Amazon devices chief Panos Panay on learning from failure
Amazon executive Panos Panay shared lessons from the Surface RT failure at TechCrunch Disrupt in San Francisco on Oct. 15, 2026.
Stock photo for illustration only, not from the actual event
- Amazon executive Panos Panay says failure is an essential part of building successful products.
- He reflected on his time at Microsoft, including the costly failure of the Surface RT tablet.
- The Surface RT launch resulted in a write-down of nearly $1 billion for the company.
- Founders are advised to avoid excuses, accept setbacks, and move forward quickly with vision.
Amazon executive Panos Panay has delivered a clear message to startup founders: failure is an inevitable and required component of building a successful product. Panay, who serves as Amazon's Senior Vice President of Devices, Alexa, and Leo, shared his insights onstage at TechCrunch Disrupt in San Francisco on October 15, 2026, drawing directly from his extensive background of over 19 years at Microsoft.
During his appearance, Panay noted that it is entirely possible to recover from all kinds of failures, even catastrophic ones. He candidly described his own experience with a high-profile misstep at Microsoft, pointing to the launch of the Surface RT—Microsoft's inaugural tablet computer—as a major failure during his tenure that ultimately resulted in a write-down of nearly $1 billion.
Stock photo for illustration only, not from the actual event
He stressed that startup founders must possess the willingness to deeply understand what went wrong in their operations, refrain from making excuses, and ultimately accept the reality of the failure in order to move forward constructively.
Panay's perspective highlights a core philosophy in the tech industry where high-risk hardware and software projects demand resilience over perfection. Transforming a multi-million or billion-dollar write-down into actionable product insights demonstrates the kind of adaptive leadership required to steer complex tech ecosystems through turbulent market conditions.
Furthermore, Panay emphasized the critical importance of staying steadfastly committed to a core vision while continuously learning from hands-on experience and moving with agility. He firmly believes that by embracing setbacks rather than avoiding them, founders can adapt more effectively and accelerate their overall progress when encountering new market obstacles.
Source: TechCrunch
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