Notes/Feedback: Well written, and easy to read, biography of Jeff Bezos and the start of Amazon. The book starts with a brief overview of Jeff's childhood. Being born to a teenage mom and a dad that didn't take parenthood (or a job) seriously. It paints Jeff as a very smart kid growing up and later on in adulthood. Graduated from Princeton with a CS and EE degree and got his first few jobs in financial tech and hedge fund companies.
The major portion of the book outlines how he quit his job and started Amazon. The book covers why he chose to start off with books as his primary product. How he then decided that the website should sell anything and everything. The most sobering parts were those that covered how he approached competition. How ruthless he was with anyone in the office as well as any potential up and coming competitor that was on the rise. It helped me understand a lot why Amazon is loved by its customers but hated by, not just their competition, but also their vendor partners.
For anyone that read Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson, you can draw a lot of parallels to the neurotic personality and ruthless behavior towards his staff.
Recommendation: Definitely would recommend this book to anyone interested in biographies of tech leaders.
Notes/Feedback:
Well written, and easy to read, biography of Jeff Bezos and the start of Amazon. The book starts with a brief overview of Jeff's childhood. Being born to a teenage mom and a dad that didn't take parenthood (or a job) seriously. It paints Jeff as a very smart kid growing up and later on in adulthood. Graduated from Princeton with a CS and EE degree and got his first few jobs in financial tech and hedge fund companies.
The major portion of the book outlines how he quit his job and started Amazon. The book covers why he chose to start off with books as his primary product. How he then decided that the website should sell anything and everything. The most sobering parts were those that covered how he approached competition. How ruthless he was with anyone in the office as well as any potential up and coming competitor that was on the rise. It helped me understand a lot why Amazon is loved by its customers but hated by, not just their competition, but also their vendor partners.
For anyone that read Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson, you can draw a lot of parallels to the neurotic personality and ruthless behavior towards his staff.
Recommendation:
Definitely would recommend this book to anyone interested in biographies of tech leaders.