Andy Jassy has 6 tips for big companies that want to feel more like a startup.
The Amazon CEO emphasizes solving customer problems and increasing employee ownership of employees.
He also said speed, scrappiness, and willingness to take risks are key to operating like a startup.
Andy Jassy is set on reshaping Amazon into a startup-like structure, despite the tech giant employing over one million people globally.
“We want to flatten our organizations, to move faster and to drive more ownership,” the Amazon CEO said Tuesday during the Harvard Business Review Leadership Summit.
Jassy said that when companies scale, there are “all sorts of ways” they can start to slow down. In an effort to emulate the workflow of a startup, Amazon plans to increase the ratio of individual contributors to managers by 15%, and has also mandated a 5-day return to office to help drive innovation.
Amazon isn’t necessarily looking to revert to its venture-backed days, but it’s on a mission to regain some of the agility it had early on. Jassy said these are the six things big companies should do to feel like a startup.
Jassy said that while a lot of tech companies “fall in love with technology” and build interesting products, they fail to solve “anything remarkable.”
Meanwhile, startups are on a mission to solve customer problems, the Amazon’s CEO said. With limited time and funding available, founders need to be laser-focused on building a product that will make a lasting impact on their target market.
“That’s what we got to make sure we spend our time on,” Jassy said.
The CEO added that even in times of tariff uncertainty and geopolitical risk, Amazon has continued to tell itself that it’s “here to make customers’ lives easier and better.” The CEO said all of Amazon’s businesses have areas that can be improved for customers, and that’s what it’s trying to stay focused on.
A strong culture of innovation is often a distinguishing factor of a startup. Jassy said that companies need to have a disproportionate number of builders, which he defines as people who like to invent products. Those people “dissect the customer experience,” figure out where there are gaps, and then recreate the product, he said.
Jassy said the process of building often begins with listening to what customers are struggling with.
“If you’re listening to them and you understand the need, then you can invent on their behalf,” Jassy said.
