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When Jeff Bezos creates a new division at Amazon he'll hire a product manager for the first 0-1 million in sales. When the division grows to 1 million, he fires

When Jeff Bezos creates a new division at Amazon he'll hire a product manager for the first 0-1 million in sales. When the division grows to 1 million, he fires them and brings on another person for the next 1-5 million stage of the company. He knows that some people shine in the early stages while others shine later. I think it's OK to skip from one thing to the next if you build a team that will support and nurture what you've built before you leave. Bill Gross has a helpful taxonomy that explains this stuff: http://masongentry.com/images/personality_types.jpg http://masongentry.com/images/personality_types.jpg

rkudeshi 15y ago
Do you have a citation for the Bezos anecdote?
- Lost_BiomedE 15y ago
  While I don't, this is very common for small-cap companies that are transitioning to mid-cap. So,it is not too much of a stretch to do this with divisions.
- mtgentry 15y ago
  Here we go: http://youtu.be/Z4jH-hvxFUs?t=1h8m26s http://youtu.be/Z4jH-hvxFUs?t=1h8m26s My figures were off and he says "executive talent" not product managers, but my point about benchmarking stands. Sry, it had been a while since I watched it : )
nkohari 15y ago
I hadn't heard this before, but I'm fairly certain that Bezos would promote the PM rather than fire them. Otherwise who in their right mind would take the job?
Drbble 15y ago
Citation needed. That description doesn't match test career trajectory of most Amazonians. It doesn't even match on job title. If you said VP instead of product manager, your claim would be slightly more believable. And 1 million what? Dollars? Units sold? The vast majority of Amazons divisions aren't even direct revenue drivers. Only the merchandising groups are. Any group larger enough to be identifiable as a business unit measurable size is far too complex to have a "product manager" running it.
- deleted 15y ago
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jsolson 15y ago
I'm curious as to where you heard this particular tidbit, as I currently work at Amazon in a relatively new division (and I'm not buying a word of what you've said).
- deleted 15y ago
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rkudeshi 15y ago

Do you have a citation for the Bezos anecdote?

Lost_BiomedE 15y ago
While I don't, this is very common for small-cap companies that are transitioning to mid-cap. So,it is not too much of a stretch to do this with divisions.
mtgentry 15y ago
Here we go: http://youtu.be/Z4jH-hvxFUs?t=1h8m26s http://youtu.be/Z4jH-hvxFUs?t=1h8m26s My figures were off and he says "executive talent" not product managers, but my point about benchmarking stands. Sry, it had been a while since I watched it : )

nkohari 15y ago

I hadn't heard this before, but I'm fairly certain that Bezos would promote the PM rather than fire them. Otherwise who in their right mind would take the job?

Drbble 15y ago

Citation needed. That description doesn't match test career trajectory of most Amazonians. It doesn't even match on job title. If you said VP instead of product manager, your claim would be slightly more believable. And 1 million what? Dollars? Units sold? The vast majority of Amazons divisions aren't even direct revenue drivers. Only the merchandising groups are. Any group larger enough to be identifiable as a business unit measurable size is far too complex to have a "product manager" running it.

deleted 15y ago
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jsolson 15y ago

I'm curious as to where you heard this particular tidbit, as I currently work at Amazon in a relatively new division (and I'm not buying a word of what you've said).

deleted 15y ago
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