What I didn’t do

(MBA, Amazon)

These days I was discussing with another Rosser what was the most valuable point of the internship. In doing so I had to go through an exercise of exploring all the positive points and picking only one. This is unfair with the other points but is a good exercise. Among the positive points I can highlight the city, the group of interns, the learning and the company itself. I have already mentioned the first couple points on a previous post so I’ll focus on the company and the main point.

It is very exciting to be part of a company that is making history. Amazon has now over $25bi in annual revenues and is still growing at over 40% a year. Not many other companies, if any, have done the same. It is definitely changing the face of the Retail. And being part of this transformation is an invaluable opportunity. There is yet a more propounding transformation Amazon is causing: the way we transfer knowledge, through e-books.

But among all, I believe that the most valuable point of my internship is this bad taste I now have in my mouth. I have now this inquietude for knowing what impact I’m going to cause in the world. Recently, I have seen the speech Jeff Bezos delivered to Princeton graduates . I learned a little bit more about his trajectory and I was profoundly uncomfortable to learn he started Amazon when he was 30. He speaks about choices and leaves us to think about what choices are we making. Jeff was able to able to impact the world twice (the face of retail and the e-books revolution) and who dares to doubt he could do it again?

If I can point out only one positive aspect of my internship, it’s definitely going to be the uneasiness I am left with. Yes, I have made new friends, yes I have enjoyed the city, yes I have learned a lot. All of this is very valid. But the best of all is what I haven’t done… yet!

E-Retail: is it Tech or Retail?

(MBA, Amazon)
Frugality: that is one of the core values at Amazon and door desks are an enduring reminder of that. Although you can see it across the company I think this is only a mean to a greater core value: customer obsession. Amazon is constantly seeking to satisfy its customers because it truly believes that happy customer equals more revenue in the future.
Amazon’s culture has been the most surprising part of the internship thus far. I’m positively impressed by seeing Jeff’s statement on maximizing long term FCF percolating through daily decisions. It is interesting to seeing a company maintaining that even after becoming a multi-billion-dollar organization. Some examples are: expansion to new regions where profits might not anytime soon, and discussions around making changes to the company’s current capabilities to accommodate a potential important customer at AWS.
Amazon is constantly classified as a Tech company that happens to be a retail company. I would argue it is a retail company that happens to sell products over the internet. I say that based on some aspects of its culture that I have seem, and I am totally biased by the fact that I am working at the more high-tech portion of the company (Amazon Web Services). Let’s go to the facts: Amazon is a low margin company (retail like), from this fact comes frugality; the company’s goal is to have the largest world’s selection (retail like), a high-tech company would probably have a goal related to its products; Jeff Bezos in its famous 1997 letter to the shareholders clearly states that the company is working to maximize future FCF (retail?, Tech?), although future FCF is definitely the ultimate component on any company’s valuation, I have never seen a high-tech firm completely ignoring quarterly results in favor of a greater good.
I believe it is important for Amazon’s success that it is a retail company. What is not (retail like) is probably the fast growth and innovation at Amazon. And this definitely distinguishes Amazon as a unique culture.

Summer time: make friends outside the campus

(MBA, Amazon)

The timing for talk about my lifestyle in Seattle could not be better. The summer has finally picked up. With it, several new outdoor opportunities arise. As I write this post I look outside my window at the high of the 15^th floor with a beautiful sunny view of the sea where several sailboats gently heels. I have to admit that Seattle is treating me well.

During the first half of my internship I had the chance to really enjoy Seattle and the surroundings. I went sailing, diving, hiking, kayaking and running. I went visiting Vancouver and I’m going to visit LA. But more important than it all, I accomplished one of my goals for the summer: expand my network and make new friends.

Seattle is probably not the city with the biggest MBA intern class (approximately 150), but is definitely unique in its setup. Pretty much all the MBA interns, mostly Amazon and Microsoft, live at the same apartment building complex. It happens because both companies subsidize the leasing. This uniqueness creates an atmosphere of cohesion and openness hard to find outside campi. Interns from 30 business schools interact with each other in several events organized by the companies and by us.

Only 6 weeks have gone by so far and I still have 6 weeks more to come. If it is true that after almost one year at Ross I keep meeting new people there, I can assume that my networking expansion here at Seattle is far from having fulfilled its potential. During the next 6 weeks I anticipate the life becoming a little bit more stressful with the approaching of final presentation. I also am aware that I was part of one of the last groups to begin their internship, therefore the group will get smaller every week from now on. I am confident that the foundations for an enjoyable 2^nd half have been laid down.

Learning, scoping, delivering!

MBA, Amazon

At this point, one third of the internship is done and with it comes an urge to see some work done. The first month is probably the most unproductive and hard (at least that’s what I have heard and what I expect), simply because you are flooding with new information. You have to learn the about the company’s culture and how to navigate it, the topic and industry you are working with, and the project objectives itself. Apart from it all you are still supposed to start delivering some results.

From the very beginning I have spent a considerable amount of time just scoping my project: what it will be and what it will not be. I believe this is probably the most important success factor of a good end product. Is by scoping, and discussing the scope with your manager, that you are able to set expectations and plan yourself to achieve a good result.

The first month would be the best phase of the internship if it wasn’t by one detail: you are supposed to start delivering something. Just by talking to other interns and former interns I have the feeling that pretty much everyone has some sort of frustration during this phase. The common sense is that either you don’t know exactly how or what you are supposed to deliver.

I guess that my consulting background helps me at this point. I feel much more confident simply because I have worked at many other 3-month-projects before. I’m also lucky to have a very concrete end product to produce: an excel model. And the success of my work will be easily accessed at the end by checking the website: the model is there or not. At this point I have a mock-up and I can start showing it around. That was my strategy to manage internal and external expectations.

Working for the "other"

Summer internship has started and I see myself working for the other: other country, other industry, other coast, and other business.

My internship experience starts 2.400 mi from Seattle. I decided to take the opportunity to get to know US a little bit better and I chose to drive from Ann Arbor to Seattle.

RoadTrip Stats:

Duration: 6 days;

Distance: 2650 mi;

Consumption: 125 gal of gas;

States visited: 9;

Pictures taken: 7940

View Larger Map

Yes, this country is really huge and driving all the way to Seattle prepared me to the changes to come. I've seen beautiful landscapes changing from the absence of hills in Michigan to the absence of pretty much everything Wyoming; from the cosmopolitan Chicago to the far-west little cities on the way to Yellowstone national park; from 85F at Ann Arbor to a snow storm 10000ft above see level at the top of Wyoming Creek; and obviously... people were changing too. But that was just the beginning.

Working in US is considerably different than working in South America. Americans tend to be much more focused on their work than I was used to. In Brazil it is not uncommon to have little “social breaks” during the workday. I would not say it is a complete waist of time. It is during those breaks, with the excuse to have a coffee that a lot of social interaction happens and you end up getting to know your coworker better. Ultimately, a lot is accomplished because the social networks formed this way are a very powerful shortcut to the natural processes. It is also not natural for me to see most of the people having lunch at their desks. I guess that Latinos tend to value the lunchtime much more. The counterpart is that one is actually able to manage the work-life balance much better.

Coming back to the industry after 2 years working as a consultant has been very interesting. I am adapting myself to once more navigate within an organization. The biggest challenge here is to work bottom-up rather than top-down. As a consultant you can move much quicker past the obstacles just because you have the sponsorship of a VP or a CXO. On the other hand, as an MBA intern you are typically on the bottom of the pyramid and you have to exercise negotiation and influence skills much more. Probably, the most noticeable difference between consulting and Amazon is that the first targets the short term profit and the later long term free cash flow.

Finally, I’m working on the “other” business: at least according to the Amazon’s annual financial report. I’m working for a group within Amazon that probably shares only the name and the culture. AWS is a cloud-computing provider and as such has a completely different business model than the e-retail. It grows even faster than Amazon and is a very dynamic environment. The “not so good” side of it is that I’m really far from Amazon’s core business.

Taking the most out of it!

Hi all,

I would like to introduce myself. I'm Douglas Storf, a rising MBA2 and will be spending my summer at Amazon in Seattle where I'll be managing a product called S3 at the Amazon Web Services group. I'm really excited about the opportunity. One of my goals when I came Ross was to have an working experience with marketing at a High-tech company, preferably outside Brazil (my home country). I can say it is mission accomplished: not only I got a Marketing position at Amazon in Seattle, I only got a MAP project at Google in London!

After spending the last 6 weeks working and living in London, getting back to Ann Arbor had a contrasting impact on me: I'm happy to be back to where I now call home, but I know I'll miss Europe.

This week is the last week of the first year and is definitely a time for reflections. We are just getting ready for our internship experiences while our friends from the second year are getting ready for their full time experiences. "It will go fast" That is what I was told before coming to B-School. "It went too fast" That is what our MBA2 colleagues are saying now and I second their voice! I'm doing my best to take the most out of this experience but I find it inevitable to have a taste in my mouth that I am still missing a lot!

The internship is not going to be any different: it will go supper fast, I'll do my best to take the most out of it, I'll still get the feeling I'm leaving a lot behind! I guess I'm getting used to that!