4 ms·

That's life. Companies make bets, hire people to execute, and when things don't work out, plans change and staffing sometimes need to adjust. No reason to bas

That's life. Companies make bets, hire people to execute, and when things don't work out, plans change and staffing sometimes need to adjust. No reason to bash Bezos for taking gambles. They certainly didn't risk the company.

IBM 11y ago
The entire bull case for AMZN is always "Amazon reinvests all their cash flow into the business" and "Bezos is focused on the long term". Why are they calling it quits already? The same is true for Google. So much lip service about moonshots and long term thinking and the new CFO comes in and talks about cost discipline and potentially capital return. Turns out dual class shares don't make you anymore 'long-term focused' than the next company.
- mehwoot 11y ago
  The entire bull case for AMZN is always "Amazon reinvests all their cash flow into the business" and "Bezos is focused on the long term". Why are they calling it quits already? Because they are investing their cash in the business, not just spending it. Investing means knowing when an investment is doing poorly and not throwing good money after bad.
  - IBM 11y ago
    Are you telling me that Amazon has written off the smartphone business, one of the most quickly adopted pieces of technology since the original PC and which has made Apple one of the most profitable businesses in the world, as an idea not worth pursuing anymore?
    - manigandham 11y ago
      That's certainly possible. Is that so hard to believe? The Kindle worked out, the Fire phone didnt. Maybe its just the phone models since they're still working on other devices. They also just became more valuable than Walmart. It seems like they know what they're doing, including cutting losses.
      - IBM 11y ago
        The Kindle worked out only after iteration. It was the same for Apple with the iPod and iPhone as well. Amazon has quit in the first inning because their phone wasn't an overnight success. If they were truly focused on the long-term they wouldn't be afraid to continue to invest in it.
        Crito 11y ago
        Kindle worked out right out of the gate. They dramatically underestimated the demand for the first Kindle. Certainly that first iteration looks like shit compared to modern iterations, but why would you expect otherwise? Arguably Bezos' unlikely success with Kindle made people give him the benefit of the doubt when they should not have. That was my take away anyway, from when I was working on Fire Phone (I left my team because of that project, and my experiences with it greatly contributed to my decision to leave the company).
    - Eric_WVGG 11y ago
      Why not? Microsoft is about to. The game is over. Apple won the money and Android/Google/Samsung/Xiaomi won the market-share.
    - CamperBob2 11y ago
      Thinking back to the dawn of the (post-IBM) PC era, an awful lot of companies went under trying to win a race to the bottom against IBM and Apple. Companies that refuse to indulge in "me, too" behavior in the smartphone era are probably making the right call.

IBM 11y ago

The entire bull case for AMZN is always "Amazon reinvests all their cash flow into the business" and "Bezos is focused on the long term". Why are they calling it quits already? The same is true for Google. So much lip service about moonshots and long term thinking and the new CFO comes in and talks about cost discipline and potentially capital return. Turns out dual class shares don't make you anymore 'long-term focused' than the next company.

mehwoot 11y ago
The entire bull case for AMZN is always "Amazon reinvests all their cash flow into the business" and "Bezos is focused on the long term". Why are they calling it quits already? Because they are investing their cash in the business, not just spending it. Investing means knowing when an investment is doing poorly and not throwing good money after bad.
- IBM 11y ago
  Are you telling me that Amazon has written off the smartphone business, one of the most quickly adopted pieces of technology since the original PC and which has made Apple one of the most profitable businesses in the world, as an idea not worth pursuing anymore?
  - manigandham 11y ago
    That's certainly possible. Is that so hard to believe? The Kindle worked out, the Fire phone didnt. Maybe its just the phone models since they're still working on other devices. They also just became more valuable than Walmart. It seems like they know what they're doing, including cutting losses.
    - IBM 11y ago
      The Kindle worked out only after iteration. It was the same for Apple with the iPod and iPhone as well. Amazon has quit in the first inning because their phone wasn't an overnight success. If they were truly focused on the long-term they wouldn't be afraid to continue to invest in it.
      - Crito 11y ago
        Kindle worked out right out of the gate. They dramatically underestimated the demand for the first Kindle. Certainly that first iteration looks like shit compared to modern iterations, but why would you expect otherwise? Arguably Bezos' unlikely success with Kindle made people give him the benefit of the doubt when they should not have. That was my take away anyway, from when I was working on Fire Phone (I left my team because of that project, and my experiences with it greatly contributed to my decision to leave the company).
  - Eric_WVGG 11y ago
    Why not? Microsoft is about to. The game is over. Apple won the money and Android/Google/Samsung/Xiaomi won the market-share.
  - CamperBob2 11y ago
    Thinking back to the dawn of the (post-IBM) PC era, an awful lot of companies went under trying to win a race to the bottom against IBM and Apple. Companies that refuse to indulge in "me, too" behavior in the smartphone era are probably making the right call.