"I'm going to go do this crazy thing. I'm going to start this company selling books online."
Jeff Bezos
Best known as an American entrepreneur, Jeff Bezos is the founder and chief executive officer of Amazon.com. He was born Albuquerque, New Mexico on January 12, 1964 when he was mother was still in her teen years and when he was four moved to Houston, Texas where he grew up. Throughout childhood he showed a deep interest in mechanics, and wanted to understand how everything worked. He attended Princeton University intending to study physics, but graduated with a degree in computer science and electrical engineering.
After college he worked in many banks, to study the changing of the stock market, one of which was D.E. Shaw where he rose up to Senior Vice President. All that changed when he noticed the internet usage was increasing 2,300 percent a year; Bezos saw a an opportunity at a new type of business and started brainstorming possibilities. He realized that he was taking a risk in starting up a different type of business with little money to back him up if he failed, but that did not stop him from creating his vision.
"I knew if I failed I wouldn't regret that, but I knew the one thing I might regret is not trying."
He researched the twenty top mail order business and made a decision that selling books online would be much more efficient, because there would be a bigger variety of books to select from than possible in a paper magazine. Plus, he discovered the major book seller's already were compiling lists of books to sell online and all they needed was one place to sell them: the creation of amazon.com.
After college he worked in many banks, to study the changing of the stock market, one of which was D.E. Shaw where he rose up to Senior Vice President. All that changed when he noticed the internet usage was increasing 2,300 percent a year; Bezos saw a an opportunity at a new type of business and started brainstorming possibilities. He realized that he was taking a risk in starting up a different type of business with little money to back him up if he failed, but that did not stop him from creating his vision.
"I knew if I failed I wouldn't regret that, but I knew the one thing I might regret is not trying."
He researched the twenty top mail order business and made a decision that selling books online would be much more efficient, because there would be a bigger variety of books to select from than possible in a paper magazine. Plus, he discovered the major book seller's already were compiling lists of books to sell online and all they needed was one place to sell them: the creation of amazon.com.
On July 16, 1995, Bezos opened amazon.com to the world. By September amazon had made over $20,000 selling books with very little advertisement. Bezos and his team continued to enhance amazon, creating ideas that no one had ever heard of before such as one-click shopping, customer reviews and order review forms. He also innovated the concept of predictive analytics which recommends products to customers based on search history and buying habits. This concept has made online shopping more profitable and efficient, and is making online shopping a better experience for consumers and businesses everywhere.
Only a few years after amazon went public, "Earth's Biggest Bookstore" to "Earth's Biggest Anything Store" and Bezos become a billionaire. With amazon's high success, Bezos was able to explore in his lifelong interest in space travel. He founded an aerospace company, Blue Origin, in 2004 to develop new technology for spaceflight. Not only was he focused on space travel, but he was in the beginning process of changing how we read today with the amazon e-readers. Recently Bezos was named Fortune's 2012 Businessperson of the Year. He is currently living in Seattle with his wife, and still planning with his team on how to improve amazon. |