Steve spent over 20 years as a VP at Amazon where he launched multiple businesses and led organizations around the globe. During his Amazon career, Steve spent time as the country manager for Amazon UK and Amazon China, in addition to roles leading North American Retail expansion and the rollout of international consumer programs.

In this first installment of our two-episode conversation with Steve, we discuss Amazon’s approach to expanding businesses internationally and what it was like to lead international teams during Amazon’s earlier years. Steve shares how Amazon prioritized efforts to launch internationally, including a few mistakes made along the way and the mental models that ultimately led to Amazon’s international success.

You’ll also hear Steve share:

· How to manage risk and capital expenditure when setting the pace for international expansion

· When to copy past models vs. create a localized strategy

· The four decision buckets that need should be covered when launching a new country, and the relative Importance of getting each category right

· A few costly mistakes, and how Amazon learned from these experiences

· How to adapt a launch strategy in step with the growing product or service offering of your business

· Practices for disseminating learning during a launch in order to de-risk future market launches

Steve on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sfrazier/

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