Amazon Still Stuck Muddling Through Day 2: Now What?
On the heels of a reportedly slower Prime signup from the last Prime Day, Amazon is trying to figure out how to borrow from Netflix and other players to trim some account-sharing of Prime free-shipping with non-household members.
Some outlets called this a "great benefit". tbh I didn't even know this was a benefit. But on the heels of recent reports of a slower amount of Prime signups during Prime Day, it's a bad look.
I expect part of the thesis of slower Prime signups is that wealthier households are starting to become saturated, and those that were sharing the benefits with their kids are now just going to have to pony up more formally. Sounds like a tweak more than anything.
Not going to solve the fundamental problem facing Amazon: a seemingly endless acceleration of Day 2 Thinking.
There are numerous reports out there Amazon is trying to return to its "hardcore" culture. Laughable. The reality is, once the genie is out of the bottle it simply does not get put back in.
In other words, a non-founder like Jassy trying to execute "founder-mode" priorities at Amazon's size comes off like another warmed-over three-letter-acronym revamp.
We want leaders who act like owners! Yet... these owners also need to:
* monitor their phone usage.
* itemize their meals reimbursements.
* RTO where we want you to
Doesn't sound like ownership to me, smells like serfdom.
Truth is, Amazon had a famously frugal culture that employees complained about but they knew the drill. Jeff still had the door desk, right? Who am I to complain.
Long past this. Yes these are the days that Jeff warned us all about.
One investor even mused that Jeff might need to come back to rein in things. The reality is, even if Jeff came back, founder mode would not return. Why?
Simple.
"127 meter Yacht" Jeff is not the same as "Door-desk" Jeff.
My advice would be stop talking so much about the bureaucracy, start delivering more for the customer. Amazon has a ton of great qualities, fantastic people, and outstanding service. Your people are not the enemy -- they are your greatest enablers. If your supposed fantastic leadership (of which Jassy was a leader most of this time) was so great, why are there so many bad people?
I hope just hope Amazon doesn't get lost in a corporate quagmire of self-doubt.
