Business

The Everything Store: Jeff Bezos and the Age of Amazon

The Everything Store: Jeff Bezos and the Age of Amazon

  • Downloads：4771
  • Type：Epub+TxT+PDF+Mobi
  • Create Date：2022-10-19 06:57:24
  • Update Date：2025-09-06
  • Status：finish
  • Author：Brad Stone
  • ISBN：0316219282
  • Environment：PC/Android/iPhone/iPad/Kindle
  • Download

Summary

The definitive story of Amazon。com， one of the most successful companies in the world， and of its driven， brilliant founder， Jeff Bezos。

Amazon。com started off delivering books through the mail。 But its visionary founder， Jeff Bezos， wasn't content with being a bookseller。 He wanted Amazon to become the everything store， offering limitless selection and seductive convenience at disruptively low prices。 To do so， he developed a corporate culture of relentless ambition and secrecy that's never been cracked。 Until now。 Brad Stone enjoyed unprecedented access to current and former Amazon employees and Bezos family members， giving readers the first in-depth， fly-on-the-wall account of life at Amazon。 Compared to tech's other elite innovators -- Jobs， Gates， Zuckerberg -- Bezos is a private man。 But he stands out for his restless pursuit of new markets， leading Amazon into risky new ventures like the Kindle and cloud computing， and transforming retail in the same way Henry Ford revolutionized manufacturing。

The Everything Store will be the revealing， definitive biography of the company that placed one of the first and largest bets on the Internet and forever changed the way we shop and read。

Download

Reviews

Hyacinthe Fallu ，

Good read。 Always interesting to see the perspective of these hyper successful individuals through the lens of those around them。 The story is told with little narrative and more factual data to support the main storylines at Amazon。 I’d recommend reading this if you’re into biographies of entrepreneurs。

Andrei Nechifor ，

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers。 To view it， click here。 I share my notes to self by chapter。Chapter 1: Learn continuously to improve your skills and combine them with business and technology trends。 Take risks。Chapter 2: These days there is a global market， the technology evolves rapidly， so basically you compete with everyone （especially China）。 You have to make THE extra effort to retain your customers by delivering top products。 Innovation might help you， but for a short period。 You have to commit to your way of doing things， like hiring or stayin I share my notes to self by chapter。Chapter 1: Learn continuously to improve your skills and combine them with business and technology trends。 Take risks。Chapter 2: These days there is a global market， the technology evolves rapidly， so basically you compete with everyone （especially China）。 You have to make THE extra effort to retain your customers by delivering top products。 Innovation might help you， but for a short period。 You have to commit to your way of doing things， like hiring or staying true to your vision。Chapter 3: This one is about trying new things and about growing。 What I found interesting is that growth brought together frequently in meetings people that were proved to be fundamental for the industry （representing Google， eBay， Hulu， Apple）。Chapter 4: It talks about marketplace， custom recommendations and also the importance of customer services。 Free delivery for people willing to wait longer periods seems like a good idea。 Bezos is portrayed like the ultimate micromanager， handling attrition is another thing that tells about his personality。Chapter 5: This is a biography of Bezos， working hard and being focused about his work。 I consider resilience and vision his best qualities， not being adopted。 :）Chapter 6: I enjoyed this because it was mostly about optimization of flows。 I made a note to self with the remark that in order to be efficient team should stride to communicate less。 Some remarks said to employees in anger were pretty damn amusing， the supply chain one startle me off。 I do not know if it was intentionally from the author， but so far seems like Amazon equals Bezos and the company depends on the founder micro managing key aspects of the company。Chapter 7: The birth of AWS and adding technology as business besides retail。Last chapters were mostly about Amazon’s tactics with vendors， which seemed a bit ruthless。 。。。more

Wander Damasceno ，

Very inspiring story！

Константин Снытко ，

It was amazin emersion into the Jeff Bezos' Amazon story。 It was amazin emersion into the Jeff Bezos' Amazon story。 。。。more

KC ，

Enjoyed the book。 Makes a vivid read of one of the titans of our era， starting from his childhood and start-up phases。 A clear and well paced writing style made it a very enjoyable read。

Cameron ，

Great read and insights into Bezos and Amazon。 What's interesting is how absolutely ruthless they were regarding destroying "Categories" so amazon could take over stuff like underpricing and losing $millions just so they can buy out their competitors at lower prices， it reminded me of the job biography。Do you have to be ruthless to succeed？ Great read and insights into Bezos and Amazon。 What's interesting is how absolutely ruthless they were regarding destroying "Categories" so amazon could take over stuff like underpricing and losing $millions just so they can buy out their competitors at lower prices， it reminded me of the job biography。Do you have to be ruthless to succeed？ 。。。more

Frank Stein ，

Like Brad Stone's other books， this one creates a clear， coherent， and compelling narrative out of what can seem like the dull world of start-up financing， product development， and intra-office politics。 He draws the main characters， of which Jeff Bezos of course is the foremost， well， and explains what made Amazon distinct and distinctively victorious。 Obviously Bezos is central to both the story and Amazon's success。 Like many other founders， he seems like an impossible boss。 He engages in wha Like Brad Stone's other books， this one creates a clear， coherent， and compelling narrative out of what can seem like the dull world of start-up financing， product development， and intra-office politics。 He draws the main characters， of which Jeff Bezos of course is the foremost， well， and explains what made Amazon distinct and distinctively victorious。 Obviously Bezos is central to both the story and Amazon's success。 Like many other founders， he seems like an impossible boss。 He engages in what his underlings call "nutters，" where he screams and raves without stop for minutes at a time。 He asks employees why they are "wasting his life" or if they "really care about" their job。 As one person working on the Kindle （which was formulated in the Silicon Valley spin-off Lab126） explained， you didn't want Jeff too interested in your project， otherwise he would "love it to death。" Bezos actively encouraged a confrontational style at work， as exemplified by the 10th of his 14 principles， which states "Have Backbone。 Disagree and Commit。" Nonetheless， Bezos drive， and his desire to "Think Big" （another principle） meant Amazon could surmount its many competitors and turn his once inchoate idea of an "Everything Store" （first formulated when he was an analyst at DE Shaw） into a reality， even though in the early years he claimed to want to focus only on books。The book shows how Bezos was obsessed from the beginning with the "flywheel" effects of company growth， and how the growth in the internet would accelerate those effects。 He didn't want to subsidize bus passes for early employees， partially because he was obsessed with keeping down costs and partially because he didn't want employees to feel they had to leave to catch a bus。 But he was willing to spend what it took to make big projects and get new customers。 In the early years the first areas Amazon tried to move into after books was jewelry and toys， before it learned that both were subject to wild swings in customer preferences and that people liked to feel these things in the store。 When they started AWS， they merely wanted to stop allocating their interior departments computer time bureaucratically， before they realized they charge their own departments for use and then lease out the excess to the public。 Amazon was also fierce with competitors。 For Zappos， Diapers。com， and Lovefilm， they started in-house copies and worked to undersell their opponents until they could buy them up at a reduced price。 Yet the Diapers。com battle led Amazon to adopt the first subscription services， and the Lovefilm purchase allowed them to expand Amazon Prime （which itself started as a holiday promotion） into film。 The combination of ferocious cost-cutting， ruthless competition， and singular customer focus allowed Amazon to keep growing even while others faltered。So this is another great read from Stone， who should be the go-to author for anyone interested in the rise of modern tech。 。。。more

Jonathan Beigle ，

This was a round-up to a 5-star。 This is my 3rd or 4th book of this type which I call business biographies Shoe Dog and That'll Never Work are others）， and I thought this was the best。 I got bored with Shoe Dog （even though it is far more popular）， and I thought The Everything Store was a little more provocative because it was told by an outsider。 The author must have done over a hundred interviews for this book， and I thought it told a great story of the history of Amazon until the time it was This was a round-up to a 5-star。 This is my 3rd or 4th book of this type which I call business biographies Shoe Dog and That'll Never Work are others）， and I thought this was the best。 I got bored with Shoe Dog （even though it is far more popular）， and I thought The Everything Store was a little more provocative because it was told by an outsider。 The author must have done over a hundred interviews for this book， and I thought it told a great story of the history of Amazon until the time it was written。 So many things have changed since it was written 9 years ago and it's funny to think about how those changes have affected the company。 。。。more

Kai Gutzeit ，

A bit too unstructured。 Jumping back and forth in time， across different subjects… I must say I have read better…

Jean Schindler ，

"Communication is a sign of dysfunction - it means people aren't working together in a close， organic way。 We should be trying to figure out a way for teams to communicate less with each other， not more。" "Communication is a sign of dysfunction - it means people aren't working together in a close， organic way。 We should be trying to figure out a way for teams to communicate less with each other， not more。" 。。。more

Vytautas Jakštys ，

‘Customer first’ done too much

Danna ，

Really interesting but couldn’t finish because I felt like I was going to working during the day to reading a book about more work at night 🙄

Shantanu ，

A great read into the mind of one of the most ambitious business persons seen in recent history。 While you cannot agree with all the methods used by Bezos， you certainly cannot ignore that those same methods have been very effective to build something of enormous value to himself， shareholders， employees （in most cases）， society （through lower prices） etc。 I am a big believer in moats （loosely put - that which only you have， which can be leveraged to win over competition）， which is a necessary a A great read into the mind of one of the most ambitious business persons seen in recent history。 While you cannot agree with all the methods used by Bezos， you certainly cannot ignore that those same methods have been very effective to build something of enormous value to himself， shareholders， employees （in most cases）， society （through lower prices） etc。 I am a big believer in moats （loosely put - that which only you have， which can be leveraged to win over competition）， which is a necessary and sufficient condition to be successful over long periods of time。 And to me， e-commerce delivery alone did not let Bezos become the success that he is today。 As Stone puts it - it's remarkable for a retail co。 to venture into a completely different field such as cloud computing and beat the world at that。 I think someone needs to dig deeper into how Bezos achieved this。 Stone does not do complete justice to this aspect。And lastly， Bezos' story also provides lessons to today's startup founders。 Find that unique thing which no one else does。 Scale or novelty is not a moat。 As Peter Thiel says， if you are competing with someone else with the same output， you are already on the losing path as competition is for losers。 The real winners in business escape competition。 。。。more

Marckusha ，

I learned so many interesting things from this book。 I think that Amazon is the best sales platform there is。 The only problem I have had with Amazon is getting reviews more。 It's just that those reviews on Amazon affect your sales in the same way that proper SEO listing does。 Luckily with a tool like SageMailer I was able to succeed。 I learned so many interesting things from this book。 I think that Amazon is the best sales platform there is。 The only problem I have had with Amazon is getting reviews more。 It's just that those reviews on Amazon affect your sales in the same way that proper SEO listing does。 Luckily with a tool like SageMailer I was able to succeed。 。。。more

Brendan Herjavec ，

One of the greats business biographys I have read

Nicholas Conlon ，

Interesting to see how the Amazon machine works / doesn’t work， and genuinely amazing to see how Bezos’ ethos permeate the entire company Just felt a bit of a slog at times

Roman Stanek ，

Actually there were some 4 star moments

Mariota ，

Bezos is a genius and this book was very eye-opening and exciting to read。 5-stars。

Davide ，

Libro molto interessante si legge da solo

Daniel Stoev ，

Добра е по обективно е написана， не е изцяло лъскане на имидж на Безос。

Konstantin Koehler ，

sympathisiert nicht mit Bezos selbst sondern stellt sehr objektiv den Gründungsverlauf und Werdegang von Amazon dar！ Es ist eine Biografie des Unternehmens， nicht des Gründers und dadurch auch genau passend verfasst！

Foster ，

An interesting overview of Amazon， and especially Jeff Bezos。 I learned a lot of surprising details about the history of the company and it’s founder - but the overall message was that it takes a lot of hard work and some unpleasantness to achieve the kind of success that Amazon has。

Peter ，

Long and unstructured book about Amazon and Jeff Bezos。I few interesting points。

Micah Latter ，

Didn’t love。

Alastair Gilg ，

Super interesting and informative

Owen Rataj ，

I read this in the wrong order， with Amazon Unbound first and The Everything Store second。 I have to say， it may have made this read even better。 Knowing what the future held for Jeff Bezos and Amazon makes this book even more impressive。 You can see the vision of The Everything Store from its initial concept and how it has， eventually， reached this goal in the modern day。 Whilst I thoroughly believe that Bezos is the true definition of an entrepreneur， I can't help but have the thought in my he I read this in the wrong order， with Amazon Unbound first and The Everything Store second。 I have to say， it may have made this read even better。 Knowing what the future held for Jeff Bezos and Amazon makes this book even more impressive。 You can see the vision of The Everything Store from its initial concept and how it has， eventually， reached this goal in the modern day。 Whilst I thoroughly believe that Bezos is the true definition of an entrepreneur， I can't help but have the thought in my head of how fortunate these people （Bezos， Jobs， Musk， etc。） are to have been in prime position to take full advantage of the creation of the internet and the era surrounding this。 The advantages they received during this time are disproportional to any that modern businesses will ever have access to （and likely will never again）。Stone takes things too far with his investigative journalism into Bezo's biological father but， otherwise， I loved this book。 。。。more

Aldo Schipper ，

I read this in a day because it was hard to put down。

Matej yangwao ，

Umm， found it more likely ad for Jeff with handbook of leadership （best） advices。Storyline wasn't there 👀>He researched the feasibility of “the everything store” and concluded that it was impractical at the time。 So， he created a list of twenty possible product categories， and the one that stood out to him was books — an unlimited selection of them in a true superstore。>Great companies are not deterred by bad moments; they take advantage of the situation and make efforts to come out stronger。>It Umm， found it more likely ad for Jeff with handbook of leadership （best） advices。Storyline wasn't there 👀>He researched the feasibility of “the everything store” and concluded that it was impractical at the time。 So， he created a list of twenty possible product categories， and the one that stood out to him was books — an unlimited selection of them in a true superstore。>Great companies are not deterred by bad moments; they take advantage of the situation and make efforts to come out stronger。>It took the intervention of a Silicon Valley legend， Bill Campbell， to resolve the issue; he recommended to the board that they stick with their founder。>Your environment and parental background heavily influence your actions and cognitive skills。>He exhibited a style — leadership by example， augmented by a healthy dose of impatience — that was positively Bezosian in character。>Bezos instilled in his team that communication was a sign of dysfunction。 He ran Amazon with an emphasis on decentralization and independent decision–making， which would come to represent something akin to the conventional wisdom in the high–tech industry。≥Missionaries have righteous goals and are trying to make the world a better place。 Mercenaries are out for money and power and will run over anyone who gets in the way。>Bezos bought into the Web’s new culture of openness， and he tasked a group within the company with creating a set of APIs to let developers plug into the website。 This was the beginning of a serendipitous journey into what is known today as Amazon Web Services — a platform that enables developers and companies to build sophisticated and scalable applications。>Amazon Web Services has facilitated the creation of thousands of Internet startups， ushering in a new era of innovation in many fields。>What separates a great businessperson from a novice is the ability to create profitable solutions out of every problem that arises。>You have all the power to define how you want to be perceived by the world>being perceived as inventive， as an explorer rather than a conqueror， was critically important。>JeffBezos encouraged disagreements and codified them into the company’s principle because disagreements sometimes lead to additional knowledge being shared。>Despite the flaws and occasional periods of post–traumatic stress disorder， former Amazon employees often consider their time at the company the most productive of their careers。>The people who succeed at Amazon are often those who thrive in a hostile atmosphere with constant disagreement。 Bezos detests what he terms “social cohesion，” the natural impulse to seek consensus; he'd rather battle issues out in arguments backed by numbers and passion。 He has codified this approach in Amazon’s leadership principles — the company’s highly prized values often discussed and inculcated into new hires。>Cultivate the habit of celebrating small wins。 Set milestones and celebrate each time your team achieves one。 You could sponsor lunch， take them out for dinner， give some time off。 Anything you feel would be appreciated。 。。。more

Hayk Khemchyan ，

A good book， overall。 Brad Stone's style is not very much similar to the other biographers， like Walter Isaacson or Ashlee Vance， however， the work is quite remarkable。 An interesting story of Jeff Bezos and his Amazon， and it's a pity that I read it almost a decade after its initial publication。 It would be very interesting to read an updated version of the book。 A good book， overall。 Brad Stone's style is not very much similar to the other biographers， like Walter Isaacson or Ashlee Vance， however， the work is quite remarkable。 An interesting story of Jeff Bezos and his Amazon， and it's a pity that I read it almost a decade after its initial publication。 It would be very interesting to read an updated version of the book。 。。。more

Elaine ，

Well written and engaging account of Amazon's meteoric rise as a company and all the bumps and bruises along the way。 Very interesting to learn about the effects Amazon had on the ebook industry and publishing as a whole， as well as the countless aggressive business strategies and ruthless campaigns the company took to quash its competition。 Well written and engaging account of Amazon's meteoric rise as a company and all the bumps and bruises along the way。 Very interesting to learn about the effects Amazon had on the ebook industry and publishing as a whole， as well as the countless aggressive business strategies and ruthless campaigns the company took to quash its competition。 。。。more

Reference

google book https://www.google.com/search?tbm=bks&q=The Everything Store: Jeff Bezos and the Age of Amazon

hathitrust digital library https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/ls?q1=The Everything Store: Jeff Bezos and the Age of Amazon&field1=ocr&a=srchls&ft=ft&lmt=ft

The British Library https://bll01.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/discovery/search?query=any,contains,The Everything Store: Jeff Bezos and the Age of Amazon&tab=LibraryCatalog&search_scope=Not_BL_Suppress&vid=44BL_INST:BLL01&lang=en&offset=0