5 ms·

Jeff Bezos' Guide to Life

24 points by blacksoil 9y ago

kogepathic 9y ago
Can we add (2017) to the title? This has been posted before: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15681256 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15681256
HyperMassive 9y ago
I wonder what the motivations are behind public engagement like this? I have no idea whether Mr Bezos is a nice bloke or not; but unfortunately for him being the most richest man in the world means most people have a somewhat negative disposition towards him. for example this quote from the article "And finally, his most ridiculous quote of the talk" paints him as some sort of a disconnected member of high society (and perhap he is) but going from the previous quotes he seems quite well adjusted. I swear this is becoming more and more common. ... and well, I am more than capable of forming opinions on my own.
- drukenemo 9y ago
  "for him being the most richest man in the world means most people have a somewhat negative disposition towards him." or maybe Amazon's terrible and terrifying company culture and his behaviour adds to that a little bit too?
  - HyperMassive 9y ago
    aye ok, perhaps it IS justified. But the interview didnt actually touch on anything of the sort, yet the author is attempting to ridicule him. -remarkable man does unremarkable interview yet the outcome is "what is this elistist douchebro gonna do next?"
comboy 9y ago
> "Jeff and his wife let their kids use sharp knives since they were four (...) I’d much rather have a kid with nine fingers than a resourceless kid.” Interesting. My thinking would be more along the lines of "you can still learn to be resourceful when you're 30, but the finger is gone for good". Of course I'm aware it's not easy to rewire your brain. Plus, you know, not everything is as disposable as a finger.
- coldtea 9y ago
  >you can still learn to be resourceful when you're 30 Not really, especially if you haven't had the encouragement when young. >Plus, you know, not everything is as disposable as a finger. The trick is not that it's disposable, but that only if you're willing to treat it as such you'll overcome fear. It's not like for astronauts, or sailors, or whoever does anything dangerous, that their lives are disposables.
- romanovcode 9y ago
  I read it as "I really want to look like a bad-ass"
  - gcb0 9y ago
    the cynic in me says it's a well constructed narrative crafted by his PR because the last surveys showed that his enterprises are not getting as much interest from investors because they consider Bezos "boring" and too "safe". which would also explain why I'm having to see this crap show up in several forms every two weeks on HN
    - romanovcode 9y ago
      You are most likely correct.
- majjam 9y ago
  Reminds me of a Terry Pratchett quote from The Hogfather: “You can't give her that!' she screamed. 'It's not safe!' IT'S A SWORD, said the Hogfather. THEY'RE NOT MEANT TO BE SAFE. 'She's a child!' shouted Crumley. IT'S EDUCATIONAL. 'What if she cuts herself?' THAT WILL BE AN IMPORTANT LESSON.”
  - andyjohnson0 9y ago
    I know that Pratchett had important things to say, but also this was written for comedic effect. In reality there is is clearly a continuum between "swaddle them in cotton wool" and "give them power tools and let them learn", and nether extreme is very desirable.
donquichotte 9y ago
When reading interviews like this I often fall into the mental trap of thinking: "if I do everything like this guy, I'll be just as successful!" Of course, this is not true. To become hugely successful, one must in the right place at the right time and do the right thing. A large part of it is luck (or so I like telling myself), so "advice" from very successful people is just like a lottery winner's advice on how to choose the numbers.
- Scea91 9y ago
  Your analogy (quite common on HN) is bad because it totally disregards the weight of luck in these two situations.
  - coldtea 9y ago
    Exactly. Lottery winners are multiple, week in, week out, in each country. Multi-billion entrepreneurs remain 200 or so in 8 billion for years. So it's hugely less probable. And I'm fairly sure IQ and DNA and work ethic is not that different between 8 billion people to account for such huge a skew in outcomes. In fact we know that IQ is a regular bell curve (and Bezos or Jobs) are nowhere near its upper right limits. In fact, I'm willing to bet that people with higher IQ, better work ethic and better education than multi-billionaires that are not multi-billionaires. So it's either some mystical "being good in entrepreneurship" skill (which is tautological way to say their good in business because they're good in business) that they possess, or luck plays a huge role in their ascend.
- SmellyGeekBoy 9y ago
  Like many HN readers I find biographies and founder's stories absolutely fascinating but treating them as anything other than success porn is setting yourself up for a major disappointment, IMO.
- Jedd 9y ago
  Or as Scott Adams observed: "Beware the advice of successful people -- they do not seek company."
andyjohnson0 9y ago
> “We have to go to space to save earth” Jeff says, noting “we kind of have to hurry.” Still, he believes Plan A and Plan B both need to be protecting the environment of Earth to keep it livable. “We’ve sent robotic probes to every planet in our solar system. This one is the best. It’s not even close.” Anyone know more about his reasoning here. Is this asteroid/comet impact protection or something else?
RickJWagner 9y ago
Nice article.

24 points by blacksoil 9y ago

Can we add (2017) to the title? This has been posted before: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15681256 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15681256

HyperMassive 9y ago

I wonder what the motivations are behind public engagement like this? I have no idea whether Mr Bezos is a nice bloke or not; but unfortunately for him being the most richest man in the world means most people have a somewhat negative disposition towards him. for example this quote from the article "And finally, his most ridiculous quote of the talk" paints him as some sort of a disconnected member of high society (and perhap he is) but going from the previous quotes he seems quite well adjusted. I swear this is becoming more and more common. ... and well, I am more than capable of forming opinions on my own.

drukenemo 9y ago
"for him being the most richest man in the world means most people have a somewhat negative disposition towards him." or maybe Amazon's terrible and terrifying company culture and his behaviour adds to that a little bit too?
- HyperMassive 9y ago
  aye ok, perhaps it IS justified. But the interview didnt actually touch on anything of the sort, yet the author is attempting to ridicule him. -remarkable man does unremarkable interview yet the outcome is "what is this elistist douchebro gonna do next?"

comboy 9y ago

> "Jeff and his wife let their kids use sharp knives since they were four (...) I’d much rather have a kid with nine fingers than a resourceless kid.” Interesting. My thinking would be more along the lines of "you can still learn to be resourceful when you're 30, but the finger is gone for good". Of course I'm aware it's not easy to rewire your brain. Plus, you know, not everything is as disposable as a finger.

coldtea 9y ago
>you can still learn to be resourceful when you're 30 Not really, especially if you haven't had the encouragement when young. >Plus, you know, not everything is as disposable as a finger. The trick is not that it's disposable, but that only if you're willing to treat it as such you'll overcome fear. It's not like for astronauts, or sailors, or whoever does anything dangerous, that their lives are disposables.
romanovcode 9y ago
I read it as "I really want to look like a bad-ass"
- gcb0 9y ago
  the cynic in me says it's a well constructed narrative crafted by his PR because the last surveys showed that his enterprises are not getting as much interest from investors because they consider Bezos "boring" and too "safe". which would also explain why I'm having to see this crap show up in several forms every two weeks on HN
  - romanovcode 9y ago
    You are most likely correct.
majjam 9y ago
Reminds me of a Terry Pratchett quote from The Hogfather: “You can't give her that!' she screamed. 'It's not safe!' IT'S A SWORD, said the Hogfather. THEY'RE NOT MEANT TO BE SAFE. 'She's a child!' shouted Crumley. IT'S EDUCATIONAL. 'What if she cuts herself?' THAT WILL BE AN IMPORTANT LESSON.”
- andyjohnson0 9y ago
  I know that Pratchett had important things to say, but also this was written for comedic effect. In reality there is is clearly a continuum between "swaddle them in cotton wool" and "give them power tools and let them learn", and nether extreme is very desirable.

donquichotte 9y ago

When reading interviews like this I often fall into the mental trap of thinking: "if I do everything like this guy, I'll be just as successful!" Of course, this is not true. To become hugely successful, one must in the right place at the right time and do the right thing. A large part of it is luck (or so I like telling myself), so "advice" from very successful people is just like a lottery winner's advice on how to choose the numbers.

Scea91 9y ago
Your analogy (quite common on HN) is bad because it totally disregards the weight of luck in these two situations.
- coldtea 9y ago
  Exactly. Lottery winners are multiple, week in, week out, in each country. Multi-billion entrepreneurs remain 200 or so in 8 billion for years. So it's hugely less probable. And I'm fairly sure IQ and DNA and work ethic is not that different between 8 billion people to account for such huge a skew in outcomes. In fact we know that IQ is a regular bell curve (and Bezos or Jobs) are nowhere near its upper right limits. In fact, I'm willing to bet that people with higher IQ, better work ethic and better education than multi-billionaires that are not multi-billionaires. So it's either some mystical "being good in entrepreneurship" skill (which is tautological way to say their good in business because they're good in business) that they possess, or luck plays a huge role in their ascend.
SmellyGeekBoy 9y ago
Like many HN readers I find biographies and founder's stories absolutely fascinating but treating them as anything other than success porn is setting yourself up for a major disappointment, IMO.
Jedd 9y ago
Or as Scott Adams observed: "Beware the advice of successful people -- they do not seek company."

andyjohnson0 9y ago

> “We have to go to space to save earth” Jeff says, noting “we kind of have to hurry.” Still, he believes Plan A and Plan B both need to be protecting the environment of Earth to keep it livable. “We’ve sent robotic probes to every planet in our solar system. This one is the best. It’s not even close.” Anyone know more about his reasoning here. Is this asteroid/comet impact protection or something else?

RickJWagner 9y ago

Nice article.