- Brandt, R. L. (2011). One Click: Jeff Bezos and the Rise of Amazon.com (p. 214).
New York, NY: Portfolio / Penguin. ISBN: 978-1-59184-375-7.
- © 2012 Perusalocity. All rights reserved. Perusalocity Book Reviews and Mind Maps by Misty Guard (a/k/a Perusalocity Girl) is licensed under a Creative
Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License. Permissions beyond the scope of this license may be available at http://perusalocity.blogspot.com/.
- Speed Reading Stats (h:mm:ss)
1st Read: 0:02:17 = 24,239 words/minute
2nd Read: 0:02:22 = 23,386 words/minute
3rd Read: 0:02:35 = 21,424 words/minute
Mind Map Stats (h:mm:ss)
1:36:15
Total Time: (h:mm:ss)
1:43:29
-
One Click is Not Enough (Ch.1)
-
Philosophy
- Make everything easier
- Be friendly to customers
-
Customer service view
- Focused on email
- Lack of telephone communications
-
Early Days
-
Not able to live up to shipping date promises
- Refunded the costs
- Ok to place books generating a higher profit higher in the list
-
Information collecting
-
Purchased PlanetAll
- Tracking information about people, book purchases, tastes, foibles, etc.
-
Divisions
- Out-of-print Division
- Best-seller lists
- Editorial Division
-
Technology
-
1-click software
-
Patent battle
- Lasted for a decade
- Resolved in 2005
-
Process patent
- September 1999 by USPTO
- Look inside the Book
-
Bezos' qualities
- Keen intellect
- Drive to succeed
- Innate stubbornness to point of absurdity
-
Portrait of the Entrepreneur as a Young Man (Ch.2)
- Texas roots back to the 19th century
- Experience as a ranch hand helped with entrepreneurial drive
- Attended Princeton
-
Jeff Gets a Job (Ch.3)
-
1st job = Fitel
- Moved up very quickly to manager-level
- Programmer management
-
2nd job = Bankers Trust
- Asst. VP
-
3rd job = D.E. Shaw
- VP in 1990 @ 26
-
Jeff Discovers the Internet (Ch.4)
- Started a business due to market growth not passion
- Focus on one market, then grow into other markets
-
Critieria
-
1. Familiar Product
- Pick something everyone knows
-
2. Large Market Size
- Pick a large market
- Look for minimal market fluctuations
-
3. Competition
- Look for a smaller number of direct competitors
- Do it differently
-
4. Acquiring Inventory
- Make sure you can get your product quickly and easily
- Make sure there are existing distributors
-
5. Creating a database
- Find a way to easily incorporate your inventory into a single system
-
6. Discount Opportunities
- Order from a distributor without making inventory
-
7. Shipping Costs
-
Incorporate this into the business model
- Expensive or cheap
-
8. Online Potential
- Online programs can sort large amounts of data
-
Three Nerds and an Accountant (Ch.5)
-
1. Find good people
- Personal networks were key
-
2. Location is key for hiring
- Software Programmers
- Entrepreneurs
- Close to a large distributor
-
3. Have a good name
- Cadabra was the orignal
-
Changed to Amazaon
- Due to "A"
- World's largest river
-
4. Business plan
- Yeah, he started without one of those
- He didn't need the money right away anyway
-
How to Build a Better Bookstore (Ch.6)
-
Relied on open source software
- UNIX operating system
- C and Perl languages
-
Database development
-
Oracle general-purpose system
- Used DBM to develop
- Other systems did not integrate easily
-
Payment System
- Accept all payment forms to begin with
-
CC Motel
- Credit card numbers are never kept on a computer connected to the internet
-
Ordering System
- Email-based system
-
Simplistic to Today
- Few graphics in the beginning
-
Growing Pains (Ch.7)
- Use minimal money for office equipment
-
Orders started when the site launched
-
Various problems
- Customers could order "-" books; Amazon would submit a refund to their card
- Didn't have enough staff at first
-
Recommendations
- Human editors recommending books based on past purchases
-
Allowed customers to leave comments/editorials
- Bad reviews or good reviews could be left
- Try unusual tactics
-
Listen to the customer
- Selection
- Convenience
-
Associates program
- Allows people to link to the Amazon site for a purchase
- Patented by Aamzaon
-
Money to Burn Through (Ch.8)
- Reinvested his money into the company instead of taking profits
-
Growing Up (Ch.9)
-
Marketing, marketing
- 1996 = stepped up the marketing efforts
- 2009 = $600 million in advertisting
-
Unusual bedfellows
- Hire the best; continually raise the bar
-
Unusual work environment
- Flexible
- Non-traditional work schedules
-
Warehouse Development
- Venture into warehouses and distribution center
- Hired from Wal-mart
-
Who You Calling a Bookstore? (Ch.10)
-
IMDb (Internet Movie Database)
- For future CD sales
-
PlanetAll
- Internet-based address book and calendar system
-
Junglee
- Shopping comparison site
- Evolved into Amazon Marketplace
-
The Crash (Ch.11)
- Warehouses were underutilized
- Stock plummeted
-
Changed focus to make a profit
- Building and Running websites for other businesses
-
Bezos Bets Big on the Kindle (Ch.12)
-
Lab126
- Developed the Kindle
- Owned by Amazon.com
-
Not the 1st to offer eBooks
- Too many flaws in the beginning
-
Unique display
- e-ink display
- Leads the market on e-readers
- Betting on Google not transitioning into retail
- Amazon Prime
-
Is Amazon Killing the Bookstore (Ch.13)
- Barnes & Noble has to close locations
- Competitors think Bezos is ruthless
-
Other retailers
- Wal-mart, etc.
-
Bezos View
- Low prices and new technology broaden the market, lower costs, and enable more purchases
-
Amazon's View
- Uses tactics to keep publisher's prices low
- No tax in states without a physical presence
-
Print-on-Demand
- Self-published authors
- Must be printed at Amazon CreateSpace Organization
-
A Cool Guy with a Funny Laugh (Ch.14)
- Concerned about his public image
- Infectious enthusiasm for Amazon.com
- Understands technology nuances
-
But What Kind of Manager is He? (Ch.15)
- Demanding, micro-manager
- Hyperactive
- Not very empathetic
-
Goofy, light side too
- Sense of camaraderie
- Cheap on many matters
-
Head in the Clouds (Ch.16)
-
Amazon Web Services
- Distribute content for other companies
-
Cloud Drive
- People can store files on Amazon's computer system
-
Step by Step, Courageously (Ch.17)
-
Blue Origin
- Space travel company
- Received a NASA grant for an astronaut escape system
-
Rules for Success
- 1. Obsess over customers
- 2. Invent; reinvent tenaciously, until you GET IT RIGHT!
- 3. Focus on long term
- 4. "It's always Day One!"