Toren Yuen’s Post

I’m honored to be featured on the Life at Amazon Web Services (AWS) blog to share my entrepreneurial journey and passion for bringing new "Think Big" ideas to life. I share my story and all the steps that brought me to #AWS. I reflect on the transition from founder and CEO to an AWS Vice President, and how the entrepreneurial spirit that drove me at my company, LogFire, is also very much alive here. Our Leadership Principles, vision, and solutions motivate and empower builders like me to continuously innovate on behalf of our customers. While AWS operates at a much larger scale, we maintain the speed, agility, and the bias for action cultivated in startup environments. We aren’t afraid to take calculated risks, embrace failures as part of the invention process, and rapidly pivot based on customer feedback to deliver impactful solutions. This entrepreneurial culture paired with the breadth of AWS services is incredibly energizing! I am grateful to work with the many other brilliant Amazonians who are collectively united by customer obsession. I encourage you to read my story to gain insights into AWS's unique culture, which fosters an environment where entrepreneurial risk-takers can continue pursuing their dreams and potentially transform industries. Here is the link to the blog: https://lnkd.in/eHNj2KDv #aws #amazon #HereAtAWS #Innovation #SupplyChain #Entrepreneurship #leadership #day1 #AWSSupplyChain #LogFire #thinkbig #culture #cultura

After a little over 3 years, it was time to turn in my badge at Amazon. I'm grateful to my colleagues, customers, and partners who made this journey fulfilling, joyful, and full of valuable lessons. I cherish my experience working with so many dedicated, brilliant, and customer-obsessed builders across all the organizations I had the privilege of collaborating with. 🙏🏽 AWS is an inspirational place to innovate. It is Day 1 at Amazon, and organizations big and small have much to learn from its culture and people. Much has been said about Amazon's practices and peculiarities. But I want to share what I have found most insightful about operating a business the Amazonian way. Here's a unique perspective that I hope you may find valuable: 🔑 Principled Decision-Making Cuts Down on Debilitating Politics During my onboarding, I saw the sheepish repetition of "Leadership Principles" at every metaphorical corner I turned. Within the first three months, however, I grew an appreciation for how much of the decision-making is moderated by these principles. They were not just empty words on walls. They represented a vibrant evaluation framework for decision-making based on the first principles of running the business in an Amazonian way. This insight finally dawned on me when I noticed how much people did NOT reference "authority" – theirs or that of the chain of command – in their day-to-day decision-making. Instead, they debated which principle applied more to the situation. Amazon has plenty of politics, like any other large organization. But the leadership principles cut through much of the politics that debilitates a typical enterprise. My point here isn't for all to adopt Amazon's principles – although they are a fine bunch. Rather, come up with your own, and stick to acting on them every day. There are other lessons, like this, which I hope to share in due time. But for now, it's time to get back to building. Details of what I'm working on and the talented team of co-founders I am lucky to share this journey with will come in a future post. #Amazon #AWS #LeadershipPrinciples #Innovation #Entrepreneurship #Day1

𝗪𝗲’𝗿𝗲 𝘀𝘂𝗽𝗲𝗿 𝗲𝘅𝗰𝗶𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝗮𝗻𝗻𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗿𝗱 𝗸𝗲𝘆𝗻𝗼𝘁𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝗟𝗘𝗩𝗘𝗟 𝗨𝗣 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟰 📣 Danielle Gorlick, General Manager Benelux at Amazon Web Services (AWS) about how to build a culture of #innovation As a startup founder, you want to accelerate without making too many unnecessary mistakes. A culture of innovation is crucial for this. But how do you build it?     In thirty years, Amazon Web Services (AWS) grew from a startup into a giant with a global turnover of $575 billion and more than a million employees without losing that culture of innovation. How does Amazon do that? What is needed for this? What lessons did they learn? 🚀 Join us at LEVEL UP 2024 as Danielle shares Amazon's journey, lessons learned, and actionable strategies for building a thriving, innovative company culture. 📅 When and where? 30 September - Evoluon, Eindhoven   🎟️ Get your free ticket NOW: https://lnkd.in/dazrB-RN  𝗬𝗼𝘂 𝗱𝗼𝗻’𝘁 𝘄𝗮𝗻𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝗺𝗶𝘀𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀! #techstartups #levelup2024 #Amazon #AmazonWebServices #AWS #leadership #Eindhoven #scalability 

In the fast-paced world of technology, having a great idea is only the beginning. The real magic happens when that idea is executed at scale. A perfect example of this is Amazon Web Services (AWS). When Amazon first built its cloud infrastructure to support its e-commerce platform, the idea of offering that infrastructure to others wasn't entirely new. However, Amazon's ability to execute the idea on a massive scale transformed it into a billion-dollar business. Today, AWS powers countless startups and global enterprises, proving that success isn’t just about the idea—it’s about delivering it at scale with precision and efficiency. For tech leaders, the lesson is clear: ideas spark innovation, but scaling them effectively is what drives growth. Are you focused on how you can scale your innovations to truly impact your market? Let’s keep the conversation going—how are you ensuring that execution at scale is part of your business strategy? #Leadership #Innovation #ExecutionAtScale #AWS #Amazon #BusinessGrowth #TechLeadership #BusinessStrategy #TechIndustry #ScalingInnovation #Entrepreneurship #GrowthMindset #DigitalTransformation #FromIdeasToExecution

I am leaving AWS. A bit older, a bit wiser, and very grateful for the last 4 years. And what does one do in the end but go back to the beginning? When I joined Amazon someone told me each day will feel like a week. They were right in that I learned something every single day; from the Amazon culture, my colleagues and clients. So here are the three things that are closing this circle and I am keeping with me: 𝟭. 𝗔𝗺𝗮𝘇𝗼𝗻 𝗟𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗽 𝗣𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗰𝗶𝗽𝗹𝗲𝘀 From the day I joined it became very clear that the success of Amazon is its culture and its Leadership Principles. Not words on a website, but a credo. First among them is Customer Obsession: 𝘓𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘶𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘥𝘴. 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬 𝘷𝘪𝘨𝘰𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘴𝘭𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘬𝘦𝘦𝘱 𝘤𝘶𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘴𝘵. 𝘈𝘭𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘱𝘢𝘺 𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘦𝘵𝘪𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘴, 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘰𝘣𝘴𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘤𝘶𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘳𝘴.  A mental model that guides every decision, to a very clearly shared understanding of direction. Amazon tells you, your customers are who you sell to, and who you work with. Learn to be of service, be a partner, keep thinking big and collectively. https://lnkd.in/eApHR87s 𝟮. 𝗗𝗮𝘆 𝟭 𝗰𝘂𝗹𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲 Every year when the shareholder’s letter is published, the original 1997 letter is also attached. I reread this today and remembered the hope of being part of something big and how it holds as true as ever. For me, maybe just replace online commerce with AI :) 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘴 𝘋𝘢𝘺 1 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘐𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘯𝘦𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥, 𝘪𝘧 𝘸𝘦 𝘦𝘹𝘦𝘤𝘶𝘵𝘦 𝘸𝘦𝘭𝘭, 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘈𝘮𝘢𝘻𝘰𝘯.𝘤𝘰𝘮. 𝘛𝘰𝘥𝘢𝘺, 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘦𝘳𝘤𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘷𝘦𝘴 𝘤𝘶𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘮𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘪𝘰𝘶𝘴 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦. 𝘛𝘰𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘳𝘰𝘸, 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘻𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯, 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘦𝘳𝘤𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘢𝘤𝘤𝘦𝘭𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘤𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘤𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺. 𝘈𝘮𝘢𝘻𝘰𝘯.𝘤𝘰𝘮 𝘶𝘴𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘐𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘯𝘦𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭 𝘷𝘢𝘭𝘶𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘪𝘵𝘴 𝘤𝘶𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘳𝘴 https://lnkd.in/emtt_jHa 𝟯. 𝗜 𝗹𝗼𝘃𝗲 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗿𝘁𝘂𝗽𝘀 ❤️ Working with startups is a privilege. Both as a partner and as an angel investor. Being part of the AI revolution is extraordinary. Seeing the future be built and working with founders and VCs who back them has been the best mission, and what I have loved the most. Builders, developers, innovators, bold ideas, 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙞𝙨 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙩𝙞𝙢𝙚 and I am so here for it. It is still and always will be Day 1 and I will always just be getting started. I cannot wait for more adventures. Onwards and upwards.

Four years ago, at the beginning of the pandemic, I made a calculated decision to leave start-up life for a big company. My primary drivers, like many, were concern for my family and uncertainty about what lay ahead economically. I joined Amazon Web Services, thinking that it would be a good place to ride out the pandemic and that I would likely go back to start-ups once things were stable. I love start-ups for a number of reasons. There are opportunities to grow professionally, and there are unique challenges that need to be solved, so the work is never boring. Plus, the scrappy, "solve your own problems" environment requires taking on work outside of your job description and stretching yourself every single day. I loved my time at start-ups, and I was confident that I'd want to go back to that as soon as I could. I didn't know when I joined AWS four years ago, that all of the things I loved about start-ups were true about Amazon too. At AWS, the leadership principles (LP) of ownership, invent and simplify, and the empowerment of two-pizza teams, allow people opportunities to grow and take on tasks and projects that stretch you. The LP "learn and be curious" means that I am expected to take time to grow and always be seeking knowledge/betterment. And supporting Strategic Accounts gives me the opportunity to obsess over customers that are testing the limits of cloud as they operate some of the largest cloud deployments in the world. The security problems I get to solve are exciting and novel — as my customers operate at massive scale and test the art of the possible in cloud every day. And then there's the thing about Amazon that I didn't experience at start-ups. The peculiar culture stemming from our Leadership Principles is unique to Amazon. I never experienced a company where people have common values and operate with a shared understanding of how the work gets done. I've found a home here, and I'm looking forward to hitting my five-year anniversary and getting my orange badge. If you're curious what the day-to-day is like at Amazon, reach out to me — I'm happy to have a chat and talk about my experiences.

After an incredible journey of 3,877 Day 1s across 7 different roles, I'm announcing my departure from Amazon and Amazon Web Services (AWS). I first joined Amazon through the acquisition of #TenMarks Education in 2013. It's been an honor to contribute to groundbreaking projects and obsess over our customers alongside exceptional colleagues and leaders. A few highlights include: 1.    Cal Poly Digital Transformation Hub powered by AWS: AWS's first university Cloud Innovation Center focused on solving public sector challenges. The #DXHub provided invaluable insights into Amazon's innovation culture, particularly the "working backwards" methodology. I learned how to effectively translate customer needs into groundbreaking solutions, driving continuous innovation. 2.    AWS Education Accelerator: Developed and executed a 10-week immersive go-to-market accelerator program. This initiative allowed AWS to support high-potential startups to leverage data, analytics, and generative AI to improve education. 3.    AWS EdStart: It was incredibly humbling experience to work hand-in-hand with founders to develop their businesses and support their visions for improving education. During my ten and a half year tenure Amazon's Leadership Principles became my north star, shaping my approach to problem-solving and innovation. I'm grateful for the mentorship and guidance from both current and past leaders who have profoundly influenced my professional growth. To our customers: Your trust and partnership have been the driving force behind my relentless pursuit of excellence. Together, we've pushed boundaries and developed solutions which are having a real impact. Your challenges and successes have inspired me to continuously raise the bar and deliver results on your behalf. As I embark on my next chapter, I carry with me invaluable experiences, cherished relationships, a renewed commitment to driving innovation, and of course many of Amazon’s #Peculiar Ways.  The lessons learned about fostering an innovation culture and working backwards from customer needs will undoubtedly shape my future endeavors…and who knows one day I may be back, after all most decisions are two-way doors. Thank you Rohit Agarwal, Andrew Joseph, Traci Corazin, Mike Farner, Ryan Lefton, Andrew K., Katie Herritage, Mike Lombardi, Alec Chalmers, Manpreet S. Mattu, Arun Subramanian, Kirby Salerno, Denise Quashie, Ryan Krozser, Katie Warmington, Vanitha Sugumaran, Amie Carobrese, Holland Lincoln, Craig Noto, Mastin Jones, Aaron Hughes, Chris Craft, Jennifer Larson, Sarah Storelli, Jeff Wickert, Brandi Steckel, Khurram Tahir, Dustin Mulcahey, MBA, Chris Niehaus, Ken Eisner, Abby Daniell, Samuel B. Harris, Ivan G., Renata Nosé Leães Trindade, Juan Luis Vílchez, Tal Havivi, Mike Tarrant, Belinda Matingou, Brickton Flammer and many more!

Hey #Amazon friends, I am back! But hold your excitement. I am back, but not as an Amazonian. Today is my #Day1 at Atlassian. Yeah, literally, first day. Tomorrow will be the second, and then the third, and so forth. :-) And, in collaboration with several teams across #AWS, I will: - disagree and commit, and play as a team. - have a strong bias for action, and be the change we seek. - insist on the highest standards, and build with heart and balance. - show customer obsession and, most importantly, don't f&*!# the customer. And I am excited to get started! PS.: Visit https://lnkd.in/gPwiqfXz and https://lnkd.in/gW5pDfSF to learn about Atlassian values and Amazon leadership principles, respectively. #newjob #newcompany #newchallenges #career

Be a Unicorn! 🦄 Amazon didn’t just build a business—they built an empire. A #moat to keep competitors out and a #castle for others to thrive in. Their secret? They don’t just use what they build; they sell it too! Think #AWS for cloud power, #AmazonPharmacy for health, #AmazonAds for reach, #SellOnAmazon for entrepreneurs, #AmazonBusiness for B2B, #AmazonFashion for style, and #AmazonKindle for readers. Need it? Build it. Use it. Sell it. Teach others. Help them sell it too. That’s the #unicorn mindset. Want to scale? Build your own moat and castle. Then rent out jet skis! 🚀 #BusinessStrategy #Innovation #DigitalTransformation #LinkedInReels #Leadership #Scalability

I feel very lucky to be a global leader at Amazon. We don't do everything right, but we do a lot of things really well. The culture is incredibly innovative (on behalf of customers), and I get to work with some of the most passionate, talented, and dedicated people in the world. One of our secrets? Emotional intelligence. Yes, that's right, EQ. In that vein, here is some simple yet profound advice from Andy Jassy about the key ingredient that's needed to succeed at Amazon (and at work in general)--a positive attitude. And he calls it a skill (not a trait), which means you can develop it. His thoughts perfectly align with Daniel Goleman’s research that found that emotional intelligence (vs. IQ) accounts for a majority of success in the workplace. Goleman calls IQ your “threshold” abilities (yes, you need a certain amount, but after you have enough, it doesn’t matter much) while he calls EQ your “distinguishing” abilities (they make you a star performer). And no surprise, "positive outlook" is one of the 12 core competencies Goleman identifies in his EQ model. I can personally attest to the power of a positive attitude. It has made a tremendous difference in my life, and it is a big reason why I was able to grow the EQ@Amazon Affinity Group to 60k+ people and then launch the EPIC program for customers. Positivity matters! I love how Andy also mentioned that you should focus on controlling what you can control. In this world with so many non-controllable things, your attitude is one of the most important things you can control…and it makes an outsized difference. It reminds me of something we say at Amazon—focus on the inputs, not the outputs. If you focus on the right inputs (what you can control), the outputs (what you can’t control) will eventually take care of themselves. Read here to learn more: https://lnkd.in/gdYHHPfd What are things you do to create or maintain a positive attitude at work? I'd love to hear in the comments! #successatwork #positiveattitude #amazon #aws #emotionalintelligence #andyjassy #danielgoleman #epicleadership #mindset