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shailydc's review against another edition
3.0
A great insight into how Amazon got to where it is today. My opinion of Amazon is definitely more negative after reading this book. Jeff Bezos puts the customer first in everything he does but the way he goes about intimidating and bullying partners and smaller companies in the name of the customer is just wrong.
I listened to the audiobook and the narrator's voice was terrible, I would never listen to him read a book again. Was it too much work to ask someone how to pronounce names?
I listened to the audiobook and the narrator's voice was terrible, I would never listen to him read a book again. Was it too much work to ask someone how to pronounce names?
john_quinn's review against another edition
Interesting to see how long Amazon's history was and the decision made along the way.
rickwren's review against another edition
4.0
Fascinating history of Amazon and the origin story of Bezos. It's dated, but my reading list is so long that I'm just getting to this one. I can appreciate the changes Bezos made to the world, but I don't appreciate the near sociopathic fervor that led him to abuse employees and create some of the worst work environments in the country.
boringdad's review against another edition
4.0
Well written and interesting account of a great story. It is easy to see why Jeff Bezos is considered to be one of the best, if not the best, business man of our time.
fabrice44's review against another edition
4.0
This book is a good picture of what a man can do when he build its corporation. It was inspiring to see that, in our short term world, some men can have an ambitious vision 30 years ago and make it happened. It also taught me all the relativity of power in the corporate business where, in few years, you can evolve from little fish to all mighty shark.
cornmaven's review against another edition
5.0
I probably should not have read this book, excellent as it is.
Stone takes the reader through Jeff Bezos' beginnings and the creation of Amazon.com (in a garage like a lot of other big tech related companies) all the way through to the present day behemoth it has become. And it is a bold, but very troubling path. As I read, I felt that the narrative was one about ego and insatiable desire: Bezos' ego and his insatiable desire to control,to be needed, to rule a kingdom of his making. Indeed, it is also a story of the insatiable desire that is part of each of us, which Bezos uses to reach his personal goals.
I would like to think that Mr. Bezos understands that he is nothing new under the sun, that his way of doing business has been around since business has been around. I think Stone understands it. With each chapter I cringed at my part as a customer in feeding a drive that results in PTSD for former employees, betrayal, and the degradation of his best and most valuable asset - his employees. A quote: "If you're not good, Jeff will chew you up and spit you out. And if you're good, he will jump on your back and ride you into the ground." (p131) No wonder so many talented people left, and so quickly, too.
Clearly, Amazon the company has been built by lots of hard work, sweat, and never forget, LUCK. Stone chronicles the "scorched earth" policy that is part of the Amazon culture. It is fascinating to read. And it is also very, very sad.
I found it interesting that Bezos has this principle that says, "Have Backbone; Disagree and Commit". Which belies the truth, because at Amazon if you have backbone and disagree, you are stomped into the ground and eventually forced out. The "commit" part comes in when Bezos himself makes the decision and you must then get on the bandwagon. But it seems kind of inefficient and unproductive to me - why bother to disagree and challenge if what really happens is Bezos makes a ruling that most often ignores the challenge, and represents what he wanted in the first place? An atmosphere of constant criticism, while it might work for some, it does not work for most. So I felt as I read that Bezos lost a lot of talent simply because he couldn't offer any sort of kindness.
At one point, an Amazonian remarks that Amazon/Bezos does not believe that all of this needs to be a zero sum game. But Stone's whole narrative indicates the opposite: there's only one winner in this game, and that is Jeff Bezos. Again, sad, very sad. In fighting the collection of sales tax, Amazon tries to justify their stance by saying they really don't get any services from the state, so they aren't really involved. Oh really? Do the trucks that pick up the goods from the Amazon fulfillment center float in the air instead of on the highways built by any particular state?
A really telling moment - once his biological father was found, would it have been too much for Bezos to hop in one of his private jets and meet with him? Did he really think a long overdue email (to a stepson because his father does not use email) sufficed? There is so much wrong with that response, I can't find the words.
Amazon's rise as laid out by Stone is a clear example of "the ends justify the means", the ends being fulfilling Bezos' and customers' desires. There really is no problem too small, large, or complicated that Bezos can't solve in this manner. Except one: I would challenge Mr. Bezos to come up with a way to achieve his desires but at the same time achieve happy employees who don't live and work in fear, and a good, solid, healthy relationship with competitors. Then it really would be "the everything store."
Stone takes the reader through Jeff Bezos' beginnings and the creation of Amazon.com (in a garage like a lot of other big tech related companies) all the way through to the present day behemoth it has become. And it is a bold, but very troubling path. As I read, I felt that the narrative was one about ego and insatiable desire: Bezos' ego and his insatiable desire to control,to be needed, to rule a kingdom of his making. Indeed, it is also a story of the insatiable desire that is part of each of us, which Bezos uses to reach his personal goals.
I would like to think that Mr. Bezos understands that he is nothing new under the sun, that his way of doing business has been around since business has been around. I think Stone understands it. With each chapter I cringed at my part as a customer in feeding a drive that results in PTSD for former employees, betrayal, and the degradation of his best and most valuable asset - his employees. A quote: "If you're not good, Jeff will chew you up and spit you out. And if you're good, he will jump on your back and ride you into the ground." (p131) No wonder so many talented people left, and so quickly, too.
Clearly, Amazon the company has been built by lots of hard work, sweat, and never forget, LUCK. Stone chronicles the "scorched earth" policy that is part of the Amazon culture. It is fascinating to read. And it is also very, very sad.
I found it interesting that Bezos has this principle that says, "Have Backbone; Disagree and Commit". Which belies the truth, because at Amazon if you have backbone and disagree, you are stomped into the ground and eventually forced out. The "commit" part comes in when Bezos himself makes the decision and you must then get on the bandwagon. But it seems kind of inefficient and unproductive to me - why bother to disagree and challenge if what really happens is Bezos makes a ruling that most often ignores the challenge, and represents what he wanted in the first place? An atmosphere of constant criticism, while it might work for some, it does not work for most. So I felt as I read that Bezos lost a lot of talent simply because he couldn't offer any sort of kindness.
At one point, an Amazonian remarks that Amazon/Bezos does not believe that all of this needs to be a zero sum game. But Stone's whole narrative indicates the opposite: there's only one winner in this game, and that is Jeff Bezos. Again, sad, very sad. In fighting the collection of sales tax, Amazon tries to justify their stance by saying they really don't get any services from the state, so they aren't really involved. Oh really? Do the trucks that pick up the goods from the Amazon fulfillment center float in the air instead of on the highways built by any particular state?
A really telling moment - once his biological father was found, would it have been too much for Bezos to hop in one of his private jets and meet with him? Did he really think a long overdue email (to a stepson because his father does not use email) sufficed? There is so much wrong with that response, I can't find the words.
Amazon's rise as laid out by Stone is a clear example of "the ends justify the means", the ends being fulfilling Bezos' and customers' desires. There really is no problem too small, large, or complicated that Bezos can't solve in this manner. Except one: I would challenge Mr. Bezos to come up with a way to achieve his desires but at the same time achieve happy employees who don't live and work in fear, and a good, solid, healthy relationship with competitors. Then it really would be "the everything store."
buchweiser's review against another edition
1.0
Schlecht editierte Audiodatei, Sprecher kann kein Englisch. Außerdem ist nicht jede Geschichte eines "großen Gründers" interessant. Überflüssiges Buch.