Amazing Amazon

because they let this “leak” (pun intended), or because they had harsh working conditions?

I don’t get how this is related to Best Buy partnering with Amazon for its brand of TVs.

Amazon shares moved up AH.

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"Six-Page Narratives

We don’t do PowerPoint (or any other slide-oriented) presentations at Amazon. Instead, we write narratively structured six-page memos. We silently read one at the beginning of each meeting in a kind of “study hall.” Not surprisingly, the quality of these memos varies widely. Some have the clarity of angels singing. They are brilliant and thoughtful and set up the meeting for high-quality discussion. Sometimes they come in at the other end of the spectrum.

In the handstand example, it’s pretty straightforward to recognize high standards. It wouldn’t be difficult to lay out in detail the requirements of a well-executed handstand, and then you’re either doing it or you’re not. The writing example is very different. The difference between a great memo and an average one is much squishier. It would be extremely hard to write down the detailed requirements that make up a great memo. Nevertheless, I find that much of the time, readers react to great memos very similarly. They know it when they see it. The standard is there, and it is real, even if it’s not easily describable.

Here’s what we’ve figured out. Often, when a memo isn’t great, it’s not the writer’s inability to recognize the high standard, but instead a wrong expectation on scope: they mistakenly believe a high-standards, six-page memo can be written in one or two days or even a few hours, when really it might take a week or more! They’re trying to perfect a handstand in just two weeks, and we’re not coaching them right. The great memos are written and re-written, shared with colleagues who are asked to improve the work, set aside for a couple of days, and then edited again with a fresh mind. They simply can’t be done in a day or two. The key point here is that you can improve results through the simple act of teaching scope – that a great memo probably should take a week or more."

That is really unique and different at first. It really is superior to someone reading powerpoint to you.

“Career Choice – One employee program we’re particularly proud of is Amazon Career Choice. For hourly associates with more than one year of tenure, we pre-pay 95% of tuition, fees, and textbooks (up to $12,000) for certificates and associate degrees in high-demand occupations such as aircraft mechanics, computer-aided design, machine tool technologies, medical lab technologies, and nursing. We fund education in areas that are in high demand and do so regardless of whether those skills are relevant to a career at Amazon. Globally more than 16,000 associates (including more than 12,000 in the U.S.) have joined Career Choice since the program launched in 2012. Career Choice is live in ten countries and expanding to South Africa, Costa Rica, and Slovakia later this year. Commercial truck driving, healthcare, and information technology are the program’s most popular fields of study. We’ve built 39 Career Choice classrooms so far, and we locate them behind glass walls in high traffic areas inside our fulfillment centers so associates can be inspired by seeing their peers pursue new skills.”

That’s pretty awesome. Helping people increase their skills and earning potential even if it leads them to a career outside the company.

“I said to one of the software engineers, who was packing alongside me, ‘You know what we should do? We should get knee pads.’ He looked at me like I was the dumbest guy he’d ever seen in his life and said, ‘Jeff, we should get packing tables.’ The next day I bought packing tables, and it doubled productivity.”

“He said, ‘I had a competitor who was kicking my ass,’” Leonsis told The Washingtonian.

“No Bernie Madoff, no Amazon,” Bezos reportedly said.

Is he sharing some of his wealth with Bernie?

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• The Information reports that Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) employees forfeit their stock awards at higher rates than competing tech companies. And that could make it harder for Amazon to lure employees.
• Amazon’s restricted stock awards were forfeited at rates of 9% to 16% in the past four years. Alphabet’s range was 5% to 10% and Apple’s 5% to 6% in the same period.
• The Information calculated the figures using SEC reports and comparing the number of outstanding restricted stock units with the number of forfeited units.
• Many Amazon employees have a backloaded vesting schedule with about 5% vested in the first year then 40% across the third and fourth years.
• Snap used to have a similar schedule but recently switched to 25% vesting each year.

That’s not surprising at all given the 5, 15, 40, 40 vesting schedule. I don’t have any data, but my casual observation is people leave in <1 year or they stay 4+ years. It’s either the right fit and people stay, or it’s a terrible fit. There’s not a lot of middle ground. The way it’s designed is you need to get promoted by the end of your 4 year, or you’ll probably have a dip in total compensation your 5th year. I’m sure a lot of people leave if they can’t get the promo rather than have a dip in compensation.

Also, in the last 2 years AMZN is up 149% vs. AAPL 40% and GOOG 43%. If you hired in and got the same dollar value from all 3 companies, then you’d be walking away with quite a bit more of AMZN stock than the other two.

AMZN may (I have limited datapoints) see the rise in stock value and limit your base salary hike the next year.

Base pay is limited: $180k in bay area and $160k everywhere else. The comp philosophy tilts heavily towards equity compensation. I think VP level has cash incentive bonus in addition to stock. Stock is given assuming a 15%/yr increase to reach target comp. When it’s up 150% in the last 2 years, a lot of people are going to have total comp beyond the top of the range for their job level. When that happens, there’s not a lot of base pay increases or additional stock given unless the person has no stock vesting 2 years from now, because employee grants vest over 2 years.

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Looks like another manic Monday. Futures are up.

The market is up :smiley:

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Then how come they are valued at almost the same price? :wink:

scale and future revenue expectation.

You know what I’m getting at. TLSA is your best bet!!! :rofl:

competition?

Which one? Show me the ticker.

In the luxury/entry luxury segment


Many more in the next 3-4 years…

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