
34 segments available
Werner Vogels, CTO of Amazon, joins YC Software Engineer Kyle Corbitt to share his experience and insights on technology and startups. Learn more at https://startupschool.org.
In this segment, Kyle Corbitt introduces Dr. Werner Vogels, the CTO of Amazon, highlighting his extensive experience and the topics they will discuss, including technology and startups. This sets the stage for an insightful conversation about Vogels' journey and insights into the tech industry.
"this is a real privilege for me we are here today with dr. Verner bogles he is the CTO of Amazon and of course has a lot of really exciting experience with that and so we're gonna be talking to him to..."
Werner Vogels shares his background as a research scientist at Cornell University, detailing his experience in building large-scale distributed systems. He discusses his dual journey of academia and startups, including successes and failures, which ultimately led him to Amazon.
"give it up for dr. Boles thank you okay so we're gonna be talking of course about Amazon today and about your role there but I'd like to start with a little bit of background would you mind telling us..."
Vogels reflects on his transition from working in hospitals to pursuing computer science, motivated by a desire to escape the emotional toll of human suffering. He discusses how this decision shaped his career and led him to discover his talent for technology.
"a company called Stratos I don't know if anybody remembers that this before your time yeah and an another company that actually failed so we had both experiences that was great kind of so before that ..."
After being invited to speak at Amazon, Vogels realized that the company was not just a retailer but a massive technology operation. He discusses the challenges he observed from a distributed systems research perspective, which ultimately influenced his decision to join Amazon.
"to go into and this is me mid mid 80s so you know the computer scientists know where where it is now - - today but turn out I had a humans back then I had put it like that yeah so turn out I had a gif..."
Vogels explains how the scale of operations at Amazon in 2004 was unprecedented and how it has influenced the expectations of distributed systems researchers. He emphasizes the need for companies to operate at a scale that was previously unimaginable, especially for successful internet companies.
"really have to go what is this this is a book shop you know it's a web server in a database how hard can it be yeah one glimpse in that kitchen however and I realized that this is a a massive technolo..."
Discussing the challenges of scaling, Vogels highlights the importance of practical solutions over theoretical knowledge. He reflects on how Amazon's approach to technology and operations was ahead of its time, allowing for rapid innovation and adaptation in a fast-moving environment.
"in 2004 but there was no body of work that you could really be relying on those the the chatty with a lot of effort went into basically keeping the lights on long things that iCloud and other technolo..."
Vogels recounts his unexpected appointment as CTO of Amazon just months after joining the company. He discusses the responsibilities that came with the role and how his academic background contributed to Amazon's approach to technology and scaling.
"you're willing to allow duplication to happen you allow to create technical depth as long as you know that you have to pay it off so the many trade-offs that I must one has been willing to make over t..."
In this segment, Vogels discusses the importance of performance measurement and data-driven decision-making at Amazon. He emphasizes the need for rigorous processes to support the company's growth and how this focus on data has shaped Amazon's engineering culture.
"think I joined in September and freaking January I became the CTO well so tell me what that was like at Amazon and then sort of what that role has shifted into as we get told today yeah so if you if e..."
Vogels shares insights from Amazon's early experiences with reliability and performance. He describes the company's proactive approach to testing its systems under stress, which led to significant improvements in operational resilience and reliability.
"mean a medium latency of let's say one point two seconds of your webpage to your customers doesn't say anything just says that 50% of your customs have a worse experience you need to know how much wor..."
Vogels reflects on the early days of e-commerce and the challenges faced by startups relying on Amazon's infrastructure. He discusses how the introduction of AWS transformed the landscape, allowing companies to focus on product development rather than hardware procurement.
"moment we decided so why don't we pull the plug out of one of these data centers and see what happens and the first time I redid this was not like we made it as a surprise now we gave everybody a head..."
In this concluding segment, Vogels explains how AWS changed the dynamics of investment in technology startups. He highlights the shift from hardware investments to hiring talent, enabling startups to innovate and grow without the traditional barriers of entry.
"industry yeah because now and that was where all them so all these companies had hard time doing that they had hard time getting the investment at the hard time getting the hardware because you know y..."
Vogels highlights the transformative impact of AWS on startup funding and operations. He explains how cloud technology allows companies to invest in talent and product development rather than being burdened by hardware costs, fundamentally changing the landscape for tech startups.
"one of the things that has shifted with with AWS and cloud is that the investment that you get no longer goes in large numbers to hardware companies it goes into hiring more people that are relevant f..."
In this segment, Vogels shares insights on fostering an independent engineering culture at Amazon. He emphasizes the importance of reducing hierarchy, encouraging ownership among team members, and creating small, self-organizing teams to drive innovation and effectiveness.
"pain points that they still have not only with our technology but just in general you know if often jokingly said so we're in the we're in the business of pain management AWS yeah so what kind of pain..."
Vogels discusses Amazon's leadership principles, which guide the company's culture and hiring practices. He stresses the significance of cultural fit in maintaining team cohesion and effectiveness, particularly in small teams where every member's contribution is vital.
"quickly you know keep it effective well given that Amazon is in reality my first real job for a long time I thought that the rest of the world was just like Amazon and it's not there's a very unique c..."
Vogels differentiates between the roles of a CTO and a VP of Engineering, explaining their distinct focuses on technology and team management. He highlights the importance of having leaders who can effectively balance technical innovation with team dynamics to ensure successful product delivery.
"hire when it comes to sort of the culture kind of a van because that sort of disrupt your small teams tremendously so at Amazon we've some believe him into two in fairly small team so 10 to 12 people ..."
In this segment, Vogels recounts the evolution of AWS and the transition from a monolithic architecture to a service-oriented architecture. He explains the challenges faced during this transition and how it ultimately led to the development of microservices, enhancing scalability and team independence.
"sort of the early days of Amazon you had those those companies integrating with you and they were failing for the infrastructure reasons and then it's always that where AWS came from or tell me how di..."
Vogels discusses the complexities that arise with microservices architecture, particularly regarding team communication and resource management. He emphasizes the need for teams to manage their own services while ensuring effective collaboration to maintain overall system performance.
"that the the effectiveness of engineers was dropping off basically deployments were coming slower new new features were getting slower all these kind of things on why because the backend databases wer..."
Vogels explains the necessity of shared services platforms to alleviate the burdens of individual teams managing their own databases and infrastructure. He discusses how this shift allowed teams to focus more on innovation rather than operational tasks, paving the way for more efficient development processes.
"because what happens that each of those services now becomes I needs to scale they all need to work on the same thing you only to manage heart they only to manage the load balancers Hardware databases..."
This segment covers how Amazon's internal challenges led to the development of new technologies, such as the Simple Storage Service (S3). Vogels shares insights on how the team identified opportunities to innovate based on their own operational needs, ultimately creating solutions that would later benefit external customers.
"in those days in terms of hardware provisioning so as an engineer we come to a portal you would fill in what unique you need 10 more Linux servers of this particular size and now or two later you woul..."
Vogels reflects on the launch of AWS and its rapid growth. He discusses the strategic decisions made during its development, including the focus on scalability and the need for significant capital investment. This segment highlights the foresight Amazon had in recognizing the potential impact of cloud computing.
"and so the first one we launched was I must want to see the simple storage service in in spring of 2006 storage for the internet that's what we called it and so really in the early days thinking that ..."
In this segment, Vogels emphasizes the importance of customer feedback in shaping AWS services. He explains how Amazon's teams are encouraged to stay close to customers, ensuring that new features and services are developed in response to real-world needs, which drives innovation and relevance.
"like an iterate and every year more people are using it and it just slowly grew into what it is today I I think one of the things that that we were I won't take caught off-guard by is that how fast it..."
Vogels discusses the architectural considerations necessary for building scalable services at AWS. He shares insights on the importance of designing systems that can evolve with growth, including the need for multiple architectures and the ability to manage vast amounts of data efficiently.
"significant impact on the Amazon balance sheet you know it's not that we're interested in another let's say hard that sounds quite a bit another fifty million dollar opportunity now where if you make ..."
This segment highlights the realization that successful products require more than just technology. Vogels explains the need for support structures, such as customer service and technical account management, to ensure that AWS products meet customer expectations and foster long-term success.
"fortunately and with all the lessons from amazon.com we it's actually taking the right steps there there's been some challenges over time in that that sense and but I think also just like with any oth..."
Vogels shares how AWS prioritizes innovation based on direct customer requests. He explains the balance between launching new services with minimal features and iterating based on customer usage, ensuring that AWS remains responsive to the evolving needs of its users.
"company read without that I was looking just right before this interview actually and I was looking at sort of the AWS directory page and there's I don't know I think it was like a hundred and thirty ..."
In this final segment, Vogels discusses the iterative approach AWS takes when launching new products. He emphasizes the importance of observing customer interactions with new services to refine and enhance offerings, ensuring that AWS continues to meet the demands of modern development practices.
"customers then came to us they said well you know can't you want analytics for us and this this is the early days so everything about analytics around IOT about mobile development about you know that ..."
Vogels explains how the launch of AWS Lambda revolutionized development by allowing users to write code without managing servers. He highlights the shift towards event-driven environments and how this model changes the way companies develop applications, focusing on customer needs and usage patterns.
"and services to it in the way that sort of their new modern way of development is we're working yes when we launched lamda which is our service environment so basically you just write code you dump it..."
In this segment, Vogels shares insights on how Amazon prioritizes customer feedback in its product development process. He illustrates how customer demands can reorder the roadmap for new features, emphasizing the need for a culture that listens to users and adapts accordingly.
"pipeline mostly because you can observe how your customers are using your product so for example in dynamodb we new secondary indices turns out customers want to throw an item levels access management..."
Vogels describes Amazon's 'working backwards' approach to product development, which starts with writing a press release and FAQs before any coding begins. This method ensures clarity of purpose and alignment with customer needs, preventing unnecessary features from being added.
"way that people are building software is changing dramatically changed dramatically as well if we would have sort of taken the step in deciding for our customers how they should develop software you p..."
Vogels discusses Amazon's unique meeting culture, which avoids slides in favor of six-page narratives. This approach fosters focused discussions and ensures that all participants are on the same page, enhancing the quality of decision-making and collaboration.
"sits underneath there that we've never built before or how do we do global tables in DynamoDB or so this is all this amazing tech that we building but that's not what's driving it is what do you want ..."
In this segment, Vogels speculates on the future of application development, suggesting that many companies may skip the containerization step altogether. He discusses the rise of serverless platforms and the need for seamless integration with existing services.
"think about products much more about them about tech technology so this is the product you want to build now what kind of technologies do we need to four or five or four for that so there's a very str..."
Vogels emphasizes the critical importance of security in technology development. He argues that everyone in an organization, from the CEO to engineers, must take responsibility for security, highlighting the frequency of data breaches and the need for a proactive security culture.
"week later you pick it up again and you revise it until you get to a point where you think you're really clear about describing what that's a feature or a product or an activity or new business that y..."
In this segment, Vogels explains how startups should incorporate security into their development processes from the outset. He warns against retrofitting security measures later, advocating for a proactive approach that includes automated testing and continuous integration to ensure compliance with regulations and protect customer data.
"think forever and this is something that maybe as a young business as a startup you didn't think about ten years ago or five years ago where I think everybody needs to start with thinking about oh thi..."
Vogels identifies common pitfalls for startups using AWS, particularly treating it merely as a data center. He emphasizes the need to leverage AWS's higher-level services for productivity and efficiency, and discusses the importance of understanding the type of company being built—whether aiming for rapid growth or sustainable business practices.
"first and foremost job of course you're thinking yeah but we don't know we're building this new surface readability this new consumer service we don't fit now I think the only way if you actually buil..."
In this insightful discussion, Vogels contrasts two types of startup founders: mercenaries, who are driven by profit, and missionaries, who are passionate about their products. He explains how this distinction affects the technology and architecture choices made by startups, urging founders to identify their motivations to align their strategies accordingly.
"you do need to do it and it needs to be in your mind so development especially if you do continuous the deployment changes radically from how we've been approaching security in the past now I honestly..."