Writing - the most important skill at RedCarpet Being able to write and express your thoughts is a first-order skill at RedCarpet. We are inspired by the thoughtfullness that Jeff Bezos put in the notes that made Amazon the most valuable company on earth.

It is first and foremost a mechanism for inclusion, that ensures that your voice is heard and you get the full and undivided attention of your reader. Arguably, the most important outcome of having written memos is that they reveal whether you have a clear and crisp mental model about what you are writing about. It's impossible to write something convincing when your thinking isn't clear, so the process naturally ensures deeper analysis.

What is a "Bezos style" Memo? Being able to write and express your thoughts is a first-order skill at RedCarpet. We are inspired by the thoughtfullness that Jeff Bezos put in the notes that made Amazon the most valuable company on earth.

*We don't do PowerPoint (or any other slide-oriented) presentations at Amazon. Instead, we write narratively structured six-page memos. We silently read one at the beginning of each meeting in a kind of "study hall." Not surprisingly, the quality of these memos varies widely. * Here's what we've figured out - great memos are written and re-written, shared with colleagues who are asked to improve the work, set aside for a couple of days, and then edited again with a fresh mind. They simply can't be done in a day or two. The key point here is that you can improve results through the simple act of teaching scope -- that a great memo probably should take a week or more.

A memo has four rules:

1. You cant use "points" or "bullets". You have to explain in paragraph and in words. Even things like data and numbers must be explained in words.
2. No graphs or tables
3. Must have elaborate appendix - which can have tables, graphs and other references. This is mandatory. However, you should write a memo with expectation that most people will not look through this section.
4. The title must have a very well defined goal. It cant be vague - You will cover the Why, What, When, Who and How of achieving the goal in the memo.

Memos - Structure, precision, clarity

The memo is structured like a thesis defense:

1. Title: summarise this memo in a single line (hint: Write this last)
2. Problem: What is the problem/current situation that you are attempting to solve ?
3. Customer: Who is asking for this/affected by this ? (it may be internal or external. it can also be one individual in the company). How do you know ?
4. Customer Urgency Ranking: Is this the top 3 wants of your customer ? what are the other two ?
5. Customer Acquisition & Onboarding: How will you acquire/onboard/train the target customer ? What is the cost ?
6. Goal & Impact: What is the size of this problem ? Measure exactly what will RedCarpet get by solving it.
7. Team: Whose help do you need to make this a success?
8. Solution: What is the solution ? What is the capex and opex (including server, people, etc)
9. Alternatives: What other competing solutions exist and why is your solution better ? Has this been tried before ?
10. FAQ: If this solution is implemented, what would be your customer's #1, #2 & #3 argument to NOT use it ? Give counterarguments.

Why do we do this ? Watch this video to understand.

Style guide - we highly recommend the Economist style guide. It is short and to the point.