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Built for Success

The Story of Amazon.com

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Amazon.com. Facebook. FedEx. CNN. They are names recognized around the world today, but just how did these companies grow into global giants? Built for Success now spotlights 16 flourishing corporations and introduces the leaders who guided them to prominence. Each title surveys the featured company's complete history, examining its triumphs and failures, products and innovations, and the impact it has had on the lives of people around the globe.

48 pages, Paperback

First published July 1, 2012

28 people are currently reading
125 people want to read

About the author

Sara Gilbert

158 books19 followers

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5 stars
112 (32%)
4 stars
104 (29%)
3 stars
98 (28%)
2 stars
28 (8%)
1 star
8 (2%)
Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews
1 review
February 16, 2019
Raw mind made true story

The book shows how on eman can make a difference also it highlights the importance patience and believe in what youd to get what you want👍👍
Profile Image for Recoco.
78 reviews1 follower
August 30, 2020
There is plenty of information in there that I definitely did not know before. The story of amazon.com was created when a small businessman named Jeff Bezos decided to sell books, online. The website exploded, and Jeff made lots of money, probably because no one had attempted to sell books online. From there on, Bezos business grew really fast and he began hiring people, he then moved to a bigger building. The cycle repeated, once the business grew bigger, he hired more people and moved to a even bigger building. Once he was big enough, venture capitalists began to invest in amazon and Jeff Bezos made the amazon stock and it went public. All was going very smooth (not really), but amazon still hadn't made profit yet. Because as his company grew, he needed bigger buildings to hold more employees and equipment. The costs of those were more than how much the company was actually making. So he had to be "Mean Bezos" to save his company from going into any more debt. He laid off 13 hundred employees and cut wages. It seemed things began to go back up again, and in 2004, they made their first profit. As amazon continued to grow, it not only could sell almost everything, Amazon introduced many gadgets such as the kindle and alexa. amazon tought everyone that withe hard work and determination, anything is possible.
Profile Image for Utsav Parashar.
40 reviews7 followers
March 7, 2019
Short, Sweet, Crisp

Book didn't mention 14 principles which is in blood of every amazonian, that disappointed me a bit. Except that it has basic information of the journey of amazon.com and Jeff Bezos.
25 reviews1 follower
January 17, 2019
Its kind of various news articles collected and aggregated, just enough to know about a bit history of Amazon. No details or any in depth analysis.
15 reviews1 follower
January 29, 2019
A good short read on the evolution of Amazon from garage to a all encompassing retail store. An exemplary case study for perseverance ..
Profile Image for Ansuman.
9 reviews1 follower
September 23, 2019
Quick summary
Not very detailed towards the end
Tells you the story pre 2000
1 review
December 15, 2019
Not depth

Book does not depth information only brief. But book is good to read. It's available for free for prime reading.
Profile Image for JM.
43 reviews
February 23, 2023
A quick read providing a sneak peek on the initial times of Jeff Bezos and amazon.com.
155 reviews
June 25, 2024


Rating :- 4 stars

A good book that met my expectations. It provides a detailed summary of Amazon.com's journey. However, it feels somewhat outdated at the time of reading.
2 reviews
February 4, 2019
Hidden words on pages

Many lines in the book are not visible due to overwriting which dissapointed my experience of a seamless reading of the book.
I would definitely recommend this book to people, but please take care of the overwriting of pages.
Profile Image for Amrit Sinha.
Author 7 books20 followers
September 16, 2013
Inspirations drive the world. They make us live, and believe in the goodness of fate. They provide us with the courage to take risks and steer safely through challenges. We all love to read stories that motivate, and inculcate within us the desire to excel.

Jaico comes forward with its Young Readers Series to satiate our aspiring minds. The Story of Amazon.com, one of the offerings in this series, narrates the tale of the largest e-commerce site that is ruling the roost today. Sara Gilbert, the author, brings forth the origin and rise of Amazon.com, specifying key milestones that shaped the company and made it a market leader in its domain.

The book narrates the story of Jeff Bezos, who quit his lucrative job as Senior Vice President in a prominent New York investment company; the reason – he wanted to start a venture of his own. The internet was in boom then and he sensed a huge potential with the growth of the World Wide Web. Jeff had conceptualized an online book-store, and he was keen to put his ideas into practice. Books were easy to acquire, and catered to the taste of millions and billions of people across the globe. Jeff wanted to cash in on this idea before others too identified this opportunity.

Amazon.com had high initial sales, but suffered losses in its first few years due to maintenance costs. Jeff had to undertake several measures to minimize the costs and maximize the profits. His efforts bore fruit, and soon Amazon.com emerged as the front runner in the field of e-shopping and e-commerce.

Several exciting innovations helped the company march ahead of its competitors. The “Search Inside” and “Look Inside” features provided flexibility of browsing the books to the prospective buyers. They could now take a sneak peek into a few pages of the book before buying it. Another leap-ahead came in the form of eBooks. Amazon.com wanted the readers to enjoy eBooks in the same way as they marveled over paper books, and thus the Kindle was invented. A few years into its launch, and the Kindle soon became the most gifted item in the history of the company. As they say, the rest is history.

Jeff announced another interesting project in 2005 named Blue Origin, something a space enthusiast will really look forward to. The project aims to ferry space tourists and scientists to and from outer space. Interesting! After ruling the earth, Amazon now looks all set to expand its territories beyond the horizon.

And this makes Amazon what it is today. Jeff’s strong will, coupled with a set of enthusiastic employees, and a sure-win concoction of determination, hard work and perseverance have led to the success of this company. This is just the beginning, and with Jeff, the Mastermind, you can never fathom the heights that this firm can achieve. We can just wait, and watch, and in the meantime enjoy the wide range of services that Amazon has in offer for you, me, and everybody.

Sara Gilbert presents a very insightful tale, and laced with interesting anecdotes, this quick read definitely deserves a place in your book shelf.
Profile Image for Abhilash Ruhela.
634 reviews64 followers
July 9, 2013


As promised in the last book review, I am back with another book from "Jaico Young Readers Series". "The Story of amazon.com" by Sara Gilbert. This is yet another 65 pages book which tells us about the evolution of amazon.com, one of the first e-commerce websites which started its journey from selling books and it sells almost everything online. It is said to be the Walmart of Internet. Amazon recently got launched in India and the way Indians welcomed it will always remain in my memory. Even I was a part of it and I have ordered some 2-3 books through it. It is currently providing free shipping to all the Indian users for a short period of time. And hence Flipkart, the most trusted e-commerce website has got imbalanced and started "Big Offers Day" to beat Amazon.in somehow. This is the magnificence of amazon.com in the world.

The book is written in the same manner as "The Story of facebook" is written. Sara Gilbert has done a very good job in mentioning only the key factors in the book and that too in a language which is quite easier for a person to understand. If this would have been an adult book, there would have been so many terms that a laymen would not have had an idea of. But this book is created perfectly. Children are difinitely going to like this book. It teaches us how to not lose our patience and belief even in losses and times of difficulty. Book majorly tells about the continuous loss that amazon.com kept witnessing since it launch but yet got fame because of the awesome service it provided. It tells how Jeff Bezos kept his temper cool and worked on his dream. A great lesson for children who are generators of tomorrow.

I never knew that amazon.com was known for falling continuously in the market. The way Harry Potter's 5th book boosted the site and helped it to survive in the market is a surprising fact. And the 6th and 7th book also helped the site to see some profit. The Kindle launch again helped the company to get into the race of being the best e-commerce website in the market. This book is also a wonderful read but not as good as The Story of Facebook. Now, my next read is "The Story of Nike".

Thanks.

ABHILASH RUHELA - VEERU!!!
Profile Image for Locomente.
92 reviews55 followers
October 1, 2014
For me Amazon.com is more Kindle than anything else; so, the cover page is perfect! The blurb is short and sweet. The title is intriguing and builds anxiety within readers.

The narrative is smooth and very crisp. It is a high-level view of Amazon.com’s success story. It is awe-inspiring and awesome to read about great visionaries.

Jeff Bezos looks for a garage to begin his business because many of his heroes had started their business in garage. I couldn’t stop thinking about the 75 years old Hewlett Packard and how they evolved from a garage!

The growth and success of any company happens because of the contribution by more than one person. In the cae of Amazon.com, it is a book! I will not say which one. Grab the book to know about it.

Jeff Bezos’s confidence and determination is truly inspiring. To grow so fast and emerge as a top brand in as less as 14 years is commendable!

Yay! Now I know why Amazon.com is called Amazon.com!!!!


But...
The reading flow is irritatingly interrupted by tit-bit information. Every second page contains tit-bits and it is really frustrating! I wish that it was placed appropriately after the end of each chapters.


Should you read it?
It is super-tiny with as less as 70 pages. And it is highly inspiring.
Goosebumps assured!
Profile Image for Rupertt Wind.
181 reviews9 followers
September 24, 2013
A wonderful read for any child who would like to know the rise and glory of Amazon.com. A succinct history of Amazon.com and the many challenges it overcame to became one of the most prominent names in the industry.
Profile Image for Anshita.
8 reviews3 followers
June 7, 2019
A decent book which provides information regarding the initial phase of the company and the major developments since its inception. Undoubtedly, I learnt a lot more about the company but still I missed the details which the author could have provided.
Profile Image for LuAnn.
Author 13 books62 followers
September 24, 2012
Although the book was interesting, it was lightweight, with too few facts, especially for the price being asked for a library copy. Pass.
Profile Image for Sneha Bollepalli.
22 reviews7 followers
September 19, 2014
A brief history of Amazon.com

The Book provides a brief yet interesting tale of Amazon.com.
It's a quick read to know about Amazon.com but I wish it was a bit more detailed!
Profile Image for Rajesh Rathore.
27 reviews
September 1, 2016
Kindle from Amazon is superb, I like it. That is the reason i was curious to read it. Book gave me more facts about Amazon and its owner which i was not aware about.
Profile Image for Keerthana.
11 reviews1 follower
June 17, 2019
Good one. A company that only believed in innovation and customer service.
Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews

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