Media Appearances

This page contains the resources that I have found useful in my personal and professional life. Admittedly, it is an eclectic list. It contains everything from quotes and books that I like to audio programs, videos, and slideshows.

If you don’t want to scroll through the entire list, you can click on one of the links below and filter the resources by specific category.

I will update this list as I discover new resources. If you have a resource you think I should add, please let me know via email.

Does your company culture demonstrate a passion for customers? Would you love to evolve your business so that it is always inventing on behalf of the customer. Today’s guest Steve Anderson, will show you how this can be done. His first book, The Bezos Letters: 14 Principles to Grow Your Business Like Amazon, deconstructs Jeff Bezos’s personal letters to Amazon shareholders between 1997 and 2018, providing readers with a guide on the key takeaways and principles that Bezos leveraged in turning an online bookstore into a trillion-dollar company in just over two decades.

In this episode we discuss:

How to always be in start-up mode when it comes to winning over your customers
What it means to be obsessed about your customer and how Amazon got it right
How to create systems to measure, question, then trust your gut when making decisions

Date: January 7, 2020
Appearance: Work the System: 14 Principles to Grow Your Business Like Amazon
Outlet: Work the System
Format: Podcast

Insurance Industry: Follow Amazon, Take Some Risks!

Steve Anderson didn’t set out to write a book about Jeff Bezos and Amazon’s astounding track record of cyclical experimentation, failure, experimentation, and success. But in his research of strategic future issues for the IIABA Agents Council for Technology, he discovered some lessons for the insurance industry – taken directly from 20 annual shareholder letters written by Bezos. To truly innovate, the industry first needs to take more risk, and the proper sort of risk, Steve says. “In our industry,” he explains, “the core value most would say is, ‘We take care of our customer.’ At Amazon, a customer needing to contact them is a failure, not something of value.” Agents should look for self-service options for customers to fix things without contacting the agency. “What can we do to automate, paying attention to when the customer has a problem, and proactively reaching out to the customer and fixing it?” Steve says. In this enlightening installment, he outlines key nuggets from the new book, “The Bezos Letters” – available, surprise, on Amazon.
Date: December 9, 2019
Appearance: Insurance Industry: Follow Amazon, Take Some Risks!
Outlet: Insurance Journal
Format: Podcast

Click here for more information about The Bezos Letters

For the last 21 years, Jeff Bezos has written annual letters to shareholders that reveal the underlying principles and strategies he used to grow Amazon. Steve Anderson discusses tracking down those letters and how he’s discovered 14 principles in Bezos’ words that define and explain Amazon’s incredible success.

Date: November 18, 2019
Appearance: BFM Radio: The Bezos Letters
Outlet: BFM Radio
Format: Podcast

Click here for more information about The Bezos Letters

In this episode we dive into:

1. Where Steve came up with the idea to write his book “The Bezos Letters” and how it went from an idea to reality.

2. Why the biggest risk often times is not taking the risk at all.

3. Why constant change is actually required to move forward and grow.

4. The behind the scenes research it took for “The Bezos Letters” to come to life.

5. Why Steve shifted the layout of the book away from chronological and into 14 main principles and organizational cycles.

6. Why Jeff Bezos believes that failure is necessary for growth and success.

7. The importance of allowing ourselves to be counterintuitive and how this principle has allowed Amazon to continue to grow.

8. The significance of the first letter that Jeff Bezos sent to shareholders and how he constantly revisits this message throughout his correspondence.

9. Why Amazon always maintains a day 1 mindset.

10. The secret 15th principle that Steve would add to his book.

11. Why the “Flywheel” is one of the most important principles, but also may be the hardest to implement.

12. How the principles of Amazon don’t simply apply to business, but also can be actively applied to our personal life as well.

Date: November 11, 2019
Appearance: Life Outside the Hustle: Grow Your Business Like Amazon with Steve Anderson
Outlet: Life Outside the Hustle
Format: Podcast

Click here for more information about The Bezos Letters