NEX
← All stories

Jeff Bezos

Amazon · E-commerce & technology · United States

Apply This Lesson

Biography

Left a Wall Street job in 1994 to start an online bookstore from his garage in Bellevue, Washington. Amazon grew into a global retailer and the cloud-computing leader AWS.

Starting point: Started Amazon in 1994 from a garage, partly funded by his parents.

Direct quotation
“We will continue to focus relentlessly on our customers.”
— Jeff Bezos, Amazon 1997 Letter to Shareholders

The lesson

Paraphrased from documented sources

Obsess over customers and judge decisions on the long term rather than short-term profit.

How it helps you

Small businesses win locally by serving customers better than anyone else. Customer focus builds repeat sales and word of mouth.

Practical steps

  1. Talk to 10 potential customers before launching.
  2. Write down their top 3 frustrations.
  3. Design your offer around fixing them.
  4. Ask every customer for feedback after a sale.

Sources

Apply This Lesson

Pick an idea from your last scan, or type your own.