Set the Bar High: Hiring as the Whole Game
Bezos calls high hiring standards the single most important element of Amazon's success. Not strategy, not technology. Hiring.
His interview line became famous: 'You can work long, hard, or smart, but at Amazon.com you can't choose two out of three.' It's a filter, deliberately unattractive to people who want comfort, magnetic to people who want to build something they can tell their grandchildren about.
Ownership was structural, not a slogan. Employee compensation was weighted toward stock options rather than cash, because everyone 'must think like, and therefore must actually be, an owner.' The incentive design enforces the culture the letter describes.
“Setting the bar high in our approach to hiring has been, and will continue to be, the single most important element of Amazon.com's success.”
Key idea
Hiring bar is the highest-leverage decision a company makes. Design compensation so people actually are owners, not just told to think like them.