This book i picked up to understand the history of Amazon, the company i work for now. Its a fantastic long read for anybody who wants to understand the evolution of this startup into a behemoth of today; it takes the readers through this time travel of 2 decades with detailing and gives a peek into the intriguing mind of its founder - Jeff Bezoz.
The biographer, Brad Stone has done significant research on why Amazon is where it is, and what factors, events and values contributed to this journey and continues to.
For me, as a new-joinee to a company which is know by its peculiar culture; the book really portrays the background on why this culture is like that.
Whether its the leadership principles of Amazon or its peculiar practices of using a 6 pager doc vs a presentation or why meetings start as a study hall where everyone reads silently or why there are PRFAQs made or why 1 empty chair in a meeting...its all answered there!
I personally liked the ways of a founder on how to create a culture that is a photocopy of how he thinks. And like a great learner, he has picked up a few values from the books he read or values from other companies into those leadership principles.
Its a great read for anybody who either wants to know about Amazon or who wants to know how to define the culture of a new company.
Some of the key things i didnt know before i read the book about Amazon -
1. Bezoz is an avid fiction/non fiction reader and has done changes in business strategy once he read a book.
2. Bezoz during tumultuous times of 2001 meltdown wrote something like 'I am not my stock price' on his whiteboard in office.
3. Bezoz tore a reciept of a team meal after paying saying that i am not going to claim it from the company, to stress principle of frugality.
4. Bezoz's way of negotiating while acquiring zappos or Quidsi is quite tough.
5. He is quite driven by future and has taken long term bets on projects which might appear science fiction at start. Thats a stark difference from other companies.
6. How Amazon safeguards the interests of customers by negotiating hard with vendors/partners.
7. How kindle happened and Bezoz delayed the launch till the ebook universe is at least 10000 ebooks.
8. How he saw future and converted Amazon into a technology company from an e-retailer.
Its a great read! Go for it.
