Invent and Wander: The Collected Writings of Jeff Bezos, With an Introduction by Walter Isaacson

by Jeff Bezos, Walter Isaacson Narrated by L.J. Ganser

Overview

In Jeff Bezos's own words, the core principles and philosophy that have guided him in creating, building, and leading Amazon and Blue Origin.



In this collection of Jeff Bezos's writings-his unique and strikingly original annual shareholder letters, plus numerous speeches and interviews that provide insight into his background, his work, and the evolution of his ideas-you'll gain an insider's view of the why and how of his success. Spanning a range of topics across business and public policy, from innovation and customer obsession to climate change and outer space, this book provides a rare glimpse into how Bezos thinks about the world and where the future might take us.



Written in a direct, down-to-earth style, Invent and Wander offers listeners a master class in business values, strategy, and execution.



Each insight offers new ways of thinking through today's challenges-and more importantly, tomorrow's-and the never-ending urgency of striving ahead, never resting on one's laurels. Everyone from CEOs of the Fortune 100 to entrepreneurs just setting up shop to the millions who use Amazon's products and services in their homes or businesses will come to understand the principles that have driven the success of one of the most important innovators of our time.

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

A Wall Street Journal Bestseller

Kirkus Reviews

2020-09-10
Business writings from the richest man in the world.

In an admiring introduction, Walter Isaacson praises Bezos for his “insatiable, childlike, and joyful curiosity about almost everything.” A “voracious reader” who devoured science fiction—taking lessons, it seems, from Robert Heinlein in particular—Bezos has since become one of the leading private investors in space exploration. To get there, however, he had to forge a business empire that grew from 10 employees to 750,000 over the last quarter-century. In this collection of shareholder letters and occasional writings, Bezos immediately emerges as the kind of businessperson who clearly believes the maxim that if it can’t be measured, it can’t be managed. He’s a demon for quantification, noting, for instance, that over a seven-year period, Amazon’s “Frustration-Free Packaging Program” grew from 19 products to more than 400,000 and by 2015 had “eliminated tens of millions of pounds of excess packaging.” Corporate cheerleading is minimal compared to that sort of quantification, although a mantra is that investors should prefer “missionaries” over “mercenaries,” the latter of whom “are trying to flip their stock” while the former are “trying to build a great service.” Those with an interest in business history will find that charting the evolution of Amazon from annual letter to annual letter is a fascinating exercise in constant self-invention: The company began as a bookstore but always with an eye, as Bezos wrote in 1999, of becoming “a place where customers can come to find and discover anything and everything they might want to buy online.” Of ancillary interest are Bezos’ account of how he came to buy the Washington Post and his commitment, clearly inspired by that love of science fiction, to use some of his fortune to set the stage for building space colonies “that would be really pleasant places to live.”

Business students will find plenty of case studies to put to use.

Product Details

BN ID:	2940172969744
Publisher:	Ascent Audio
Publication date:	11/17/2020
Edition description:	Unabridged

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