Comment by Dunedan
11 hours ago
All the AI hype aside, I wonder if there is a way to avoid becoming one of these faceless corporations where customers are just numbers. For years Amazon has been fantastically customer centered, but at some point they just lost it. I could compile a list where Amazon is actually way more customer unfriendly than in the past now, but I guess everybody already got their own anecdotes about that. So what exactly went wrong and how could that be avoided at other companies?
> All the AI hype aside, I wonder if there is a way to avoid becoming one of these faceless corporations where customers are just numbers.
Limit scale. Enjoy your craft. Become immune to hype and "what's popular," instead focusing on "what otherwise inaccessible experience can we make possible for our customers?"
When you let the money guys take the wheel (not the "passionate nerd" types), it inevitably (and I would argue necessarily to keep the lights on for such a big org) results in a shift to spreadsheet brain.
If you haven't seen it, watch Jiro Dreams of Sushi and see if that way of life resonates. Also check out his interview with René Redzepi from Noma. Lots of great insight into how focusing on your craft implicitly creates the opportunity for creating and delivering great things to others.
Have you read Cory Doctorow's "Enshittification" yet? He describes the process quite well.
Not sure how to address it though. I suspect keeping companies small and focused on quality, sustainability, and free of VC influence would be a solution. It'd take continual work though, like tending to a bonsai.
There are definitely admired companies in the world. Costco comes to mind.