Prepping for Amazon after 2 years at a Series B startup. I keep hearing ‘FAANG wants scalability thinking’, but how does that translate practically in interviews? In startups, I could talk about wearing multiple hats, but how do experienced candidates demonstrate scope without sounding arrogant? Looking for tactical changes in answer structure from those who made the jump.
When I transitioned, the biggest shift was proving I could think in multiples. At my startup, saving $10k was huge. For FAANG, I reframed that story to show how the same process could prevent $10M leaks at scale. Got a ‘compelling scalability lens’ note from the debrief!
Three key adjustments: 1) Emphasize decision-making under ambiguity with incomplete data 2) Show impact through metrics that matter at scale (nines of reliability vs. raw growth) 3) Demonstrate stakeholder management in complex orgs. Avoid romanticizing the ‘scrappy’ startup narrative – focus on transferable rigor.
they dont care about your 50-hour weeks fixing prod fires. reframe everything as ‘developed resilient systems anticipating 1000x load’ even if your startup had 10 users. fake it till they make you vest