As an executive at Amazon who built the Alexa Smart Home group, Charlie Kindel became very familiar with the company’s use of so-called future press releases. Employees who are planning new projects write fake news releases as if they were promoting the finished product to the world in order to focus early on what will excite customers.

Kindel left Amazon last year and took a top role at Control4, a company that’s developing software and hardware to control the connected home. For his new gig, he brought along the Amazon press release tactic and other strategies.

Read more at CNBC.