“Andy brings the first principles thinking that has always been a part of what’s made Amazon successful — deeply trying to understand the end customer, creating building blocks by which other people can build and than being good at rapidly iterating,” said Matt McIlwain, a managing director with Madrona Venture Group in Seattle, who has closely tracked Amazon’s rise. “He watched how Jeff approached problems. That’s very important because there a lot of things that are deeply embedded in the cult ..