14 Jeff Bezos Quotes That Show Why Amazon's Boss Is A Total Genius
Advertisement
Jul 26, 2021, 12:46 IST
On complacency: "A company shouldn't get addicted to being shiny, because shiny doesn't last."
Advertisement
On innovation: "I think frugality drives innovation, just like other constraints do. One of the only ways to get out of a tight box is to invent your way out."
Advertisement
On progress: "If you're competitor-focused, you have to wait until there is a competitor doing something. Being customer-focused allows you to be more pioneering."
On developing company culture: "Part of company culture is path-dependent—it's the lessons you learn along the way."
Advertisement
On new ideas: "There'll always be serendipity involved in discovery."
On haters: "If you never want to be criticized, for goodness' sake don't do anything new."
Advertisement
On motivation: "I strongly believe that missionaries make better products. They care more. For a missionary, it's not just about the business. There has to be a business, and the business has to make sense, but that's not why you do it. You do it because you have something meaningful that motivates you."
On choosing friends: "Life's too short to hang out with people who aren't resourceful."
Advertisement
On morals: "The one thing that offends me the most is when I walk by a bank and see ads trying to convince people to take out second mortgages on their home so they can go on vacation. That's approaching evil."
One strategy: "We've had three big ideas at Amazon that we've stuck with for 18 years, and they're the reason we're successful: Put the customer first. Invent. And be patient."
Advertisement
On growth: "All businesses need to be young forever. If your customer base ages with you, you're Woolworth's."
On pivoting: "If you're not stubborn, you'll give up on experiments too soon. And if you're not flexible, you'll pound your head against the wall and you won't see a different solution to a problem you're trying to solve."
Advertisement
On marketing: "In the old world, you devoted 30% of your time to building a great service and 70% of your time to shouting about it. In the new world, that inverts."
On pricing: "There are two kinds of companies, those that work to try to charge more and those that work to charge less. We will be the second."