Self-Published·30 MAR 1998
Bezos Built Amazon by Refusing to Define Success in Quarters
The discipline isn't in what Bezos optimized for. It's in what he refused to apologize for not optimizing.
Reproduction of the 1997 Amazon Letter to Shareholders, as filed with the SEC on 30 March 1998.
Excerpt · In Jeff Bezos's own words
It's all about the long term.
We believe that a fundamental measure of our success will be the shareholder value we create over the long term. This value will be a direct result of our ability to extend and solidify our current market leadership position. The stronger our market leadership, the more powerful our economic model.
Our decisions have consistently reflected this focus. We first measure ourselves in terms of the metrics most indicative of our market leadership: customer and revenue growth, the degree to which our customers continue to purchase from us on a repeat basis, and the strength of our brand. We have invested and will continue to invest aggressively to expand and leverage our customer base, brand, and infrastructure as we move to establish an enduring franchise.
Because of our emphasis on the long term, we may make decisions and weigh tradeoffs differently than some companies.
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How this surfaced
- Source type
- Self-Published
- Case / record
- Amazon.com 1997 Annual Report (SEC Form 10-K)
- Citation
- Letter to Shareholders, filed with the SEC on 30 March 1998
- Date authored
- March 30, 1998
- License
- Publicly issued by the author
- Original
- View the primary source →
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