Interview With Author Chadd Ciccarelli
Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
rote this after my time at Amazon, during a stretch of travel when I finally had the space to reflect and create without the usual noise. I’d always enjoyed the doc-writing culture at Amazon—structured, clear, brutally honest. That process stuck with me long after I left.
But the deeper pull came from way back—my university days, buried in stacks of philosophy books, trying to make sense of systems, power, and purpose. I wanted to bring that mindset back. That’s why you’ll find quotes woven throughout the book—not just for style, but because those texts shaped how I think. Writing this wasn’t just about sharing lessons from inside Amazon; it was also a way to reconnect with the part of me that used to wrestle with ideas late into the night, looking for meaning behind the mechanics.
What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
The book’s called It’s All Trash ‘til It’s Cash: Applying Amazon’s Blueprint for Builders. The title? That came from a guy I knew back in Orange County, way before my tech days. He had this phrase—“It’s all trash ‘til it’s cash”—and it was like a gut punch every time. No fluff. No excuses. Just a reminder that if it doesn’t deliver, it doesn’t matter. That stuck with me.
I wrote the book because most people get Amazon wrong. They see the size, the headlines—but miss the reality. At its core, it’s a startup. Ideas live or die by how well they serve the customer. Docs, experiments, pivots—every new program starts scrappy. I’ve lived it. And I wanted to show builders how it really works—not in theory, but in practice.
I come from a family of entrepreneurs. Rolling up your sleeves and building something from nothing isn’t just a career choice—it’s the air I grew up breathing. This book is for people like that. People who know talk is cheap… and execution is everything.
Do you have any unusual writing habits?
My writing routine’s a bit unconventional. First rule: I can’t write at home. I have to physically change environments—coffee shop, library, wherever—as long as it gets me out of my usual rhythm. On the way there, I need to laugh. That’s the reset. I’ll usually throw on old Howard Stern clips—Sternthology is my go-to—for about 30 minutes just to shake off the noise and get into a looser, more creative headspace.
Once I land, I sketch ideas on old-school yellow legal pads—no screens, no formatting, just thoughts straight from the tap. And when it’s time to lock in, it’s all about the music. I rotate between two modes: something completely new I’ve never heard before to jolt my brain a bit, or instrumental tracks so I don’t get distracted by lyrics. My go-tos when I’m deep in the zone are Animals As Leaders, Pat Martino, and Plini—they put me in that perfect flow state.
Funny enough, that’s more or less how I approached writing PR/FAQs and OP1 docs at Amazon too. Change the setting, set the tone, sketch the story, score it with the right soundtrack. It’s a rhythm that’s stuck with me.
What authors, or books have influenced you?
When it comes to authors who’ve influenced me, it’s been a bit of a winding road. As a kid, I was drawn to the existential heavyweights—Dostoevsky’s Crime and Punishment and Camus’ The Stranger hit me hard. There was something about those internal struggles and moral gray zones that stuck with me.
Later, at Carnegie Mellon, I got deep into the local intellectual scene. I studied History and Philosophy of Science, so I was reading people like Wesley Salmon and Clark Glymour—especially Glymour’s work on the Monty Hall problem. It was wild realizing these weren’t just names in a book; they were literally down the hall.
When I moved to Los Angeles, my tastes shifted. That’s where I got into Bukowski—raw, messy, unfiltered—and eventually Hunter S. Thompson. Both had this reckless honesty that I couldn’t get enough of.
These days, I still read a ton of biographies. One of my all-time favorites is Greenlights by Matthew McConaughey. It’s reflective, sharp, and surprisingly tactical. That mix of storytelling and self-awareness is something I try to bring into my own writing.
What are you working on now?
Right now, I’ve just wrapped It’s All Trash ‘til It’s Cash: Applying Amazon’s Blueprint for Builders, and I’m shifting gears into my next book. This one’s going to dive into the creator economy and the next generation of entrepreneurs—the solopreneurs, the builders leveraging platforms instead of payrolls. I’m still in the early stages, but the plan is to combine sharp insights with real interviews and breakdowns of these new models. It’s about mapping where entrepreneurship is headed next—and making it practical for anyone looking to build something of their own.
What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
The best way to reach me is through my website or LinkedIn:
chaddciccarelli.com
linkedin.com/in/chaddc
https://chadd.substack.com
Do you have any advice for new authors?
You want advice? Here it is—writers write. That’s it. You don’t wait for permission. You don’t wait for clarity. You don’t wait for the perfect outline, the right desk, or the magical burst of inspiration. You start.
The guy who wrote The Godfather screenplay? He had no idea how to do it. He just sat down and figured it out. That’s the move. That’s the difference. The people who win are the ones who start before they’re ready.
So if you’re thinking about writing a book—don’t. Start writing it.
What is the best advice you have ever heard?
The best advice I’ve ever heard? Easy—“It’s all trash ‘til it’s cash.” That phrase hit me like a punch in the gut the first time I heard it. And it stuck with me so hard, I made it the title of my book.
Why? Because it’s a brutal truth most people avoid. You can have the best idea, the perfect pitch, the cleanest deck—doesn’t matter. Until it delivers real value, it’s just noise. Just trash. That line cuts through the ego, the posturing, the excuses. It forces focus. It demands execution.
In business, in writing, in life—no one cares what you meant to do. They care what actually happened. That phrase? It’s not just advice. It’s a challenge. Prove it.
What are you reading now?
INNER EXCELLENCE: Train Your Mind for Extraordinary Performance and the Best Possible life – because AJ Brown was reading it on the sideline
What’s next for you as a writer?
Traveling to write my next book and get inspired.
If you were going to be stranded on a desert island and allowed to take 3 or 4 books with you what books would you bring?
Greenlights by Matthew McConaughey
Kitchen Confidential by Anthony Bourdain,
Meditations by Marcus Aurelius
Structure of Scientific Revolutions by Thomas Kuhn
Author Websites and Profiles
Chadd Ciccarelli Amazon Profile
Chadd Ciccarelli’s Social Media Links
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