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GigaOM  -
1 days and 12 hours ago
 Call it a coincidence, but over the past few days I have spent a lot of
time with folks who used to work for Amazon but are now out doing new things. It all started with
Jason Kilar, the CEO of Hulu, who was
a keynote speaker at our NewTeeVee Live conference. Then last night I met with Dave Schapell,
founder and CEO of TeachStreet, an e-marketplace for teachers. And this morning I had coffee with
Jeff Lawson, co-founder of Twilo.
My buddy Dave McClure was the one who pointed out that they are all part of the Ex-Amazon club.
Just like the rising number of ex-Google entrepreneurs I wrote about last year, these guys are
leaving top jobs at one of the best technology companies in the U.S. Here is a list of just some
of those names, their current companies and their previous positions at the e-tailer:
- -Jeff Holden, CEO and co-founder, Pelago
(Amazon consumer web sites)
- -Michael Sha, co-founder,
WikInvest (Amazon Payments)
- -Dave Schappell, CEO and founder, TeachStreet
(Misc.)
- -Vikas Gupta, co-founder, Jambool (Amazon
Flexible Payment Systems)
- -Reza Hussein, co-founder, Jambool (Mechanical
Turk)
- -Jeff Lawson, co-founder, Twilio (Amazon Web Services)
- -Keith Schorsch, CEO and founder, Trusera
(Misc.)
Plus Jason Kilar, CEO of
Hulu (Amazon Marketplace)
Now this isn’t even a comprehensive list, and slowly and surely, it is expanding. The easy
availability of capital in Seattle certainly helps, but more importantly it speaks to the amount
of top-quality talent that Amazon has been able to attract over the years. Lawson, who stopped by
for a cup of tea this morning to pitch his company, Twilio, said that one of Amazon’s
biggest strengths has always been its ability to recruit and hire great minds.
It is because of this hiring policy that the company has not only stayed ahead of the technology
curve, but established itself as the leader in Web 2.0
innovation. That’s in stark contrast to other tech giants such as Yahoo and Google,
which have instead taken their cues from small startups. For talented people, the allure of
working with Jeff Bezos can be what clinches the deal, according to Schappell of TeachStreet,
which counts Bezos Expeditions as one of its investors. His company has essentially
developed a place where you can go to find things like a French teacher, or someone to give
you trombone lessons. I like to call it the Yellow Pages with brains, and it’s the kind of
service a company like eBay should have launched instead of mucking around with things like
Skype.
Those who know Bezos well say
that he isn’t afraid of losing and wants to win big — and that means making big
bets. This “nothing-in-the-middle” attitude is particularly attractive to folks with
an entrepreneurial gene.
Of course, it also has its downside. Bezos’ big-play approach frustrates those who want to
unleash small ideas, and nurture them over a period of time. Eventually some great people
couldn’t live within the corporate structure of Amazon and went on to do their own thing.
Like Lawson, who until recently was the CTO of Stubhub before starting Twilio, a company that
has developed an easy way for web application developers to add voice capabilities to their
offerings using standard web-programming techniques.
Should Amazon be worried about this brain drain? Absolutely not, for the company continues to
attract talent the way lights attracts moths. I’ve often wondered what Amazon would do
next, and I have a few ideas as to where I think they’re going. Someday I’ll blog
about that, too.
Check out my video
interview with Jeff Bezos.
  |
GigaOM -
1 days and 12 hours ago
Call it a coincidence, but over the past few days I have spent a lot of
time with folks who used to work for Amazon but are now out doing new things. It all started with
Jason Kilar, the CEO of Hulu, who was
a keynote speaker at our NewTeeVee Live conference. Then last night I met with Dave Schapell,
founder and CEO of TeachStreet, an e-marketplace for teachers. And this morning I had coffee with
Jeff Lawson, co-founder of Twilo.
My buddy Dave McClure was the one who pointed out that they are all part of the Ex-Amazon club.
Just like the rising number of ex-Google entrepreneurs I wrote about last year, these guys are
leaving top jobs at one of the best technology companies in the U.S. Here is a list of just some
of those names, their current companies and their previous positions at the e-tailer:
- -Jeff Holden, CEO and co-founder, Pelago
(Amazon consumer web sites)
- -Michael Sha, co-founder,
WikInvest (Amazon Payments)
- -Dave Schappell, CEO and founder, TeachStreet
(Misc.)
- -Vikas Gupta, co-founder, Jambool (Amazon
Flexible Payment Systems)
- -Reza Hussein, co-founder, Jambool (Mechanical
Turk)
- -Jeff Lawson, co-founder, Twilio (Amazon Web Services)
- -Keith Schorsch, CEO and founder, Trusera
(Misc.)
Plus Jason Kilar, CEO of
Hulu (Amazon Marketplace)
Now this isn’t even a comprehensive list, and slowly and surely, it is expanding. The easy
availability of capital in Seattle certainly helps, but more importantly it speaks to the amount
of top-quality talent that Amazon has been able to attract over the years. Lawson, who stopped by
for a cup of tea this morning to pitch his company, Twilio, said that one of Amazon’s
biggest strengths has always been its ability to recruit and hire great minds.
It is because of this hiring policy that the company has not only stayed ahead of the technology
curve, but established itself as the leader in Web 2.0
innovation. That’s in stark contrast to other tech giants such as Yahoo and Google,
which have instead taken their cues from small startups. For talented people, the allure of
working with Jeff Bezos can be what clinches the deal, according to Schappell of TeachStreet,
which counts Bezos Expeditions as one of its investors. His company has essentially
developed a place where you can go to find things like a French teacher, or someone to give
you trombone lessons. I like to call it the Yellow Pages with brains, and it’s the kind of
service a company like eBay should have launched instead of mucking around with things like
Skype.
Those who know Bezos well say
that he isn’t afraid of losing and wants to win big — and that means making big
bets. This “nothing-in-the-middle” attitude is particularly attractive to folks with
an entrepreneurial gene.
Of course, it also has its downside. Bezos’ big-play approach frustrates those who want to
unleash small ideas, and nurture them over a period of time. Eventually some great people
couldn’t live within the corporate structure of Amazon and went on to do their own thing.
Like Lawson, who until recently was the CTO of Stubhub before starting Twilio, a company that
has developed an easy way for web application developers to add voice capabilities to their
offerings using standard web-programming techniques.
Should Amazon be worried about this brain drain? Absolutely not, for the company continues to
attract talent the way lights attracts moths. I’ve often wondered what Amazon would do
next, and I have a few ideas as to where I think they’re going. Someday I’ll blog
about that, too.
Check out my video
interview with Jeff Bezos.
      |
|
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