The 6-Page Memo That Ended My Amazon Career

William Tunstall-Pedoe is a name synonymous with the voice assistant revolution. As the founder of the startup that became Alexa, his work fundamentally changed how millions interact with technology. But in 2016, after nearly four years at the tech giant, he faced a pivotal career crossroads.

Instead of a simple pros-and-cons list, Tunstall-Pedoe turned to a classic Amazon leadership tool: the six-page memo. This structured document helped him analyze his decision to leave a secure, high-profile role to re-enter the unpredictable world of startups. The outcome of that internal review set him on a new path to build something entirely different.

Tunstall-Pedoe's fascination with computing began at age 13, when he would use a college mainframe next to his school. This early exposure to pushing the boundaries of software sparked a career dedicated to creating impactful technology. After studying computer science at the University of Cambridge and teaching there post-graduation, he realized academia wasn't his calling.

He envisioned a world where computers could understand natural language, moving beyond the keyword guessing of early internet search. This vision led him to found True Knowledge in 2006. The company's journey was one of adaptation, pivoting from a failed search engine competitor to a voice assistant called Evi, which launched in the UK in 2012.

If you create something genuinely new in software, it can be on a billion smartphones in six months and truly change the world. That's impact.

In 2012, a 30-person startup suddenly found itself competing with the world's most valuable company. After a year of discussions with major tech players, Tunstall-Pedoe's company was acquired by Amazon. He describes joining the tech giant as the right decision, noting that Amazon invested heavily in the city of Cambridge, turning the startup into a major office.

Working under Jeff Bezos was a significant shift from running a small startup, but Tunstall-Pedoe embraced the change. He split his time between Amazon's offices in Seattle and Cambridge, helping to transform the Evi voice assistant into one of the company's biggest secrets. When Alexa finally launched, the response was immediate and overwhelming.

• Amazon acquired True Knowledge/Evi in 2012
• The startup's team became a core part of Alexa's development
• Alexa launched to instant success, becoming a household name
• Tunstall-Pedoe spent nearly four years at Amazon

Amazon is famous for its six-page memo culture, which replaces PowerPoint presentations to promote clarity of thought. In 2016, Tunstall-Pedoe wrote his own memo to determine if it was time to leave. He laid out a clear set of facts: he had delivered everything he could, the acquisition was an unambiguous success, and the product was thriving.

At the time, thousands of employees were working on Alexa, a stark contrast to his early startup days. After about three and a half years, he felt the pull to return to the startup world. The memo helped him conclude that continuing to work on Alexa would be a very different job from building and launching new ventures, which he loved.

After about three and a half years at Amazon, in 2016, it was time to go. I wanted to re-enter the startup world.

Tunstall-Pedoe acknowledges the advantages of large organizations. When Alexa launched, it appeared on the front page of Amazon.com, providing exposure most startups could only dream of. However, he argues that for novel or contrarian ideas, the startup environment is often better suited.

Within a large company, a single manager can decide to redirect resources, killing a project. In a startup, the dynamic is reversed. Even if 99 venture capitalists say no, only one needs to say yes to keep the project alive. This resilience is crucial for exploring unconventional ideas.

• Big companies offer massive exposure and resources
• Startups provide agility for unconventional projects
• One manager can halt a project in a large firm
• One investor can sustain a startup's vision

After leaving Amazon, Tunstall-Pedoe became an active angel investor and mentor at incubators like Creative Destruction Lab. This experience gave him a broad perspective on how startups succeed and fail. In 2019, he launched his next venture: UnlikelyAI.

UnlikelyAI is a deeptech startup focused on building neurosymbolic AI. The goal is to combine the powerful but sometimes incorrect machine-learning models with the world of algorithms, where computers are almost always right. The mission is to make AI trustworthy and reliable.

As CEO, Tunstall-Pedoe is constantly swamped, but he finds working on something big and ambitious incredibly exciting. While he sometimes feels nostalgic about working inside a large organization, he has no regrets about his decision to leave.

William Tunstall-Pedoe's journey from Cambridge academic to Amazon executive and now AI startup founder illustrates a career built on calculated risks. His use of the six-page memo demonstrates that even in a fast-moving tech career, structured thinking can provide clarity.

His story highlights a fundamental tension in the tech industry: the stability and scale of big tech versus the agility and potential of startups. For those looking to build novel technologies, the startup path, while stressful, offers a unique kind of freedom and impact.

• Structured decision-making tools are valuable for major career moves
• Startups and big tech serve different purposes for innovators
• The drive to change the world can span multiple company stages
• Leaving a successful role can lead to even greater ambitions