All I Really Need to Know I Learned at Amazon

8 unexpected benefits from within the walls of the world’s most controversial company

By Parag Mamnani, Webgility Founder and CEO

My passion for technology comes from hands-on experience in creating and selling business software. In fact, right out of the gate I began my career as a partner and head of technology at a web development startup delivering software solutions for thousands of e-commerce companies. But as I look back, the most significant learning of my career took place within the walls of Amazon.com. To be specific, I was a Product Management Lead and Evangelist for Amazon WebStore, where I launched the WebStore Developer program and managed Amazon’s largest customer accounts, generating millions in revenue.

As e-commerce’s Goliath, Amazon draws harsh criticism by both the business world and the media on a daily basis. In fact, the running commentary on Amazon is so constant, it has become easy to tune out. But when its corporate culture came under fire in The New York Times last summer, I reflected on my own experience there. Several years after I worked at Amazon, I see how I’m able to leverage the same principles that I learned there to run and grow my own company, and for that I am grateful.

1. Embrace the data: We have opposable thumbs and we have data. Sure, gut instinct and personal hunches have value, but not without numbers to back them up. Amazon taught me it’s important to measure every part of the business and make key decisions with data. No one who starts a business selling online is a data expert, so we build helpful data analytics into our software so e-commerce SMBs can learn how to sell better.
2. Think big: When building a business, don’t settle for good, go for great. The Internet age has brought nothing if not choices, but those choices raise the bar for every business and brand on the planet. Amazon made it crystal clear to me — if you’re going to play, play to win. For e-commerce sellers, this point is all about scaling by selling on different platforms and marketplaces, including Amazon.
3. Work your ass off: Nothing comes easy at Amazon and in life, so you have to work hard. Turns out just when you think you can’t increase your effort or make a bigger impact, life shows up and you survive another challenge. When you work hard, your character is always better for it. In the world of e-commerce, it’s all about working smarter, finding ways to get out of the minutia of busywork so you can conceptualize the next growth phase of your business.
4. Stick with the winners: You can’t do it all, so surround yourself with the best. Amazon hires great people and empowers them. In business, fear and ego leads to micromanagement, and micro-management kills creativity. Today’s sellers use dozens of apps to run their business, but unless those apps are connected and the team is collaborating efficiently, there will be mistakes. Invest in collaboration solutions for streamlining workflows, you won’t regret it.
5. Learn to prioritize: If Amazon could have changed the clock to a 30-hour work day, they would have. There I found out what’s important in my business and in my personal life — and I learned to protect both. Practice time management ninja skills every day so they become second nature. I repeat, work smarter to prevent burn-out.
6. Step up or get stepped on: Ultimately Amazon’s Webstore couldn’t keep up with Shopify and the platform was euthanized. Smart business owners exist somewhere between healthy paranoia and idealism. So don’t be surprised by fierce competition, they want to win too. Right now your e-commerce competition is focused on becoming omnichannel — making sure their stores and websites are optimized to sell on any device or platform. Don’t let omnichannel take you by surprise.
7. Play nice: In business — even in a factory like Amazon — relationships matter. And there’s simply no way to foresee how your connections may help you in the future. Make friends in all aspects of business and use your network of customers, team members, and partners to fuel growth of your business at large.
8. Experiment: Even a giant like Amazon has to respond to the ever-changing Google algorithm, so it’s important to be agile and try new things. Build your business with flexibility to pivot toward opportunity at a moment’s notice. And if opportunity doesn’t show up, don’t be afraid to go out and find it.

It’s no secret, Amazon’s winner-take-all business strategies have grown it into the behemoth everyone loves to hate. But, like it or not, Amazon has changed our retail landscape for good and, much to my surprise — despite the unsustainable intensity of its day-to-day grind — it has changed me for good as well.

Parag Mamnani is Founder and CEO of Webgility, Inc., the leading software solutions company for multi-channel e-commerce enterprise companies and SMBs. He is also the author of “Tao te cha-ching: 6 simple principles for achieving inner peace while running a profitable business.”