I’m reading The Everything Store by Brad Stone right now. It details the start and growth of Amazon from an online bookseller into a gigantic tech company.
What made Amazon so much more than just another online retailer was the consistent focus on adding new capabilities.
They did books well, so they added toys, then music.
They learned how to do shipping and fulfillment well so they started running online sales for other companies and then independent sellers.
They learned how to create online infrastructure for their own projects and then realized that it would be a valuable resource to others, so they created AWS.
They started from scratch and learned how to make hardware to create the Kindle and maintain their position as the bookseller for the 21st century.
Now they are creating checkout-less stores and mastering grocery delivery.
They never stop getting better at the things they do and they never stop developing new capabilities.
Amazon was able to succeed because they were continually adding on to their capabilities, which helped them bring in more customers, which helped them sell more product and lower prices.
They weren’t haphazard about the new capabilities they developed. Each successful new area played well on their previous strengths and their customers and even then many attempts failed, but they never stopped trying new things. As a result, the company was constantly evolving and learning.
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