Kurt Beidler

Led HW/SW Product, Software and Mechanical engineering, R&D, Game Content, Game Studio, Marketing, Sales and E-commerce, HR, Supply Chain and Operations, Customer Service, Corporate IT, Security, and more. Returned the business to a growth trajectory following the post-pandemic slump. Reduced costs while growing subscriptions and revenue to reach positive free cash flow for the first time. Stabilized software platform and reduced tech debt to improve stability and release velocity while reducing CS contacts and negative sentiment in online forums. Launched numerous new content and software features (e.g., coffee stop, annual plans, climb portal, teleport, streaks, onboarding, device/subscription bundles) to drive acquisition and engagement. Formed strategic partnership with Wahoo Fitness and co-launched the open Zwift firmware protocol to bring much needed standardization to the indoor training space. Designed and launched pioneering new hardware products (e.g., Hub One, Wahoo Core: Zwift One, Play, Click & Cog, Zwift Ride). Revamped cash and equity compensation and benefits in order to improve competitiveness with peer companies and therefore improve hiring and retention. Developed new promotion process designed to be more equitable and transparent and to fight against title inflation. Developed new performance management process to raise the bar at Zwift.

Led a cross-functional team including product, engineering, and business functions to define and build the first generation automotive sales platform on Amazon. Led strategic partnership with Hyundai that included Hyundai in launch announcement in late 2023.

General Manager of Amazon Kids and Amazon Kids+. Led global teams across US/UK/JP/DE/CA, including all engineering, product, content, and business related functions involved in the end-to-end delivery of Amazon Kids & Kids+ on Fire Tablet Kids Edition, Echo Dot Kids Edition, Kindle Kids Edition, Kids+ on Fire TV, and Kids+ on iOS and Android devices. • Grew the Amazon Kids team from 40 to 400 over 8 years. • Expanded Kids+ from one country to five (from one language to seven), from just Fire Tablet to Echo, Kindle, Fire TV, Android, and iOS, and pioneered the KED (Kids Edition Device) subscription-bundle business model on all relevant Amazon devices (several of which are rated 4.7 stars). • Expanded the content types in Kids+ from three to seven, expanded from just licensed content to original content, expanded the Kids+ age range from 3-6 to 3-12 through numerous feature and product launches, and launched the first app/ebook store for kids under 13. • Grew Kids+ into a large, profitable business for Amazon and the largest kid focused subscription service in the world.

Led the entry of Amazon Kindle into China, making Amazon China the first foreign company to ever sell digital media products inside China. Built the Kindle team from zero to 70+ people, established the market entry strategy and business model, managed Kindle ebook content acquisition and operations, drove product management and localization, and launched the Kindle bookstore in China. Collaborated across teams to influence technology investments, government relations, mergers and acquisitions. • Grew the Kindle ebook business to exceed targets and establish a leadership position in strategic categories like bestselling Chinese literature and English language titles. • Established key strategic partnerships with major government and industry partners, giving Kindle a unique strategic advantage in the market. • Drove significant product innovation to expand into new segments and better adapt Kindle product offerings to the needs of Chinese customers; delivered numerous senior executive presentations to win organizational support and resources to execute these innovations. • Delivered numerous public speeches, presentations, and media interviews to bring awareness to Kindle’s business in China and solidify Kindle’s reputation as industry leader and innovator. • Simultaneously built up the initial Kindle teams in both China and Japan, created organization design, and recruited top leaders to build out key organizational capabilities. • As the most senior “bar raiser” on the Amazon China leadership team, interviewed nearly one thousand candidates over four years and contributed to the hiring of many senior leaders across Amazon China’s lines of business, extending Amazon’s corporate culture and performance bar to China and positioning the business for growth and success.

Reporting directly to the country manager of Amazon China, led a team of 70+ people as category leader of all physical Media categories (Books, Music, Movies, Software, Video Games). Managed Vendor Management, Inventory Management, Site Merchandising and Demand Generation, and owned the full Media P&L. • Established vision for books and architected 3-year strategic plan to win the category and leverage books traffic to benefit Amazon China’s overall retail business. • Drove the books category (Amazon China’s largest and most mature product category, also Amazon’s second largest books category worldwide) to historically high growth during a period of intense competition. • Achieved business turnaround: Upgraded team, streamlined operations, and exceeded key business targets (e.g., triple digit selection and revenue growth, margin improvement, 40% VLT reduction, direct vendor percentage to 82%). • Pioneered innovative new programs for books (e.g., Look Inside the Book, Amazon Transportation Services), some new to Amazon China and some new to Amazon globally. • Increased brand awareness through creative public relations campaigns, public speeches and presentations, media and TV interviews. • Promoted to Director.

Developed, launched, and ran Amazon’s global enterprise print-on-demand (POD) fulfillment service, which allows publishers to keep their books in circulation without doing long print runs, ensures customers never see "out of stock" messaging on books they want, and reduces the environmental impact of printing long print runs that ultimately get shipped/stored for years before finally getting pulped. • Established the business model and pricing for both domestic and international markets, led the launch of POD in three countries. • Secured the participation of thousands of publishers and millions of titles, including top publishers. • Invented "in-stock protection" application of POD, which allowed publishers to enroll their top selling titles in POD (i.e. not just older, out of print books) as a fail-over delivery solution during out-of-stock periods.

Delivered business and technology solutions for leading companies in multiple industries: financial services, pharmaceuticals, printing, publishing, and transportation. • Owned for all phases of project lifecycle, from proposal negotiation through project delivery. • Led teams of 5-20 consultants on projects ranging from strategy to implementation with such premier clients as Goldman Sachs, R.R. Donnelley, Dow Jones, Prudential, Merck, and TTX. • Promoted from Senior Associate, to Consultant, to Senior Consultant.