Jeff Bezos can easily be called one of America’s most interesting characters. To the world, he is larger than life. To his employee’s his pen can strike terror in the hearts of even the bravest. To his mother, he is the apple of her eye and to his biological father, he is someone that he never should have let go. Bezos is many things to many people. The article, “The Secrets of Bezos: How Amazon Became the Everything Store,” by Brad Stone take an inside look at Bezos that has never been seen before. This essay explores the most interesting facts about Bezos and gives him advice that can help take his organization to the next level.
One of the most fascinating discoveries about Bezos in the article is that he is somewhat of a tyrant when it comes to his employees. When one sees Bezos on a television or radio interview, he always presents himself as a smiling, cheerful person. It is easy to call him a nice guy. Reading the article presents an entirely different side of Bezos. The harsh, calculating side of Bezos that remains hidden behind the walls of Amazon was surprising.
Another fascinating fact about Bezos is that he comes from a rather ordinary, if not disadvantaged upbringing. Bezos did not have the opportunities growing up that one usually associates with becoming one of the wealthiest men in the world. Everything Bezos touches turns to gold. Even more fascinating is that he makes it by not playing by the accepted rules of big business. He is a rebel and has his own way of doing things and a style of management that hearkens to the authoritarian managerial style of the beginnings of the industrial era.
Bezos has climbed to where he is now by riding on the back of no one. The only question that remains is where he is going next. Bezos has his mind set on the space travel, but perhaps his next big thing should be more earthbound. He has a track record for taking on the biggest and best in the industry. Perhaps, he should go for broke and challenge long term rival Walmart. This would make the everything store unrivaled in its economy of scale.
Bezos has the ability to turn up the heat and watch his opponents melt like butter. He also has a penchant for starting something new and different than the world has ever seen before. One has to wonder if perhaps Bezos’ space bound quest is being done with ulterior motives. Could it be that underneath it all, Jeff Bezos wants to be the first retail store in space? Considering his track record, one would not want to put it past him. He has not expressed anything like this yet, but with Bezos, yet is the key. One never knows what will come out of that brilliant brain of his. Whatever he does, Jeff Bezos does not know the word fail and neither do his employees.
- Stone, Brad. The Secrets of Bezos: How Amazon Became the Everything Store. Bloomberg Businessweek. October 10, 2013. pp. 2-23.
