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That's not always the case. It is better to sit on cash than buy a business and have it be a flop. Everything has to be a calculated strategy, not simply a matt

That's not always the case. It is better to sit on cash than buy a business and have it be a flop. Everything has to be a calculated strategy, not simply a matter of buy everything and hope it works out for the best.

bonesss 8y ago
Nothing about Amazons growth suggests a 'buy it all and hope' mentality. Quite the opposite: Amazons strategic positioning in multiple aligned markets gives them a very real chance at creating significant sustained competitive advantages. Whole Foods 2030 is gonna be darned hard to compete with without your own cabal of smart app developers, AI assistants, world class delivery infrastructure, and a massive captive subscriber base. And that's before we consider value adds (get anything from Amazon along with your groceries, get your lifestyle groceries via subscriptions, buying whole coordinated lifestyle blocks of products), and, oh yeah, maybe the greatest logistical management system the world has ever seen. Amazon is making the undies of many a board member chocolate brown for good reason. Because of what Amazon is, Amazon can become very, very, scary in new markets in a short time.
- jjeaff 8y ago
  It will be darned hard to compete in the high end markets that whole foods serve. But big players like Walmart already have a strong hold in the lower end markets that won't be affected by whole foods.
- everdev 8y ago
  Yeah, if they get it right. Google, Apple, etc. have all stumbled trying to make a splash in a new market. They've of course had wild successes too. Seems premature to portray Whole Foods 2030 as practically unbeatable. There are so many things that need to go right and for Amazon as a company it'll be their first time in a large scale brick and mortar retail economy. Sure they could hit a home run but I don't think it's a guarantee.
  - yoshyosh 8y ago
    Definitely, and the only way to get there is to keep experimenting even at a large scale. I think Bezos mentions it quite a bit that a lot of larger companies don't get (because they are most of the time not founder controlled and run), as you get larger you have to make larger and larger bets.

bonesss 8y ago

Nothing about Amazons growth suggests a 'buy it all and hope' mentality. Quite the opposite: Amazons strategic positioning in multiple aligned markets gives them a very real chance at creating significant sustained competitive advantages. Whole Foods 2030 is gonna be darned hard to compete with without your own cabal of smart app developers, AI assistants, world class delivery infrastructure, and a massive captive subscriber base. And that's before we consider value adds (get anything from Amazon along with your groceries, get your lifestyle groceries via subscriptions, buying whole coordinated lifestyle blocks of products), and, oh yeah, maybe the greatest logistical management system the world has ever seen. Amazon is making the undies of many a board member chocolate brown for good reason. Because of what Amazon is, Amazon can become very, very, scary in new markets in a short time.

jjeaff 8y ago
It will be darned hard to compete in the high end markets that whole foods serve. But big players like Walmart already have a strong hold in the lower end markets that won't be affected by whole foods.
everdev 8y ago
Yeah, if they get it right. Google, Apple, etc. have all stumbled trying to make a splash in a new market. They've of course had wild successes too. Seems premature to portray Whole Foods 2030 as practically unbeatable. There are so many things that need to go right and for Amazon as a company it'll be their first time in a large scale brick and mortar retail economy. Sure they could hit a home run but I don't think it's a guarantee.
- yoshyosh 8y ago
  Definitely, and the only way to get there is to keep experimenting even at a large scale. I think Bezos mentions it quite a bit that a lot of larger companies don't get (because they are most of the time not founder controlled and run), as you get larger you have to make larger and larger bets.