Level Up: Your source for executive insights, high performance habits, and specific career growth actions for no BS career breakthroughs.

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In my 15+ years at Amazon, I led global teams of 800+ and invented well-known businesses and products such as Prime Video, Amazon Video, Amazon Appstore, Merch by Amazon, Prime Gaming (formerly Twitch Prime), and Twitch Commerce.

• Hold 70+ patents.

• Reviewed 10,000+ resumes, conducted 2,500+ interviews, and 1,000+ hires.

• Was an Amazon Bar Raiser and Bar Raiser Core Leader, responsible for training and maintaining Amazon's group of interview outcome facilitators.

• Helped advocate for and draft the Amazon Leadership Principle (LP) “Ownership” — the words, “They never say ‘that’s not my job.’” are mine (read the story).

I've promoted 8 reports from Senior Manager (Amazon L7) to Director (Amazon L8), contributed to 25+ Director promotions, hired 10+ Directors internally and externally, and drove the promotion of 3 engineers to Principal. Of my former reports, 2 are current Amazon VPs (L10) and 5 are C-Suite outside Amazon.

I retired from Amazon as a Vice President in September 2020.

Prior to Amazon, I spent 12 years at 3 startups.

What I post here is guidance for those who want to become better leaders, perhaps reach an executive level, and is one of my ways of paying forward my good fortune.

I hope to give everyone a solid overview of the basics for free and then provide custom help to those executives facing specific problems with my courses and coaching.

And, alongside me is Jason Yoong, my COO in building Level Up. Connect with him on LinkedIn.

Join our Level Up Career Community

Paid member benefits:

1. Every issue of the newsletter (~8 per month).

2. Access to a private Slack community with networking events.

3. Access to member-only content: Ethan’s Career Talk classes with Q&A, watch Ethan live executive coach a real client, apply for free executive coaching with Ethan, fireside chats with leaders, and more.

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Many subscribers expense this newsletter to their Learning & Development budget, use this email template to send to your manager.

Full paid membership details here.

Students:

Student discount for academic email addresses.

Leadership Development Courses

I’ve stopped accepting new 1:1 executive coaching clients as we shift our focus to scaling through courses and the newsletter. We offer two types of courses:

1. Live online courses (see the full catalog here).

2. On-demand video recorded courses (see the full catalog here), includes:

   1. Cracking the C-Suite: How to Get and Master Key Executive Roles

   2. Stuck at Senior Manager - How to Break Through to Executive

   3. Managing Up Successfully

   4. Leadership Networking

   5. Leadership Resumes That Get Results

   6. The Growth and Promotion Recipe

   7. How to Get a Raise

   8. How to Negotiate a Job Offer

   9. Maximizing a Severance Package (priced at $5)

Our signature (and most popular) course is the live online version of ‘Stuck at Senior Manager - How to Break Through to Executive’ which has 1,200+ alumni, the latest cohort rated it 4.88/5, many alumni success stories (e.g. promotions, new job), and is recommended by Lenny Rachitsky.

Popular articles

Executive Performance:

1. 4 Behaviors of Top CEOs: Harvard Study

2. My Jeff Bezos Story: How to Survive a Bad Failure

3. Traits of top performers: 3 ways to be High Agency

4. Career from Engineer to CEO & EVP with Ethan Evans & Ameesh Paleja

5. Executive advice on corporate politics: From an EVP of a 3,000 person team

6. Maximize Executive Coaching with Sue Bethanis (Founder & CEO of Mariposa Leadership) & Ethan Evans

7. What a Series B Co-Founder looks for in their Leadership Team with Dee Murthy (Co-Founder, Ghost) & Jason Yoong

8. Dissecting Amazon Leadership Principles (LPs) for Amazonians & Non-Amazonians with Ethan Evans & David Anderson

9. Taking control of your career: Podcast with Ethan Evans & Lenny Rachitsky: Jeff Bezos failure, drafting an Amazon LP, The Magic Loop

Management & Managing Up:

1. Be a High-Impact Employee

2. Why managers fail: Harvard Study

3. Manage Up to Executives: A guide for Senior Managers

4. Managing Up with Ethan Evans & Ella Irwin (YouTube link)

5. The Magic Loop: A framework for rapid career growth (top post in Lenny’s Newsletter)

6. How to Influence Without Authority with Irina Stanescu (Eng Leader & Coach; ex-Google, ex-Uber) & Jason Yoong

7. What Your Manager Won't Tell You: The Art of Managing Up with Wes Kao (Cofounder of Maven & altMBA) & Jason Yoong (YouTube link)

Get Promoted:

1. Make the case for your promotion: Promotion document framework

2. "Attitude matters" - Amazon VP: A deciding factor in promotions

Executive Presence:

1. How to Speak like an Executive and Command the Room — with Ethan Evans & Harriette Cole

Network Effectively:

1. Network to maximize your life: Advice on how to network easily

2. Be a High-Value Connector & Networker with Andrew Yeung (Founder & Investor; ex-Google; ex-Meta) & Jason Yoong

PS — Free PDF & Referral Program

When you subscribe (either as a free or paid subscriber), you will get a link to a free download of Ethan’s “The Magic Loop: A framework for rapid career growth” (7 pages). Ethan used this exact framework as an IC, Senior Manager, Director, and Amazon VP to rise quickly AND help many direct reports and mentees rise in their careers.

If our content brings you value, you can unlock more rewards by sharing with your friends and colleagues. We have a referral program with rewards including a 12-page Prioritization PDF, access to our newsletter paid subscription benefits, and you get one of Ethan’s Career Talk courses for free.

What high performers are saying

• "Helped me up level"

• "Great career advice at every level"

• "I would be getting a top class mentor"

• "The teachings from Ethan Evans are gold."

• "Your advice is straight to the point, concise, unpretentious"

• "Lots of useful info on moving up in the career that actually works"

• "I've purchased two of your courses and your advice is actionable and timely."

• "I appreciate Ethan's honest take on careers and his extreme ownership mindset."

• "Actionable and practical advice that I find highly relevant for this stage of my career."

• "I have found your writing and courses to be very valuable and help me learn and grow in my career!"

• "It's rare to have the combination of an experienced leader and the passion/skill to coach. Definitely worth the money!"

• "Your YouTube videos have been super helpful in navigating recent circumstances in my career."

• "I attend to your stuck in the senior ... cohort and it was a life changer. Now I'm hungry for more."

• "It's so valuable to hear from leaders who are willing to share their candid opinions, true stories of experiences and lessons learned."

• "You are one of the few people who shares genuinely actionable, helpful, experience-based advice."

• "I like getting your insights in the long game of growing as an Engineering Leader"

• "Level up by Ethan's newsletter and the Breaking through Executive course has really helped me grow into my Senior Manager role in this tough environment. Looking forward to utilizing further insights and actions to grow towards Director role."

• "Thank you for adding value to my career growth. Be it straight truths, showing me the how, or the explicit call to action; I find them immensely helpful. It helps me better respond and navigate situations equipped with your prior experiences - mistakes and all, and adapt well."

• "I have been reading your free newsletter for several months. I have decided going into 2025 that I would cut back on newsletters and only keep the valuable ones. Upgrading to paid was a no brainer. I am excited to keep learning!"

• "Appreciate all you are doing to build community and support people in their careers. It's like having a mentor for many, but feels personal. Excited to connect with others."

• "Your online courses are great and I think this is a great resource to reinforce, and build off of, those learnings."

• "Ethan, I follow your posts on linkedin, and even the free ones are very insightful. To sign up for the paid subscription is the obvious next logical step. Thanks for sharing your experiences!"

• "I've been following you on LinkedIn for a while and your straight talk on how to navigate the executive level resonates. I'm excited to unlock more through this subscription."

• "Hi Ethan, Your tactics and strategies are super helpful. Clear and concise message of what matters in the corporate world. Thank you so much for sharing your wisdom with the world."

• "I was recommended this substack by leader in my org. I read content here and felt this will be useful to my career growth. Especially as I look to take a step up from Senior Manager to Executive, I felt this content will help learn critical skills I am missing and I will need."

• "Ethan is a great leader and have great insights to grow from a Manager to executive and to navigate the complex realms of leadership."

• "Ethan, I am so grateful for the knowledge you share for those of us ICs navigating our career paths in big tech. Good managers and great leadership is a thing of the past and seeking out coaching, skills and tooling to get to the next level has been dependent on resources like what you provide. Keep being a leader and supporting our growth. You have my vote - paid subscribed! 🤜💥🤛"

• "I have looked up to you as an amazing leader, since we overlapped in Amazon Appstore. Your commitment to spreading knowledge and sharing your experience is something I want to support and learn from!"

• "Love his content on career growth. Looking forward to learn from his insights, experiences and apply them to my career. His content resonates a lot with me."

• "I have followed your posts on Linkedin and think they are super insightful"

• "Really appreciate your clear, specific perspective and guidance on career matters. Very helpful to remember."

• "Your content is awesome and I loved my first networking call. Looking forward to participate in more events. thanks"

• "Hi Ethan, I support your work because you are very generous in sharing your knowledge of LinkedIn and you represent the perspective of a wise and seasoned leader. Looking forward to exploring additional resources."

• "I have found your posts and newsletters have immense value. And I want more and be part of your community!"

• "I heard your advice on many topics and found it to the point, very valuable."

• "Jason did a good job answering my questions by email. I am interested in your content and the career community"

• "I trust Jason's recommendation."

• "Ethan's writing has been instrumental in providing valuable tools and guidelines. His insights have been a guiding force as I strive towards my objective of becoming a VP (or possible CEO). Thank you for sharing your wisdom and contributing to my professional growth!"

• "I love your work and I get to learn so much from your writings"

• "I loved your talk on Lenny's. I hope to be coached by you someday."

• "I want to be around likeminded individuals :-)"

• "Continuing to grow as an executive and learning from shared experiences. Love the thought provoking topics"

• "You provide unmatched value! Looking forward to the content."

• "the various features you offer have value, and I think it's a great idea to pay a monthly fee for a managed group run by professionals. I don't have time to waste on random, unproductive encounters in groups open to the general public."

• "Ethan is among the very few creators that have walked the talk and offer a massive value for any leader craving for a career change. Even for seasoned leaders, it is hard to fathom by ourselves the straightforward lessons Ethan teach with no sugarcoating. Not signing up would be negligent to my career growth and financially irresponsible based on my own experience after going through his program."

Connect With Ethan & Jason

• Follow Ethan on LinkedIn.

• Get Ethan’s career advice on YouTube.

• Connect with Jason (Ethan’s COO) on LinkedIn.

• Learn more about Ethan’s live online courses and on-demand courses.

• Contact us for corporate training, keynote speaking, guest writing, and more.

Many subscribers expense this newsletter to their Learning & Development budget, use this email template to send to your manager.