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Because that's where 10x growth might be. For every company that uses directly uses AWS, there are countless companies that don't get or need AWS directly but r

Because that's where 10x growth might be. For every company that uses directly uses AWS, there are countless companies that don't get or need AWS directly but really need a CMS, CRM, VOIP, groupware, Helpdesk, Callcenter, etc. If anyone can build on top of Amazon's platform, it's Amazon.

qeternity 10y ago
Sure, just as it was for the 49ers. Your keyword there is "might". But there's a huge failure rate. It's the same statistics that VCs face. Amazon is in a place to sell premium products to nearly 100% of the market, at really low risk.
- nebabyte 10y ago
  If Amazon had governed its growth by deciding just to stay at where it "is", it'd still just be an online bookseller. And you'd be asking "why should they move into digital services? They're in a unique position to sell books online with low risk." Amazon has the potential to distupt nearly any service it wants to. The "risk" analysis and assessment is something they can handle - besides, the "riskier" applications they can just bide their time on and see how/whether they pan out for competition. Anything Amazon can undercut by having a wider service available on its platform, is just another bag of money they'd be leaving sitting on the table. And Amazon doesn't leave money on the table.
  - qeternity 10y ago
    AWS was already low risk, since they started with idle platform capacity that they needed to have for holiday shopping bursts. You're proving my point. They go for very asymmetric return profiles. Selling books online is exactly the same. Using expensive retail space to sell goods that have few good substitutes between them is a really dumb proposition. The market for books was well established, so that wasn't risky. Don't get me wrong, it's brilliant thinking and opportunity seeking. But it is not moonshot behavior.
    - maxwell 10y ago
      "Real applications" (someone named off CMS, CRM, VoIP, groupware, helpdesk, and callcenter software above) hardly seem like moonshots.
      - tgjsrkghruksd 10y ago
        Right, it's not like Amazon doesn't have big spend on all of these things for itself.
      - qeternity 10y ago
        The implication from OP is that those aren't "real applications". They are merely following in AWS footsteps ("hey, we had to build this anyway...maybe there's a 3rd party market for it").

qeternity 10y ago

Sure, just as it was for the 49ers. Your keyword there is "might". But there's a huge failure rate. It's the same statistics that VCs face. Amazon is in a place to sell premium products to nearly 100% of the market, at really low risk.

nebabyte 10y ago
If Amazon had governed its growth by deciding just to stay at where it "is", it'd still just be an online bookseller. And you'd be asking "why should they move into digital services? They're in a unique position to sell books online with low risk." Amazon has the potential to distupt nearly any service it wants to. The "risk" analysis and assessment is something they can handle - besides, the "riskier" applications they can just bide their time on and see how/whether they pan out for competition. Anything Amazon can undercut by having a wider service available on its platform, is just another bag of money they'd be leaving sitting on the table. And Amazon doesn't leave money on the table.
- qeternity 10y ago
  AWS was already low risk, since they started with idle platform capacity that they needed to have for holiday shopping bursts. You're proving my point. They go for very asymmetric return profiles. Selling books online is exactly the same. Using expensive retail space to sell goods that have few good substitutes between them is a really dumb proposition. The market for books was well established, so that wasn't risky. Don't get me wrong, it's brilliant thinking and opportunity seeking. But it is not moonshot behavior.
  - maxwell 10y ago
    "Real applications" (someone named off CMS, CRM, VoIP, groupware, helpdesk, and callcenter software above) hardly seem like moonshots.
    - tgjsrkghruksd 10y ago
      Right, it's not like Amazon doesn't have big spend on all of these things for itself.
    - qeternity 10y ago
      The implication from OP is that those aren't "real applications". They are merely following in AWS footsteps ("hey, we had to build this anyway...maybe there's a 3rd party market for it").