Working Backwards
by Colin Bryar & Bill Carr · 2021
Two former Amazon executives explain the internal mechanics, the six-page memo, the press release written before the product exists, that most Amazon books only gesture at from outside.
Worth reading? Working Backwards is written by insiders (Bryar ran Amazon's S-team meetings, Carr ran retail and Kindle content) which makes it more mechanism-focused than most Amazon coverage. Compared to The Everything Store, which tells Amazon's story through Bezos as a character, this book explains the actual internal tools, no PowerPoint, six-page narrative memos, the press-release-first product process, that other books mention in passing. It's a manual more than a narrative. Skip it if you want the founder drama and history. Read it if you want to actually copy Amazon's internal decision-making mechanics.
| Full Title | Working Backwards: Insights, Stories, and Secrets from Inside Amazon |
|---|---|
| Author | Colin Bryar & Bill Carr |
| Published | 2021 |
| Publisher | St. Martin's Press |
| Category | Business & Money |
| Favorite quote | “If you're not stubborn, you'll give up on experiments too soon. And if you're not flexible, you'll pound your head against the wall and you won't see the alternative solution to a problem.” |
The Verdict
Bryar and Carr actually ran the mechanisms other Amazon books only describe from outside: the six-page memo, the press-release-first process, Bar Raiser hiring. If you want to copy Amazon’s internal decision-making instead of just admiring its results, this is the manual.
you want the operating mechanics of Amazon (memo culture, PR/FAQ, bar-raiser hiring) explained by people who actually ran them
you want Bezos biography and personality -- this is process and mechanism, not a life story
Book Summary
"Working backwards" means starting from the customer's experience and writing the press release and FAQ for a product before building it, forcing clarity on what it actually does and why anyone would want it, before a single line of code exists.
Amazon banned PowerPoint internally in favor of six-page narrative memos read silently at the start of meetings, forcing writers to actually think through logic and sequencing rather than hide gaps behind bullet points and slides.
Bar Raiser hiring (a trained interviewer outside the hiring team with veto power) exists specifically to prevent quality drift as a company scales, protecting the hiring bar even when a hiring manager is under pressure to fill a seat fast.
Top 8 Lessons from Working Backwards
- Working backwards: write the press release and FAQ for a product before building it, starting from customer experience, not internal capability.
- Six-page narrative memos, read silently at meeting start, replace PowerPoint to force real logical rigor instead of bullet-point hand-waving.
- Bar Raiser hiring adds a trained interviewer with veto power outside the immediate team, protecting quality as a company scales fast.
- Single-threaded leadership, one clear owner per major initiative, prevents diffusion of responsibility across committees.
- Input metrics (things you control) matter more day-to-day than output metrics (things that result from them, like revenue).
- Amazon's leadership principles function as an operating system for decisions, not a poster on the wall, they're cited explicitly in real meetings.
- Disagree and commit: voice real disagreement in the room, then fully execute the decision once it's made, without relitigating it.
- Two-pizza teams (small enough to feed with two pizzas) keep ownership clear and communication overhead low.
Top 3 Quotes from Working Backwards
"If you're not stubborn, you'll give up on experiments too soon. And if you're not flexible, you'll pound your head against the wall and you won't see the alternative solution to a problem."
Colin Bryar & Bill Carr, Working Backwards
"Working backwards from the customer, rather than starting with an idea for a product and trying to bolt customers onto it."
Colin Bryar & Bill Carr, Working Backwards
"The path to success is paved with disagreement, so long as it's followed by full commitment."
Colin Bryar & Bill Carr, Working Backwards
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Working Backwards worth reading?
Yes, for anyone building product or process at a company. Unlike most Amazon books, it's written by insiders who explain the actual mechanics, not just the outcomes.
What does 'working backwards' mean at Amazon?
Writing the customer-facing press release and FAQ for a product before building it, forcing the team to define real customer value up front instead of justifying a feature after the fact.
Why did Amazon ban PowerPoint?
Six-page narrative memos, read silently at the start of meetings, force writers to work through logic and sequencing that bullet points let you skip past.
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