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I just finished reading The Everything Store a few weeks ago, an eye-opening book that deep dives into the history of both Amazon and Bezos. I don't think there

I just finished reading The Everything Store a few weeks ago, an eye-opening book that deep dives into the history of both Amazon and Bezos. I don't think there's any chance that Bezos and crew haven't done the math on this part of their business. They have an extremely detailed understanding of what makes Amazon tick, and cutting costs is an absolutely crucial part of that equation. Ethically, I agree with you. They shouldn't treat their employees like shit. Some things are worth more than money. But financially, it's 100% untrue that Amazon would be more valuable if they focused on employee happiness over cutting costs. It's not an accident that Amazon generates more revenue than any other Internet company in existence.

coldtea 9y ago
>But financially, it's 100% untrue that Amazon would be more valuable if they focused on employee happiness over cutting costs. It's not an accident that Amazon generates more revenue than any other Internet company in existence. Or it very well could be (an accident). Survivorship bias and all...
- csallen 9y ago
  That's a possibility, yes, but I think Amazon's success is too extreme a case for an accident to be the most likely explanation. If it was merely a "decent" success or a "pretty good" success, then yeah, but it's many orders of magnitude beyond that, in a very cutthroat industry. To get to this point, the company has had to consistently make aggressive, unintuitive, massively beneficial decisions, many dozens of times per year over several decades. Imagine Lebron James — Could he just be lucky every play he goes out onto the court? It's possible. But I'd say the more likely explanation is he knows what he's doing. He's got a fundamental understanding, an underlying theory, and a set of skills that map well to reality and give him an edge that contributes to his success. So does Amazon.
ReverseCold 9y ago
"Amazon generates more revenue than any other Internet company in existence." Isn't that because Amazon is (practically) the only one selling actual "stuff" that always has a value? Everyone else is (big # of users) * (small profit/user by selling ads or whatever), Amazon is (big # of users) * (big profit/user and also selling data).

coldtea 9y ago

>But financially, it's 100% untrue that Amazon would be more valuable if they focused on employee happiness over cutting costs. It's not an accident that Amazon generates more revenue than any other Internet company in existence. Or it very well could be (an accident). Survivorship bias and all...

csallen 9y ago
That's a possibility, yes, but I think Amazon's success is too extreme a case for an accident to be the most likely explanation. If it was merely a "decent" success or a "pretty good" success, then yeah, but it's many orders of magnitude beyond that, in a very cutthroat industry. To get to this point, the company has had to consistently make aggressive, unintuitive, massively beneficial decisions, many dozens of times per year over several decades. Imagine Lebron James — Could he just be lucky every play he goes out onto the court? It's possible. But I'd say the more likely explanation is he knows what he's doing. He's got a fundamental understanding, an underlying theory, and a set of skills that map well to reality and give him an edge that contributes to his success. So does Amazon.

ReverseCold 9y ago

"Amazon generates more revenue than any other Internet company in existence." Isn't that because Amazon is (practically) the only one selling actual "stuff" that always has a value? Everyone else is (big # of users) * (small profit/user by selling ads or whatever), Amazon is (big # of users) * (big profit/user and also selling data).