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Former Amazon employees bake Bezos principles into their startups

seattletimes.com

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Re: Former Amazon employees bake Bezos principles into their startups

#11

Post by neffy »

paxys wrote: post #8
0zymandias wrote: post #3

What I hear from Amazonians in Seattle is that the culture is markedly different today than it was 5-10 years ago. That shouldn’t be surprising. Things are slower now and layered. VPs report to VPs who report to VPs. More politics. More focus on competitors. Less belief in the upside. Using Jeff’s words: We are well into Day 2. As a result, great people are leaving in droves. Satya managed an incredible cultural and…

Amazon is VERY far from the stagnation that happened at Microsoft in the Ballmer era. In fact I'd say they are moving faster than ever. Why would you say they need a "turnaround"?

The website hasn´t changed and notably hasn´t improved in over a decade.

The customer feedback has gone from being the reference for buying products to only being able to trust the 1 star reviews.

It´s flooded with stuff relayed from China, and consequently its cheaper to just buy direct from China.

Here in the UK we have creepy corporate amazon stakhanovite "we just love pushing these parcels" ads to endure all christmas. Apparently one of the workers brings in cakes for her colleagues every Tuesday - oh, Amazon, the company that can´t even put food for its underpaid and overworked employees in the company break rooms.

What a wonderful world.

Re: Former Amazon employees bake Bezos principles into their startups

#13

Post by paxys »

neffy wrote: post #11
paxys wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Amazon is VERY far from the stagnation that happened at Microsoft in the Ballmer era. In fact I'd say they are moving faster than ever. Why would you say they need a "turnaround"?

The website hasn´t changed and notably hasn´t improved in over a decade. The customer feedback has gone from being the reference for buying products to only being able to trust the 1 star reviews. It´s flooded with stuff relayed from China, and consequently its cheaper to just buy direct from China. Here in the UK we have creepy corporate amazon stakhanovite "we just love pushing these parcels" ads to endure all chri…

Google's website hasn't changed either, and neither has HN. And that's a good thing. Nothing drives customers away faster than change for change's sake and constant pointless redesigns.

Re: Former Amazon employees bake Bezos principles into their startups

#14

Post by RijilV »

neffy wrote: post #11
paxys wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Amazon is VERY far from the stagnation that happened at Microsoft in the Ballmer era. In fact I'd say they are moving faster than ever. Why would you say they need a "turnaround"?

The website hasn´t changed and notably hasn´t improved in over a decade. The customer feedback has gone from being the reference for buying products to only being able to trust the 1 star reviews. It´s flooded with stuff relayed from China, and consequently its cheaper to just buy direct from China. Here in the UK we have creepy corporate amazon stakhanovite "we just love pushing these parcels" ads to endure all chri…

That’s because Amazon knows retail is already dead. Either they get beat out by a competitor or the fed breaks up the company and retail is doomed without the integration. AWS is just quietly milking the cash out of retail and funding the science projects.

Re: Former Amazon employees bake Bezos principles into their startups

#15

Post by ztratar »

RijilV wrote: post #14
neffy wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The website hasn´t changed and notably hasn´t improved in over a decade. The customer feedback has gone from being the reference for buying products to only being able to trust the 1 star reviews. It´s flooded with stuff relayed from China, and consequently its cheaper to just buy direct from China. Here in the UK we have creepy corporate amazon stakhanovite "we just love pushing these parcels" ads to endure all chri…

That’s because Amazon knows retail is already dead. Either they get beat out by a competitor or the fed breaks up the company and retail is doomed without the integration. AWS is just quietly milking the cash out of retail and funding the science projects.

This is a preposterous statement.

"Retail is already dead?"

By what metric. Please enlighten us how people buying things is not a massive lever to the economy and Amazon's success?

Re: Former Amazon employees bake Bezos principles into their startups

#16

Post by ignoramous »

joegahona wrote: post #10
0zymandias wrote: post #3

What I hear from Amazonians in Seattle is that the culture is markedly different today than it was 5-10 years ago. That shouldn’t be surprising. Things are slower now and layered. VPs report to VPs who report to VPs. More politics. More focus on competitors. Less belief in the upside. Using Jeff’s words: We are well into Day 2. As a result, great people are leaving in droves. Satya managed an incredible cultural and…

> Using Jeff’s words: We are well into Day 2. Where did Jeff Bezos say this?

Jeff didn't say Amazon is at Day 2, but he did outline what that would look like: https://blog.aboutamazon.com/company-news/2016-letter-to-sha...

Employees frequently use that framework to discuss how they think Amazon (or the org they work in) is truly done for.

Re: Former Amazon employees bake Bezos principles into their startups

#19

Post by m-ee »

logicallee wrote: post #17

I was just reading here on HN how Amazon recently quietly replicated and replaced UPS and FedEx with their own fleet. These companies are $82.92 billion and $65.45 billion companies respectively so I was pretty impressed.

I think you'd be a lot less impressed if you'd received any packages through their fulfillment services. Literally every single driver I've had has lied about attempting a delivery, usually multiple times, then flat out lied and said the package was delivered. The package will then show up 2-3 days later, defeating the purpose of paying for prime or faster shipping.

Customer support for these issues is kafkaesque.

"Hi I have not received my package which says it was delivered at a time when I was home"

"Let me check the tracking, sir it shows that you have received the package"

"I have not, no delivery was attempted"

"Yes you are right you will receive your package shortly"

Re: Former Amazon employees bake Bezos principles into their startups

#20

Post by celticmusic »

neffy wrote: post #11
paxys wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Amazon is VERY far from the stagnation that happened at Microsoft in the Ballmer era. In fact I'd say they are moving faster than ever. Why would you say they need a "turnaround"?

The website hasn´t changed and notably hasn´t improved in over a decade. The customer feedback has gone from being the reference for buying products to only being able to trust the 1 star reviews. It´s flooded with stuff relayed from China, and consequently its cheaper to just buy direct from China. Here in the UK we have creepy corporate amazon stakhanovite "we just love pushing these parcels" ads to endure all chri…

I don't want Amazon's website to change. It works well as it is, I certainly never find myself wanting something it doesn't currently do.
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