Episode 3

full
Published on:

26th Mar 2021

How to Grow Your Business Like Amazon - The Test Cycle

In the third installment of How to Grow Your Business Like Amazon, Steve provides a deep dive into one of the four cycles - The Test Cycle!

In order for Amazon to cultivate such remarkable products and services, they had to test countless strategies and processes. When breaking it down, Steve explains how The Test Cycle is comprised of three primary principles: Encourage Successful Failure, Bet on Big Ideas, and Practice Dynamic Invention and Innovation.

Each of these principles help to lay the foundation of testing new products and services. Without these three principles, Amazon would have never seen the success they achieved.

So sit back, relax, and enjoy a thought-provoking discussion that could help you apply The Test Cycle's principles to your business.

Timecodes:

00:20 - Recapping discussions from prior episodes

01:00 - the importance of testing in business

03:13 - Principle #1: Encourage Successful Failure

05:20 - Inventing can be messy

06:00 - The Apollo Mission and its failure for NASA

09:00 - "Our mission became known as NASA's biggest failure"

11:45 - How Amazon has failed along their journey

14:50 - Principle #2: Bet on Big Ideas

17:00 - The company was wed to three elements: Marketplace, Prime, and AWS

19:00 - Over 50% of sales on Amazon products go through third-party sellers

21:30 - Overview on the development of Amazon Prime

23:10 - The big idea of AWS

25:45 - Principle #3: Practice Dynamic Invention and Innovation

27:00 - The development of the Kindle

32:15 - Experimentation leads to invention, that allows for thorough innovation

34:15 - The Test Cycle isn't just for startups

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About the Podcast

How to Grow Your Business Like Amazon
Why, when, and how Jeff Bezos takes risks and how that made Amazon successful
Amazon is the fastest company ever to reach $100 billion in sales and they didn’t reach that landmark by staying in their comfort zone. Risk taking is the key that unlocked the door to growth at Amazon, but those risks were (and are) intentional, calculated, and strategic. Thomas Edison believed, “I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work.” and Amazon’s founder, Jeff Bezos, has always linked experimentation and failure with growth and success.

Join Steve Anderson, author of "The Bezos Letters: 14 Principles to Grow Your Business Like Amazon," as he shares insights into the mind of one of the most successful CEOs to date.