Wszechobecny Amazon. Jeff Bezos i jego globalne imperium

Wszechobecny Amazon. Jeff Bezos i jego globalne imperium

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  • Create Date:2021-11-14 09:50:59
  • Update Date:2025-09-06
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  • Author:Brad Stone
  • ISBN:8382157041
  • Environment:PC/Android/iPhone/iPad/Kindle

Summary

Nowa książka Brada Stone’a, autora bestsellera Jeff Bezos i era Amazona, opowiada o zrealizowaniu się najważniejszej wizji biznesowej naszych czasów – zdominowaniu gospodarki przez globalne imperium Jeffa Bezosa。

Blisko dziesięć lat temu dziennikarz agencji Bloomberg, Brad Stone, pisał o powstaniu Amazona – niepozornego przedsiębiorstwa handlowego, które wyrosło na giganta sprzedaży online。 Od tego czasu Amazon nieustannie się rozwijał, tworząc nowatorskie produkty, takie jak Alexa, i rewolucjonizując liczne branże。 W tym czasie zatrudnienie w firmie wzrosło pięciokrotnie, a jej wartość osiągnęła ponad miliard dolarów。 Imperium Jeffa Bezosa, niegdyś mieszczące się w garażu, teraz obejmuje cały świat。 Amazon rozprzestrzenił się na niemal wszystkie branże: spożywczą (sieć supermarketów Whole Foods), rozrywkową (Prime Video), IT (Amazon Web Services), medialną („The Washington Post”)。 Można śmiało powiedzieć, że żyjemy w świecie zarządzanym, zaopatrywanym i kontrolowanym przez firmę Amazon i jej wizjonerskiego założyciela。
W książce Wszechmocny Amazon Brad Stone z właściwą sobie wnikliwością przedstawia proces przemiany małej firmy stawiającej pierwsze kroki w handlu detalicznym w jeden z najpotężniejszych i budzących największy respekt podmiotów globalnej gospodarki。
Stone przygląda się także metamorfozie samego Jeffa Bezosa - który zaczynał jako technologiczny geek, całkowicie pochłonięty budowaniem Amazona - w zdyscyplinowanego miliardera o globalnych ambicjach, który żelazną ręką rządził Amazonem, nawet gdy jego życie prywatne stało się pożywką dla tabloidów。
Oto pozbawiony upiększeń portret barwnego, kontrowersyjnego człowieka, wpływającego na losy świata, i potężnej firmy, bez której nie wyobrażamy już sobie codziennego życia。

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Reviews

Dan Watts

This is a detailed, mostly unbiased behind-the-scenes look at Amazon's many successes and tribulations since Stone's last book on the subject。 Jeff Bezos is, of course, the focus of the book, but I found it more interesting to read about Amazon's lesser-known executives, most of whom deserve more are admirable and deserve to better known。 Bezos, himself, is fairly portrayed as a driven but flawed personality, lacking the good judgement and intellect of a Steve Jobs or Elon Musk。 I was somewhat d This is a detailed, mostly unbiased behind-the-scenes look at Amazon's many successes and tribulations since Stone's last book on the subject。 Jeff Bezos is, of course, the focus of the book, but I found it more interesting to read about Amazon's lesser-known executives, most of whom deserve more are admirable and deserve to better known。 Bezos, himself, is fairly portrayed as a driven but flawed personality, lacking the good judgement and intellect of a Steve Jobs or Elon Musk。 I was somewhat disappointed in the final chapter, where the author discards the cloak of objectivity and is scathingly and unfairly critical of Amazon's handling of disruptive union activists during the darkest days of Covid-19。 。。。more

N N

Intriguing and detailed view into several of Amazon’s and Bezos’ major developments in the last decade。 Basically part II to The Everything Store, but that book felt a bit more engaging and interesting to me。

Aryan D

Interesting!

Philip Maher

This book goes over the history of various projects undertaken by Amazon over the past decade or so。 As I got deeper into the book I realized I didn't really care about the material。 There became an inverse relationship between the page number and my level of interest。 This book goes over the history of various projects undertaken by Amazon over the past decade or so。 As I got deeper into the book I realized I didn't really care about the material。 There became an inverse relationship between the page number and my level of interest。 。。。more

Graeme Newell

Fascinating book with a very thorough exploration of all of Amazons many different businesses。 It was a wonderfully evenhanded investigation of both the good and the bad side of the company。

فيصل كركري

Not what I expected but still worth my time/money。 Some insights into the behemoth e-commerce business and could help investors understanding this type of businesses inter workings。 No shocks in there (i expected some) but still managed to grab the attention of the reader

😵‍💫❤️‍🩹

War (Bonus)

Kaustubh Bhake

I liked the book, quite detailed and unbiased。

Mark

Good to skim but didn’t need to read the whole thing。 Just an interesting look into Amazon’s insane success。

Mary Jo

DNF

Jane King

Better than the first book that Mr。 Stone wrote about Bezos and Amazon。 More insight into the rapid fire decisions made over the years that shows Bezos very involved, up to date and enthusiastic。 No upper mgt member wants to be asked questions by the Boss unless they are very prepared and ready to be shot down or sent back to make changes。 A good boss though not always empathetic to their pain。 Bezos is presented as forward thinking, ability to see beyond what anyone else can and willing to thro Better than the first book that Mr。 Stone wrote about Bezos and Amazon。 More insight into the rapid fire decisions made over the years that shows Bezos very involved, up to date and enthusiastic。 No upper mgt member wants to be asked questions by the Boss unless they are very prepared and ready to be shot down or sent back to make changes。 A good boss though not always empathetic to their pain。 Bezos is presented as forward thinking, ability to see beyond what anyone else can and willing to throw money at projects and at the same time admits when there are bombs。The author is less critical of Bezos in this tome perhaps as he mentions that the Boss took umbrage at some of the things said in The Everything Store。 Bezos did not grant Stone interviews for this book。 。。。more

Riccardo

I may to have to be the dissenting opinion on this book, since the reviews seem universally good。 Keep in mind, I am not reviewing Jeffrey Bezos, or Amazon, just the book by Stone。 Unfortunately lightning does not always strike twice and trying to repeat what worked so well in his first book, in the second book appears tiresome and repetitive。 Ultimately there is nothing really new that we did not find out about in the everything store- which was I might add superb, and probably a far better rea I may to have to be the dissenting opinion on this book, since the reviews seem universally good。 Keep in mind, I am not reviewing Jeffrey Bezos, or Amazon, just the book by Stone。 Unfortunately lightning does not always strike twice and trying to repeat what worked so well in his first book, in the second book appears tiresome and repetitive。 Ultimately there is nothing really new that we did not find out about in the everything store- which was I might add superb, and probably a far better read if you want to know about Bezos as a person。 Having handed out the best reveals, including discovering the whereabouts of Bezo's unknowing father, in the first book, Stone finds himself with a problem。 -there is nothing really new or interesting and, after the bad publicity of the first book, he is afforded no access to any significant person。 He struggles to find new titbits of incriminating information from old ex employees, but its more of the same。 He also add an over familiarity and embellishment to the narrative, adding details of information which he clearly could not know or have access to。 It makes the second book feel more like a cheap and embellished spin rather than the hard hitting journalism that the first book felt like。 We got the picture in the first book -Bezo's and Amazon are ruthless and immoral- but we will keep buying from them because they are cheap and convenient。 Its not totally awful, Stone is a victim of his own success。 Read the first book and only read this one in emergencies。 。。。more

Ajay Palekar

In The Everything Store, we are told a story of the rise of Amazon。 But in this book - Amazon Unbound - we spend each chapter learning a bit more of what's happened in the 10 years after it's publication。 A lot has changed - new international markets, Prime Video, Whole Foods, Alexa, the Washington Post, Blue Origin, personal scandals, and clashes with politicians。 And the company's business and valuation has grown exponentially alongside it。That's about it here -- the book lacks the compelling In The Everything Store, we are told a story of the rise of Amazon。 But in this book - Amazon Unbound - we spend each chapter learning a bit more of what's happened in the 10 years after it's publication。 A lot has changed - new international markets, Prime Video, Whole Foods, Alexa, the Washington Post, Blue Origin, personal scandals, and clashes with politicians。 And the company's business and valuation has grown exponentially alongside it。That's about it here -- the book lacks the compelling narrative and insight of it's predecessor。 I found some chapters boring or simply repeating news that I've read in recent memory。I'd skip this book, unless you have a specific interest in understanding modern Amazon, even then this probably wouldn't be the best place to start。I do like the Stone is willing to discuss criticism of Amazon, this isn't purely fan service。 Male dominated leadership, treating human beings like robots, managing via a culture of fear, increasingly losing touch with core values, lack of empathy, extreme anti-union and anti-labour, not contributing to local economies or paying fair taxes, etc。。。 I also learned a lot more about the HQ2 project from Stone。 。。。more

Xiao

It's easy to hate Amazon but the rise is a fascinating story。 It's easy to hate Amazon but the rise is a fascinating story。 。。。more

Alan

Amazon reminds me of the pharmaceutical companies of peddling products to the users at all costs because the return could be so much greater than a typical investment when struck just right。

Lynette

A very insightful book on Amazon's products, culture, leadership and management style。 And it gave me a good understanding of what Jeff Bezos was like as a leader。 I'm most enthralled by the way they put so much focus on HR。 While the complicated HR processes were cumbersome and performance reviews were borderline cruel, their emphasis on QUALITY of their staff amazes me。 Constantly ensuring that their employees are passionate about their work instead of being obsessed with pay and stocks is pro A very insightful book on Amazon's products, culture, leadership and management style。 And it gave me a good understanding of what Jeff Bezos was like as a leader。 I'm most enthralled by the way they put so much focus on HR。 While the complicated HR processes were cumbersome and performance reviews were borderline cruel, their emphasis on QUALITY of their staff amazes me。 Constantly ensuring that their employees are passionate about their work instead of being obsessed with pay and stocks is probably one of the ways they can streamline their employees。 Finding the best ones that fit into the brand and letting them who don't fit phased out eventually。 While the Amazon culture has several undesirable and debatable traits, they also contributed to its massive and unparalleled growth。 Could they call this a necessary evil in pursuit of growth? If so, how much money is enough? How do you achieve a balance between profits and humaneness? It struck me as ironic that Amazon would forsake its partners - businesses that were loyal and generating profit for them at the start - and allow rampant counterfeit and low quality products run on its site despite touting it's customer obsession value。 I still can't say whether Amazon is a good/bad company but I guess you cant pigeonhole it in this way。 Running a company as huge as Amazon is no easy feat and bound to invite criticisms。 。。。more

Mitul Kanji

I absolutely loved The Everything Store, and this was a fascinating insight into the "operating system" that seems to make Amazon so relentlessly productive, but the book is bogged down by way too many pages devoted to Bezos's personal life。 The Everything Store was a story about Amazon with Bezos in the background, while Amazon Unbound, despite the title, reads like a biography of the last 10 or so years of Bezos' life with Amazon in the background。 Little space is devoted to Amazon's myriad ac I absolutely loved The Everything Store, and this was a fascinating insight into the "operating system" that seems to make Amazon so relentlessly productive, but the book is bogged down by way too many pages devoted to Bezos's personal life。 The Everything Store was a story about Amazon with Bezos in the background, while Amazon Unbound, despite the title, reads like a biography of the last 10 or so years of Bezos' life with Amazon in the background。 Little space is devoted to Amazon's myriad accusations of labour abuses, from the famous "pee in bottles" stuff to the unspeakably grotesque stealing of tips from their Flex workers (https://www。theverge。com/2021/2/2/222。。。), and gratuitous pot shots are taken at politicians trying to hold Amazon accountable to workers and taxpayers。Amazon is a fascinating company, that has very visibly changed the way people shop, read, and much more。 Jeff Bezos is a genius and a visionary, who built a global behemoth and became the world's richest man out of a garage。Amazon is also a company that skins its suppliers, abuses workers, and dodges taxes, that contributes to a culture of waste that prizes convenience over labour rights and environmental degradation, and that raises very valid concerns about the centralisation of economic activity around itself and just a handful of other companies, essentially charging rent on the infrastructure of the new global economy。 Jeff Bezos is also a person that seems determined to deliver humanity into The Expanse or Total Recall, even as he claims to get us closer to Star Trek。 Amazon deserves much better coverage than this。 。。。more

Davied Lubinson

(Listening Length16 hours and 33 minutes)

Avneendra

This book covers Amazon years from around 2010/2011 to 2020 which includes rise of Alexa, rise of Prime Video, talks about drone and Jeff's personal life and so on and so forth 。。 This book covers Amazon years from around 2010/2011 to 2020 which includes rise of Alexa, rise of Prime Video, talks about drone and Jeff's personal life and so on and so forth 。。 。。。more

Anu

Engaging for tech crowds interested in the sausage making behind many of Amazon’s products, businesses and company culture。 I really enjoyed the non-Amazon chapters on Blue Origin as well as Washington Post。 I wish the author covered more of AWS and competitive pressures in the Cloud infrastructure space。 Despite the many flaws of Jeff Bezos, it is amazing to watch how he’s been able to instil and sustain a corporate culture so deeply based on his personal values。 Also fascinating to learn about Engaging for tech crowds interested in the sausage making behind many of Amazon’s products, businesses and company culture。 I really enjoyed the non-Amazon chapters on Blue Origin as well as Washington Post。 I wish the author covered more of AWS and competitive pressures in the Cloud infrastructure space。 Despite the many flaws of Jeff Bezos, it is amazing to watch how he’s been able to instil and sustain a corporate culture so deeply based on his personal values。 Also fascinating to learn about the early execs at Amazon in addition to the usual suspects plus Bezos himself。 The author being a journalist displays a healthy skepticism towards a lot of Amazon doled out koolaid and takes a more realistic look at the drivers behind Amazon’s moves。 It does disenchant much of the narrative behind Amazon and also makes you think about ESG and stakeholder responsibility more holistically。 Having said that, a bunch of references to something someone said in the heat of a crisis, or hearsay from a confidential meeting or quotes without context feel like they’re included for provocation rather than for fair coverage of the topic。 Plus the chapters covering Bezos’ personal life and scandals seem more like entertainment than a cogent part of the book。 But even then, gotta say it’s hard not to side with Bezos as he preemptively published the Medium post when slimy tabloids try to blackmail and extort him。 They f$&@ed with the wrong guy。 🤷🏽‍♀️ 。。。more

Yev

This could be called a sequel to the author's 2013 release, The Everything Store。 The previous book is not required reading and from what I can remember they don't have much overlap。 While the first focused on the beginnings of Amazon, this one is primarily about 2010 to 2021。A few days before reading this book, I read this article about how Amazon should become a member of the United Nations。 As a note, the author of the book is also employed by Bloomberg。 At the time I read I was confused why This could be called a sequel to the author's 2013 release, The Everything Store。 The previous book is not required reading and from what I can remember they don't have much overlap。 While the first focused on the beginnings of Amazon, this one is primarily about 2010 to 2021。A few days before reading this book, I read this article about how Amazon should become a member of the United Nations。 As a note, the author of the book is also employed by Bloomberg。 At the time I read I was confused why this would be put forth and entirely disagreed。 Now I believe I understand how this sort of mindset would come about。 I still disagree with it whole-heartedly, but with how the various workings were described, these mega corporations can be seen as a sort of government already as is。The story of Amazon has all the makings of a tv series or movie, similar in ways to Billions or the Steve Jobs movie。 Maybe it's just me, but with all drama, wide cast of characters, factions, rivalries, betrayals, twists, intrigue, and much else, I thought at times that I was reading a fictional novel。 Bezos repeatedly demands his own "Game of Thrones" for Amazon, though I don't think he has to look any further than his own life for a modern-day comparison。Various assembled excerpts and responses that aren't contagious or otherwise in order While the brutal leadership style and distinct culture was enervating to many employees, it was also proving unmistakably effective。AWS execs and engineers typically describe this remarkable session with a combination of awe and post-traumatic stress disorder。Amazon leadership principle that stipulates leaders must be “vocally self-critical。” “That’s when I learned a lesson that regardless of whether you just delivered the biggest revenue day in Amazon’s history, your first sentence is, ‘We fucked up。’”Now Wulff joined the ranks of a crowded club: she was a disillusioned former Amazon employee。The reporters, Jodi Kantor and David Streitfeld, described an environment of combative meetings, unreasonably high standards, eighty-hour workweeks, and employees who regularly wept at their desks。They reported that some workers who suffered from critical illnesses, miscarriages, or other personal crises were penalized professionally。And they described the practice of “stack ranking,” or regularly dismissing the least-productive workers, amounting to “purposeful Darwinism” that created an environment of fear。“People thought it was a mean-spirited process and to a certain extent it was,” Niekerk said。 “But in the big picture, it kept Amazon fresh and innovative。”“He once told me, ‘If we ever appear in the “100 best places to work in America,” you’ve screwed this place up,’” Niekerk said。 (Alas, Amazon would soon become a mainstay of those lists。)Though it sounded innocuous, the directive, dubbed “span of control,” set off the equivalent of a neutron bomb inside the company。 Senior managers with only three, four, or five direct reports had to reach into their organizations and appropriate employees from a subordinate to get to six direct reports, leaving the underling without the necessary number。The informal, musical chairs–style reorganization allowed Amazon to avoid the internal and external stigma of announcing layoffs。It was a typical Bezos move—brilliant, and rather cruel。“A couple of folks used to joke, ‘Dude, we are working in a labor camp。’" Based on the conditions reported elsewhere about the fulfillment centers, is it really a joke though?There are so many examples presented such as this where employees are pitted against other employees。 The weak and vulnerable are especially targeted and exploited。It amazes me that despite this and much else that it included be in the 100 best places to work in America。 That says a lot, but I can't specifically what about。 The state of the American workplace? The metrics used to create the list? How many people who work there feel compelled to say it's great regardless? I don't know, but it seems very dissonant。 To be fair, several of these practices were changed, sometimes for the better, and sometimes for the differently bad。“disagree and commit,” after Amazon leadership principle #13, which says employees who disagree with a decision must put aside their doubts and work to support it。 I find this both terrible and understandable。 Yes, it's authoritarian and hierarchical, reminiscent of the military or a political party that demands compliance。 However, it's also true that there are limited resources and it is a binary decision。 In some ways it would be better if there was no choice rather than allowing the illusion of mattering, but illusions are important for their ends。 In reality, the opposite was true。 That year, AWS had a 70 percent growth rate and 19。2 percent operating margin, compared to the North American retail group’s 25 percent growth rate and 2。2 percent operating margin。 It's certainly amazing how effective having a stealth monopoly can be to maintaining dominance。 “It’s better to assume trust and find out that you are wrong than to always assume people are trying to screw you over,” was essentially [Bezos's] philosophy, according to a friend。Toyota’s proven Lean ideology and argued for “treating people fairly,” building “mutual trust between managers and associates,” and empowering leaders to inspire employees rather than act as disciplinarians。 Bezos hated it。 I find that first statement to be rather disingenuous, especially in terms of power dynamics and accountability。 It's lot easier to not worry about whether you can trust people when they know there will be severe consequences and even if they aren't trustworthy it'd be relatively little loss to you。 I don't know how that's reconciled with the second statement。 “I feel like I should have moved much faster and more aggressively。 I bought into a narrative that all sellers were good。” This would really strain belief for me if weren't for that these statements are repeated over and over again。 What people are able to convince their selves of is truly astounding。 one of the biggest threats to the company was a disgruntled and entrenched hourly workforce—like the unionized workers that impaired U。S。 automakers with strikes and onerous contract negotiations。 (Amazon later denied that Bezos said this。) He encouraged Niekerk and Onetto to focus on ensuring that FC workers who weren’t advancing within Amazon stayed for a maximum of three years。“We respect the right for all employees under federal and state law to organize if that is what they so choose” was the legal boilerplate that Huseman should have recited—but。。。Instead, he blundered with “No we would not agree to that,” and the battle was lost。 A case where their hubris wasn't so effective。 They may not be able to win every battle, but they've certainly won a lot of them。 Clark had proven himself a true Amazonian, putting loyalty to the company above personal friendship while pursuing Bezos’s vision of an independent supply chain。In other words, Dave Clark had proven himself to be nearly every bit as creative and ruthless as Jeff Bezos himself。Along the way, the former middle-school band teacher had busted through obstacles of every kind, fractured a major friendship, squeezed additional productivity out of Amazon’s low-wage workers, and levered the significant costs onto society at large。 And Amazon’s reputation was only slightly grazed in the process。 Based on this book, despite how loyal and how much they help the corporate cult, it often doesn't end well for them。 I cannot relate at all to someone who makes a cause their entire identity, especially if it's for a corporation。 They applied the same precision to his daily movements as they might for a state leader—and made certain his speeches and social media posts were always harmlessly anodyne。 As noted, some would have him be as one。 Idealism largely pervaded the effort。 Members of the HQ2 team earnestly believed that any city had an opportunity to win。“We genuinely thought we were working on the most important economic development project in a generation and were going to change the lives of hundreds of thousands of people,” said one of the HQ2 employees。 Idealism is an oft repeated theme。 One of the most common ones。 Almost every single provided example of it faces a torturous demise。 “They were all outraged,” Grella said。 “And then they fell into line。”With that, the public turned against the city council in voter polling and sided with their local companies and largest employers; stunned council members were now outmaneuvered。Eighty business officials, union leaders, and politicians signed a full-page letter to the company, a docile apology begging for a second chance, which was published as an advertisement in the New York Times。 A sad and unfortunate state of a managed democracy。 Their infallible and righteous leader was, after all, a flawed human。 This was presented as being entirely sincere and what they actually believed。 Unfortunately, these beliefs seem rather common。 I assume one of the primary thought patterns is, "No person could be worthy of such devotion from us, so he must be more than human" which is such an awful way to be。 MBS again texted Bezos, writing a message in English replete with typos: “Jeff all what you hear or told to it’s not true and it’s matter of time tell you know the truth。 There is nothing against you or amazon from me or Saudi Arabia。” This was certainly a display of relative power between people。 His personal wealth was larger than the gross domestic product of Hungary; larger than even the market capitalization of General Motors。 Meanwhile Elon Musk is closer to the even larger New Zealand。 "In the 35th annual Forbes list of the world's billionaires, the list included 2,755 billionaires with a total net wealth of $13。1 trillion, up 660 members from 2020; 86% of these billionaires had more wealth than they possessed last year。" That's nearly the GDP of China, the 2nd highest, at $16 trillion。 Truly they have inordinate amount of wealth and therefore influence。 “I’m all for competition, but I did not start my business and go sell on Amazon so that I could eventually become fertilizer for Amazon’s growth as I am buried and destroyed,” he told me。 “It’s apparent this is happening to a lot of sellers, and I don’t believe it’s right。 What Amazon does is analogous to being invited over for Thanksgiving dinner, then finding out as you sit down to dine that you’re the turkey。”“Amazon doesn’t give a shit about brands,” said Aarstol, who by 2020 was almost completely off Amazon and focusing on sales over his own website。 “They don’t care whether you live or die。”The listing finally returned after four days and $100,000 in lost sales—and only then because Thompson paid Amazon $60,000 a year for a premium service to engage the attention of an account manager, which “feels a bit like a protection racket,” he said。 To me these are completely obvious assertions, but believing they aren't is probably a requirement for being able to do anything like this。 “In fact, I predict one day Amazon will fail。 Amazon will go bankrupt。 If you look at large companies, their lifespans tend to be thirty-plus years, not a hundred-plus years。” This sort of statement would be entirely expected of Bezos, as it's practical philosophy about his employees writ large。 。。。more

Christine

A fantastic follow-up to The Everything Store by the same author。 It chronicles the insane growth of Amazon after it already established itself as a ecommerce powerhouse。 Not as salacious as The Everything Store, but super exciting nonetheless and some great insight into how Amazon became a trillion dollar company。

Carolyn

Good enough listen although it is the kind of book to have on in the background while you are doing soemthing else because it is VERY LONG。 16 sections with each section being about 1 hour 15 minutes。 Even playing at 1。25 speed it is a commitment。 It's hard to imagine someone being worth 15。86 billion dollars。。。10 years ago, no less。 Near the end of the book it touched on his affair with a helecopter driver, the exposure of the secret to the National Enquirer by her brother and not a lot about t Good enough listen although it is the kind of book to have on in the background while you are doing soemthing else because it is VERY LONG。 16 sections with each section being about 1 hour 15 minutes。 Even playing at 1。25 speed it is a commitment。 It's hard to imagine someone being worth 15。86 billion dollars。。。10 years ago, no less。 Near the end of the book it touched on his affair with a helecopter driver, the exposure of the secret to the National Enquirer by her brother and not a lot about the divorce with Mackenzie, which is good。 Most of the book, however, really focused on the business and the things that lead to its success。Besos had something like 16 principles for his business and the ones that came up the most in this book were Customer Obsession, Think Big, and Frugality。 Can this grow big and fast? If it would not GET BIG FAST, he wasn't interested in it。 The flywheel powers his business。It was interesting learning about the development of Amazon Alexa - her voice, in particular and that they wanted a three sylable name。 It is an homage to the ancient library of Alexandria - the library of knowledge。He likes names related to magic。 Initially Amazon was going to be called Cadabra, Inc。 I can't remember them all but there was a section with 4-5 different concepts that all had to do with magic。 One was Copperfield (can't remember what that one was about) and another was Rabbit - I think that one was some sort of mapping program installed in or used by drivers of Amazon trucks to determine the most efficient way to deliver products。 Did you know that Jeff Besos bought the Washington Post in 2013? I did not know he owns the Post! There were parts about their stormy rivalry between Besos and Trump (probably jealous of Besos' wealth) and how Trump was constantly taking jabs at the Besos。 There is more to the "fake news" than it being about the paper but also being about attacking Besos。 It seems from this book that he is very hands off with the news biz but as an avid reader and a believer in the mission of journalism and its importance for democracy, he wanted to ensure the Post could survive or even thrive in a struggling industry by leveraging his knowledge of how to market things on the internet。 There was a lot about the process of delivery and how it turned the online shopping business model on its head with Besos' drive to speed up delivery to compete with the stores。 There was information about UPS and FEDEX and the tensions and conflicts that eventually had Besos pushing to build their own delivery network buying planes and Mercedes-Benz Sprinter vans。 Besos does not like to outsource anything it doesn't need to - including its own web services。The book discussed the controversy about if Amazon is good for small business。 In some ways it is a great way to get your product onto one of if not THE best sellers platforms and that they can warehouse and ship the products for you。 On the other hand, there are claims that Amazon has access to sales figures and for those products that sold well, they would make it and sell it themselves under the Amazon Basics brand。 How about the sponsored products at the top of the page? Yep, it talks about that, too。 The book spans into the pandemic and talked about treatement of warehouse employees。There was a lot more - it was a very long book - but these are some of the highlights that come to me as I write this review。 Audio is the way to go to get through a book like this。 On the other hand, it is difficult to make detailed notes or highlight interesting quotes。 Overall I found the book informative and "interesting enough"。 I can tell you that I never want to work for a compay of that size。 However, althought Amazon has 1。3 million employees, there is one company with more employees。。。do you know which company that is? 。。。more

Aymeric

Brad Stone’s latest book on Amazon is good to read but I preferred by far the first one « the everything’s store »。 This new book is written in a journalistic style 。 Very descriptive。 I did not really find a red thread that is compelling。 My favorite quotes:« Sometimes you don’t know what the boundaries are。 Jeff just wanted us to be unbounded。 »« In it’s revamped performance review system。 Peers and managers were asked to write 60 words describing an employee’s « superpower » and another 60 wo Brad Stone’s latest book on Amazon is good to read but I preferred by far the first one « the everything’s store »。 This new book is written in a journalistic style 。 Very descriptive。 I did not really find a red thread that is compelling。 My favorite quotes:« Sometimes you don’t know what the boundaries are。 Jeff just wanted us to be unbounded。 »« In it’s revamped performance review system。 Peers and managers were asked to write 60 words describing an employee’s « superpower » and another 60 words to describe a « growth idea » for the year ahead。 It was all about looking forward and being motivational。 »Bezos ominously called « day 2 » companies。 Day 2 is stasis, followed by irrelevance, followed by excruciating, painful decline, followed by death。 »« And that is why it is always Day 1 at Amazon。 » 。。。more

Craig Earnshaw

well done recounting of the rise of Bezos and Amazon

Libby Andrews

This book held many useful business tips as well as giving a great insight into Jeff Bezos and Amazon。 Brad Stone gave an unbiased and honest view。 He chronicled Amazon and Bezos’ successes and failures in the second half of the company’s life including the foundation of Blue Origin, the purchase of the Washington Post, Bezos’ divorce and Amazon’s run in with government。 Excellent reading!

Traveller

。。。。 does Bezos really think people adore him? 。。and seemingly there are people who admire him - the mind boggles。

Alex Hoskinson

An interesting look at Amazon up to 2021。 It definitely isn't intended to flatter the company or its founder, but I also didn't feel like it was out to prove they are bad。 An interesting look at Amazon up to 2021。 It definitely isn't intended to flatter the company or its founder, but I also didn't feel like it was out to prove they are bad。 。。。more

Alex Whigham

Very well researched interesting read。 I love reading biography’s about entrepreneurs。

Max Stone

Disappointing。 The book is pretty robotic, basically a chapter per major new business line, and after a while they start to rhyme a lot, and much of the detail just seem extraneous and neither that interesting nor that informative。 Not that there isn't interesting/informative stuff in there, which is why I kept reading, it was just a bit buried in random other stuff。It also feels pretty colored by the views of whoever his sources are on various topics。 To a certain extent that's inevitable, but Disappointing。 The book is pretty robotic, basically a chapter per major new business line, and after a while they start to rhyme a lot, and much of the detail just seem extraneous and neither that interesting nor that informative。 Not that there isn't interesting/informative stuff in there, which is why I kept reading, it was just a bit buried in random other stuff。It also feels pretty colored by the views of whoever his sources are on various topics。 To a certain extent that's inevitable, but here it feels worse than usual。 Decisions are just described as "typical capricious Jeff" and not much evidence is presented that they are in fact capricious, e。g。 he reiterates stuff about inconsistency re: Blue Origin for changing tacks after like 10 years since they set out to build the effort in a certain mold, and due to an obvious change in fact set (SpaceX), and while that might have felt jarring to the person that had been working there for a while, there's no particular evidence presented that it was inconsistent or in fact anything other than necessary。 I don't want to overly defend Jeff as flawless, he obviously isn't, but I couldn't tell the difference e。g。 between him genuinely being capricious and the author's source being upset about a change of direction。And I don't think I learned much about what has made Amazon so successful that isn't already super well known。 。。。more