Retired Amazon VP: How Corporate Politics Work And How To Win | Ethan Evans

2026-03-30 · 171 min · 16 entities

episode page audio

Asserted relationships

→ references levelupwithethanevans.substack.com website

0.77

evidence rules-v5
Link in episode "Retired Amazon VP: How Corporate Politics Work And How To Win | Ethan Evans": https://levelupwithethanevans.substack.com/
→ hosted by Ryan Peterman person

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evidence rules-v5
Feed author/publisher: Ryan Peterman
→ discusses Technology company

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evidence rules-v5
Feed category: Technology
→ references developing.dev website

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evidence rules-v5
Link in episode "Retired Amazon VP: How Corporate Politics Work And How To Win | Ethan Evans": https://developing.dev/
→ references @Ryanlpeterman website

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evidence rules-v5
Link in episode "Retired Amazon VP: How Corporate Politics Work And How To Win | Ethan Evans": https://tiktok.com/@ryanlpeterman
→ references Compose Simple Ergonomics Beautifully Done person

0.38

evidence rules-v5
Link in episode "Retired Amazon VP: How Corporate Politics Work And How To Win | Ethan Evans": https://kickstarter.com/projects/ryanlpeterman/compose-simple-ergonomics-beautifully-done
→ references UC BAdkBGjOIlccGLZ3jbLiA website

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evidence rules-v5
Link in episode "Retired Amazon VP: How Corporate Politics Work And How To Win | Ethan Evans": https://youtube.com/channel/UC-BAdkBGjOIlccGLZ3jbLiA
→ references Amazon Vp Reveals Everything Hes person

0.38

evidence rules-v5
Link in episode "Retired Amazon VP: How Corporate Politics Work And How To Win | Ethan Evans": https://developing.dev/p/amazon-vp-reveals-everything-hes

Entities found in this episode

websites 8

mentioned levelupwithethanevans.substack.com website

0.90

evidence rules-v5
Link in episode "Retired Amazon VP: How Corporate Politics Work And How To Win | Ethan Evans": https://levelupwithethanevans.substack.com/
references levelupwithethanevans.substack.com website

0.77

evidence rules-v5
Link in episode "Retired Amazon VP: How Corporate Politics Work And How To Win | Ethan Evans": https://levelupwithethanevans.substack.com/
mentioned developing.dev website

0.45

evidence rules-v5
Link in episode "Retired Amazon VP: How Corporate Politics Work And How To Win | Ethan Evans": https://developing.dev/
mentioned @Ryanlpeterman website

0.45

evidence rules-v5
Link in episode "Retired Amazon VP: How Corporate Politics Work And How To Win | Ethan Evans": https://threads.com/@ryanlpeterman
mentioned UC BAdkBGjOIlccGLZ3jbLiA website

0.45

evidence rules-v5
Link in episode "Retired Amazon VP: How Corporate Politics Work And How To Win | Ethan Evans": https://youtube.com/channel/UC-BAdkBGjOIlccGLZ3jbLiA
references developing.dev website

0.38

evidence rules-v5
Link in episode "Retired Amazon VP: How Corporate Politics Work And How To Win | Ethan Evans": https://developing.dev/
references @Ryanlpeterman website

0.38

evidence rules-v5
Link in episode "Retired Amazon VP: How Corporate Politics Work And How To Win | Ethan Evans": https://tiktok.com/@ryanlpeterman
references UC BAdkBGjOIlccGLZ3jbLiA website

0.38

evidence rules-v5
Link in episode "Retired Amazon VP: How Corporate Politics Work And How To Win | Ethan Evans": https://youtube.com/channel/UC-BAdkBGjOIlccGLZ3jbLiA

persons 6

mentioned Ryan Peterman person

0.70

evidence rules-v5
Feed author/publisher: Ryan Peterman
hosted by Ryan Peterman person

0.55

evidence rules-v5
Feed author/publisher: Ryan Peterman
mentioned Compose Simple Ergonomics Beautifully Done person

0.45

evidence rules-v5
Link in episode "Retired Amazon VP: How Corporate Politics Work And How To Win | Ethan Evans": https://kickstarter.com/projects/ryanlpeterman/compose-simple-ergonomics-beautifully-done
mentioned Amazon Vp Reveals Everything Hes person

0.45

evidence rules-v5
Link in episode "Retired Amazon VP: How Corporate Politics Work And How To Win | Ethan Evans": https://developing.dev/p/amazon-vp-reveals-everything-hes
references Compose Simple Ergonomics Beautifully Done person

0.38

evidence rules-v5
Link in episode "Retired Amazon VP: How Corporate Politics Work And How To Win | Ethan Evans": https://kickstarter.com/projects/ryanlpeterman/compose-simple-ergonomics-beautifully-done
references Amazon Vp Reveals Everything Hes person

0.38

evidence rules-v5
Link in episode "Retired Amazon VP: How Corporate Politics Work And How To Win | Ethan Evans": https://developing.dev/p/amazon-vp-reveals-everything-hes

companys 2

mentioned Technology company

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evidence rules-v5
Feed category: Technology
discusses Technology company

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evidence rules-v5
Feed category: Technology

Episode description as stored

Ethan Evans is a former VP at Amazon has seen pretty much every possible type of corporate politics. Now that he's retired, he could share everything he'd seen including stories about empire building, hidden politics, reorgs, senior promos and dealing with bad managers. 🔸 The keyboard I'm building: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/ryanlpeterman/compose-simple-ergonomics-beautifully-done 𝗣𝗼𝗱𝗰𝗮𝘀𝘁 𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗸𝘀: • YouTube: https://youtu.be/6WaeGfLnRvc • Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-peterman-pod/id1777363835 • Transcript: https://www.developing.dev/p/amazon-vp-reveals-everything-hes 𝗧𝗶𝗺𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗺𝗽𝘀: 00:00 - Intro 2:33 - Empire Building 31:54 - Stealing scope 44:03 - Managing out via reorgs 51:01 - Bad managers and mutiny 01:01:43 - Political messaging 01:11:48 - Handling politically skilled operators 01:20:01 - Orgs trying to steal scope 01:30:26 - Handling difficult people from other orgs 01:36:19 - Handling weak managers 01:46:30 - Backchanneling 01:52:04 - Influence without authority 01:58:04 - Sexual harassment 02:00:49 - Skip overruling firing 02:05:39 - How to fire managers 02:11:31 - Leverage when people are getting fired 02:24:01 - How to grow past senior eng 02:43:01 - How to avoid politics 02:48:15 - Advice for younger self 02:49:51 - Outro 𝗪𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗳𝗶𝗻𝗱 𝗘𝘁𝗵𝗮𝗻: • LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ethanevansvp/ • X/Twitter: https://x.com/EthanEvansVP • Newsletter: https://levelupwithethanevans.substack.com/ • YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC-BAdkBGjOIlccGLZ3jbLiA 𝗪𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗳𝗶𝗻𝗱 𝗥𝘆𝗮𝗻: • Newsletter: https://www.developing.dev/ • X/Twitter: https://x.com/ryanlpeterman • LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ryanlpeterman/ • Threads: https://www.threads.com/@ryanlpeterman • Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ryanlpeterman • TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@ryanlpeterman