Jeff Bezos
Creating Earth’s Largest Store, One Book at a Time
The Internet has impacted our lives in more ways than we can describe and yet we seldom know the names and faces behind the brands, products and services that made it all possible. Everyday, we check our email, buy gifts, track stock prices, read news articles and watch videos all thanks to a relatively few number of individuals who took the first leap into an unknown and unproven abyss. One of those individuals was a 30 year-old Harvard MBA who revolutionized the world of retail and in doing so became one of the first Internet billionaires. His name is Jeff Bezos and his company is Amazon.com. This is Jeff’s story, which chronicles his amazing path to fame and fortune as the founder of Amazon.com.
From Research Project to King of the Web
Due to the rapid growth of the Internet in the 1990s, we have seen an influx of web companies come and go over the years. Some were far too bent on turning a quick profit and failed to satisfy their customers. Others simply imitated already established companies, and because of their bland approach to business, they failed as well. But, somewhere in the mix of things emerged a few solid, innovative, and well developed ideas based around satisfying customer needs while generating a healthy profit.
Secrets of a Buccaneer-Scholar
I recently read a great book titled Secrets of a Buccaneer-Scholar: How Self-Education and the Pursuit of Passion Can Lead to a Lifetime of Success by James Marcus Bach. All I can say is: Wow! If you're even somewhat interested in what it means to be self-educated, you must read this. At just 193 pages, Bach does an excellent job of not just telling us, but showing us, that one can be successful in life without the compulsory school system.
As someone who was homeschooled (or unschooled) from the fourth grade and up, I can personally relate to Bach's message; that if learning is the goal, our best teacher is our own curiosity and the classroom is the world all around us.