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Probably a combination of good pitch / persuasion, first impression of the guy/gal pitching you, and the product itself. Also, keep in mind, Jeff came from a h

Probably a combination of good pitch / persuasion, first impression of the guy/gal pitching you, and the product itself. Also, keep in mind, Jeff came from a hedge fund, having worked/analyzed the (then) internet and consumer market - so it seems he had more than a hunch of its potential. And the fact that he was a tech guy (before banking), probably meant he could easily talk their language - in technical terms.

PaulDavisThe1st 6y ago
This is all true, but I think also irrelevant. We built Amazon without convincing anyone that Jeff was right, other than the sort of people mentioned in the article. By the time he started reaching out for VC money (Kleiner Perkins, but also Nick Hanauer who wasn't really VC), it was clear to anyone with half a brain that there was a sensible investment to be made. I remember that not long after we "opened the doors" to the public, we had a visit from some reps from either Ingram or Baker & Taylor, the US's two biggest book distributors (I forget which). Part of the reason Jeff had picked Seattle was that it was within the 1 day delivery radius for both companies. These guys came over to see what we were doing and they were completely flabbergasted. They could not believe that a few people in a small commercial building in Seattle had built what we had already done by that point. They had no idea of the technologies involved, they had no grasp of the vision. But we never had to convince companies like this - we just ordered books from them, as their customers, and then sold them to ours.