Transcript
Introduction
In January 2013, eight months before her death, I received a lengthy e-mail from Joy Covey. She had been generous with her memories and insights as I crafted the first two chapters of this book and was wondering how my writing was progressing. She was reading the Steve Jobs biography by Walter Isaacson and was thinking about how Bezos' leadership style compared to the late Apple cofounder's famously direct demeanor.
When I rediscovered Covey's e-mail after her death, I was struck by its thoughtfulness and eloquence. Here, it is, lightly edited for clarity. Hello, Brad. I've been wondering how your writing is coming along. Also, I thought of your project and Jeff while beginning the Jobs biography recently. I found myself thinking about what it takes to accomplish things as big as they both did when a lot of what you're doing is unconventional.
It may very well be that the absolute intensity of drive and focus is essential and incompatible with all the nice management thought about consensus and gentle demeanor. I think about how effective and quick Jeff was and how important it was that he didn't slow down too much or modify his ideas to make others feel comfortable.
I think about the early days and the level of clarity, vision, potential, and values that Jeff brought. And then I look at Amazon today and reflect on some of those conversations I had with him in the intervening years. It's easy to draw a straight line from the vision he had back then to the Amazon of today. I don't know any other company that has created such a juggernaut that is so consistent with the original ideas of the founder. It's almost like he fired an arrow and then followed that arc.
Can we really think of any other company approaching Amazon's size or age that continues to move forward with the boldness, risk-taking, innovation, and the long-term perspective that Amazon shows? Just clarity, intensity of focus, and ability to prioritize is unusual and behind his ability to keep leaping forward versus protecting existing ground. Seeing the future, he put in place the critical DNA that would help the whole company embody his vision. His focus was on very bright, high-growth potential and fluid-minded people with the right values as builders. He looked for people that absolutely prioritized customer trust and delight who at all times were long-term focused and driven to be bold and innovative.
All of this was lived and modeled every day by Jeff and the senior team. Personal wealth was never discussed or really thought about. I see companies these days where thoughts of exits are foremost in the minds of top management and Board. And it is so clear that this value will infect the decision-making down to the smallest choice by the most junior employee. Do we create something that is good or just something that seems good and might get us acquired or funded?
At Amazon, it was always abundantly clear what the goals and values were. And as I reflect on discussions and decisions throughout my time there, it's easy to imagine how different so many small choices might have been otherwise. We talked a lot about whether Jeff was difficult to work with, yet Jeff attracted people like me who really needed to work on things they can internalize and adopt as a mission, who had to leave the path they thought they were on and who poured their hearts and souls and best efforts into building Amazon. We believed in what we were building and felt that our very best was needed to have the hope of accomplishing the enormous potential ahead of us.
Jeff's style always read as completely pure, all focused on the best outcomes for Amazon and our customers. As I read the Jobs book, I really had to wonder if that intensity isn't an essential element when so much of what you want to do requires boldness, immediacy, ruthless prioritization, and risk. It seems counterintuitive to everyone who has pursued traditional corporate goals in the past.
I even had an insight and question about myself that maybe I haven't begun to really find my own limits since I have not, aside from those times of highest stakes and intensity at Amazon, really run free following my own insights and directions without being too accommodating of others. I think Jeff is one of the most capable and effective founders ever. And I think the Amazon juggernaut is still in its early stages. Cheers, Joy.
That is an excerpt from the book that I just reread, which is The Everything Store: Jeff Bezos and the Age of Amazon and is written by Brad Stone. So I read this book about two and a half years ago. Originally, it's Founders #17. And the reason I'm rereading it, there's two reasons. One, great books should be reread because the book stays the same, but you change. And I've read, what, 160-something biographies since -- of entrepreneurs since then. And two, because Brad Stone, the author, is writing a sequel. He's releasing a sequel to this book. It's called Amazon Unbound. It is going to be released next week, I think.