

tech editor and writer @BusinessInsider // formally editor @MichiganDaily // i also write fiction
…I’ve been in this situation, giving high-stakes demos to potential investors, potential hires, friends, family, and anyone else who wanted to try. I spent the entirety of my career up to now on the other side of this kind of demo, wading through the marketing slides, waiting for the demo starts, making a polite joke when early software breaks (ours hasn’t), and generally sitting there waiting to be impressed. I wasn’t sure exactly what to expect on the other side of the table.
…tive anecdotes from ex-Amazonians. But if we were using that story form, we’d just come to you for responses and be …tive anecdotes from ex-Amazonians. But if we were using that story form, we’d just come to you for responses and be done. As I said, this article is more of an inquiry into the nature of work, which is why we’re trying to get you to share your point of view as well as positive material — to get anecdotes and quotes from you into the story that says “here’s why we do things this way, here’s what we’ve learned, here’s what works for us.” This isn’t a trick to get you to share material that we can easily undercut — we find it genuinely compelling.