The Everything Store
by Brad Stone
Stone's history of Amazon through 2013: Bezos' founding bet, the long-term letter, the dot-com crash, Prime, AWS, Kindle, the hard culture and the relentless customer focus. It is reported, not authorized, and includes the costs. Essential context for anyone selling on or competing with Amazon.
Read it if…
you want to understand how Amazon thinks and operates, from the outside.
Skip it if…
you want a how-to; see Working Backwards.
Three things you will actually use
- Long-term thinking as a competitive advantage.
- Customer obsession over competitor obsession.
- Frugality and intensity have human costs; decide what you will pay.
Do this first
Read the 1997 shareholder letter reproduced in the book; it is the whole strategy.
Our verdict
Thorough and essential context.
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