Library skill · Thinkers' principles

Bezos-style working-backwards PR/FAQ

v1.0.1 · Updated 4 November 2026

Writes or reviews an internal PR/FAQ before anything is built: a one-page press release from the customer's side, a so-what test, an FAQ with the hard questions, and what would stop it. Use it when A product idea or feature is about to get people or budget.

Not affiliated with or endorsed by Jeff Bezos or their companies. About these principles: Jeff Bezos's ideas, explained.

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When to use it

A product idea or feature is about to get people or budget
A team wants to build something and nobody has written down who it is for
Reviewing a PR/FAQ someone else wrote

What you give it

The idea and who it is for
What customers use today and what bothers them
Customer evidence: interviews, tickets, usage, lost deals
Constraints: budget, team, deadline, dependencies

What you get

An internal PR/FAQ: a one-page press release, a so-what verdict, customer and internal FAQs, a table of what would stop it, the evidence behind each customer claim, and a review plan.

How it works

Name the customer and the need (principle 1) One sentence: who the customer is and what need they have, in their words where the user has them. If the idea starts from what the team is already good at rather than from a customer, say so and find the customer need first, or mark it [check: which customer asked for this].
Write the headline and subheading The headline names the product and what changes for the customer. The subheading says who it is for and the main benefit in one sentence. No internal jargon.
Write the release body (principles 2, 5) Under one page: the problem as the customer feels it, the solution, how it works from the customer's side, one quote from a fictional company spokesperson and one from a fictional customer (both labelled as illustrative, never a real person), and how to start. Dates and prices the user hasn't given stay as [check: ...].
Run the so-what test (principle 3) Compare against what customers use today. Is it meaningfully faster, easier or cheaper, or a step change? Write the answer in one line. If the answer is no, stop here and say so before writing the FAQ.
Write the customer FAQ (principle 4) Questions a customer would ask: what it costs, how it differs from the alternative, what it doesn't do, what happens to their data, how to stop using it.
Write the internal FAQ (principle 4) The 2024 letter's questions, answered or marked [check]: which customers, what they'll like most, what will disappoint them, why the launch line is here, why better than alternatives, pricing, architecture choices. Add cost, team, timeline, dependencies and the riskiest assumption.
List what would stop it (principle 6) The open problems the FAQ surfaced, each with what would solve it (more time, a partner, a cheaper technology, a smaller first version) or a note that it can't be solved now.
Check the evidence (principle 7) For every claim about what customers want, note its evidence. Where the only evidence is a survey average, say what direct customer understanding is missing.
Prepare the review Suggest a reading-first review: reviewers read silently, then comment, most senior last. Note the version number; expect more drafts.

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