"We have an eating club that we started at Amazon when we first got to Seattle. We didn't know anybody, so we used to go for buffalo wings every Tuesday night, and there were about a dozen of us at work that did this."
"The event was eventually christened the Tatonka Bowl—a nod to the word for buffalo in the film Dances with Wolves—complete with 'wing referees' who inspected bones for leftover meat and weigh-ins before and after the contest to track who had gained the most."
"Jassy's own performance set a high bar. 'I had 57 wings, and I really had difficulty standing when it was done.'"
"Jassy's love for competitive chicken wing eating may just be a quirky footnote in Amazon's origin story, but it reflects something the 58-year-old executive has been deliberate about throughout his career: building relationships."
Andy Jassy, CEO of Amazon, started a buffalo wing eating club when he joined the company in 1997 to build connections in Seattle. This weekly ritual evolved into a competitive event known as the Tatonka Bowl, featuring 'wing referees' and weigh-ins. As Jassy advanced in his career, the tradition continued, becoming a highlight at the annual AWS re:Invent conference. Jassy's approach to community building through food reflects his commitment to fostering relationships, which is essential for long-term impact according to Jeff Bezos.
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