logo
episode-header-image
Jan 2023
1h 15m

314: Bill Carr, What drives Amazon's suc...

FirmsConsulting.com & StrategyTraining.com
About this episode

For this episode, let's revisit a Strategy Skills classic where we interviewed the former Amazon Digital Media VP, Bill Carr. Bill is the coauthor of Working Backwards: Insights, Stories, and Secrets from Inside Amazon, an insider's breakdown of Amazon's approach to culture, leadership, and best practices from two long-time, top-level Amazon executives. 

Bill Carr joined Amazon in 1999 and spent more than 15 years with the company. As the former Vice President of Digital Media, Bill launched and managed the company's global digital music and video businesses, including Amazon Music, Prime Video, and Amazon Studios. After Amazon, Bill was an Executive In Residence with Maveron LLC, an early-stage, consumer-only venture capital firm. Bill later served as the Chief Operating Officer of OfferUp, the largest mobile marketplace for local buyers and sellers in the U.S.

Today, Bill is the co-founder of Working Backwards LLC where he coaches executives at large and early-stage companies on how to implement the management practices developed at Amazon. Bill holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Colby College and a Masters in Business Administration from the Goizueta Business School at Emory University.

Get Bill's book here:

Working Backwards: Insights, Stories, and Secrets from Inside Amazon. Bill Carr and Colin Bryar.

Enjoying this episode? Get access to sample advanced training episodes here: www.firmsconsulting.com/promo

Up next
Nov 24
604: How Design Thinking Rebuilt IBM and Reached 400,000 Employees
<p dir="ltr">Phil Gilbert led one of the most significant cultural transformations in corporate history, as IBM's General Manager of Design, he helped the 400,000-person company reinvent how it thinks, listens, and builds products.</p> <p dir="ltr"> </p> <p dir="ltr">In this in-d ... Show More
58m 3s
Nov 19
603: A $3.6B CEO on the "Poverty of Dignity" in Corporate America
<p data-start="106" data-end="473">Bob Chapman, CEO of Barry-Wehmiller, <span style= "font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, Oxygen, Ubuntu, Cantarell, 'Open Sans', 'Helvetica Neue', sans-serif;">explains how he built a $3.6 billion company by placing ... Show More
1h 1m
Nov 17
602: Harvard's Scott Levy on His Path from Investment Banking to Public Education and Leading in Uncertain Times
<p dir="ltr">Scott Levy spent two decades as an investment banker at firms like J.P. Morgan, advising corporate boards and senior executives on risk, growth, and capital decisions. Then he pivoted, serving on a public school board, teaching at Harvard, and writing Why School Boar ... Show More
53m 20s
Recommended Episodes
Mar 2023
562: What drives Amazon’s success? (with Bill Carr)
For this episode, let's revisit a Case Interview & Management Consulting classics where we interviewed the former Amazon Digital Media VP, Bill Carr. Bill is the coauthor of Working Backwards: Insights, Stories, and Secrets from Inside Amazon, an insider's breakdown of Amazon's a ... Show More
1h 13m
Nov 2023
Unpacking Amazon’s unique ways of working | Bill Carr (author of Working Backwards)
<p><strong>Bill Carr </strong>is the co-author of <em>Working Backwards: Insights, Stories, and Secrets from Inside Amazon</em>. 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 Am ... Show More
1h 33m
Apr 2024
Lessons from Amazon’s Early Growth Strategy
So much has been written about Amazon’s outsized growth. But Harvard Business School professor Sunil Gupta says it’s the company’s unusual approach to strategy that has captured his scholarly attention. Gupta has spent years studying Amazon’s strategy and its founder and former C ... Show More
28m 35s
Feb 2024
496: Outthink Amazon with AI | Melisa Vong
Whether you like it or not, your competitors use AI to sell on Amazon. Melisa Fong says don’t get left behind. Vong is a founder, mentor, and investor in multiple 6-figure and 7-figure ecommerce brands. She’s also the instructor of our Infinite Amazon course. Vong returns to the ... Show More
30m 35s
Nov 2020
How Jeff Bezos Built One of the World’s Most Valuable Companies
Sunil Gupta, Harvard Business School professor, has spent years studying successful digital strategies, companies, and leaders, and he's made Amazon and its legendary CEO Jeff Bezos a particular areas of focus. Drawing on his own in-depth research and other sources, including a n ... Show More
27m 7s
Mar 2021
Tech Sell-Off, Square Deals, and Power Moms
The Trade Desk, Magnite, and other ad-tech companies tumble after Google announces some big changes. Costco and Target fall on earnings. Zoom Video reports a big jump in revenue but the stock tumbles. Okta buys rival Auth0 for $6.5B in stock. Square buys a majority stake in Jay Z ... Show More
39m 10s
May 2022
Innovating While Scaling: Lessons from Amazon
<p>In this episode from February 2021, early Amazon execs Colin Bryar and Bill Carr -- in conversation with a16z's Sonal Chokshi -- go beyond the well-known artifacts of Amazon innovation, like the memo and the press release, and share the leadership principles, decision making p ... Show More
1h 4m
Jun 2024
Should Your Business Sell on Amazon?
It’s a dilemma facing more and more brands: Should your business sell on Amazon? It’s the most visited e-commerce platform in the U.S. and the dominant retailer in 28 other countries. But that reach comes at a price. Harvard Business School associate professor Ayelet Israeli says ... Show More
30m 6s
Feb 2024
Best Buy’s Hubert Joly on Redefining Your Company’s Purpose
When Hubert Joly became CEO of Best Buy in 2012, online retailers like Amazon were exploding in popularity, and Best Buy was facing a sea change. But Joly famously turned around the struggling electronics retailer by changing the organization’s holistic strategy. He prioritized f ... Show More
29m 19s