not go to bed at night worrying about competitors or external threats. I would go to bed at night worrying about whether we are doing right by our customers.
That philosophy remains deeply ingrained in our culture today. It’s what we focus on more than anything else.
We have a unique way of evaluating big new investments. I’m not sure if it’s the right way or the wrong way—it’s just our way. When considering an opportunity, we ask ourselves four key questions:
- If it’s successful, can it be big enough to move the needle for Amazon?
- Is the market currently underserved?
- Do we have a differentiated approach and the confidence to execute it?
- If not, can we acquire that capability quickly?
If the answers align, we pursue the opportunity with a single-threaded team, fully dedicated and undistracted by the rest of the business.
Sometimes, this approach leads to investments that seem obvious. When I first joined Amazon, it was a books-only retailer. Expanding into music, video, electronics, and toys made perfect sense to most people. Other times, our process leads to investments that seem far less obvious—at least at first.
Take AWS, for example. At the time, both internally and externally, many thought it was a crazy idea. But today, just imagine where Amazon would be without it.”
Connect with Andy Jassy:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andy-jassy-8b1615
Instagram: @ajassy
X: @ajassy
To ensure you don’t miss future episodes, subscribe to our podcast by clicking here >> Super U Podcast. We hope these tips help unlock and unleash your inner superpower!
The Super U Podcast is hosted by #1 bestselling author and Motivational Speaker Erik Qualman.
