According to Bezos, it is more straightforward to assess management success based on inputs under their control. While Amazon values financial outputs, the company spends 100% of its time on inputs. For the last two decades, this manifesto has been included in every single shareholder letter! After reading these letters, it’s clear that the fundamentals of Amazon’s business model have remained constant throughout its entire life He promised that decisions would be made with a long-term perspective and a focus on market leadership in mind. Jeff Bezos issued a manifesto titled ‘It’s all about the long term’ in his 1997 shareholder letter, outlining his approach to business and running Amazon. ‘Entrepreneurs must be willing to be misunderstood for long periods.’ Here are five main takeaways that I learned from Jeff Bezos that could make us all a better investor or entrepreneur.
I recently read through all of Jeff Bezos’ annual shareholder letters to stockholders since 1997, which described Amazon’s journey of more than two decades of making it to the top as one of the best businesses. But Amazon’s core values have remained true to its roots since its inception in 1994. Amazon did not make a profit for the first six years, but it is now one of the most valuable corporations globally, with a market capitalisation of nearly US$2 trillion.Īmazon has gone from selling books online to launching Marketplace, Prime, and the game-changing AWS business.