7 ms·

I wonder if analysts have learned yet not to dismiss apparently crazy moves by Jeff Bezos.

by pg 15y ago

DigitalBison 15y ago
They'll probably never learn, but Jeff doesn't care: http://www.geekwire.com/2011/amazons-bezos-innovation http://www.geekwire.com/2011/amazons-bezos-innovation
- deleted 15y ago
  [deleted]
- aik 15y ago
  That's great, thanks for sharing. "Very importantly, we are willing to be misunderstood for long periods of time.... I believe if you don’t have that set of things in your corporate culture, then you can’t do large-scale invention. You can do incremental invention, which is critically important for any company. But it is very difficult — if you are not willing to be misunderstood. People will misunderstand you."
hyperbovine 15y ago
If they had they would probably be off running successful companies of their own instead of analyzing.
rbranson 15y ago
I'm sure the employees and shareholders in the know are taking it with stride -- in 6 months they'll look back and laugh.
nobody3141 15y ago
Crazy moves like "heavy spending on warehouses, data centers and digital-content offerings" An online store buying stock and building infrastructure !!!!! Crazy , they should be borrowing money and paying themselves bonuses before going bust - that's what Wall St wants
- jrockway 15y ago
  Wall Street share prices are not particularly high either.
  - eurohacker 15y ago
    yes, but management and insiders make money as always
- chugger 15y ago
  How about the $50 Amazon is losing per Kindle Fire sold?
  - tomkarlo 15y ago
    They haven't sold any yet.
  - srdev 15y ago
    Has that been confirmed? I've heard anywhere from $5 to $50, and its always been from analysists trying to estimate the cost from parts. As far as I know, the only people who really know how much the Kindle costs to make are Amazon.
    - cas 15y ago
      This piece gives a run down of all the analysts claims, with some calculating a $50 profit instead but as you can imagine none of it is substantiated. http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-20114722-93/amazon-kindle-fire-profit-or-loss-for-retailer/ http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-20114722-93/amazon-kindle-f...
      - srdev 15y ago
        Interesting. To summarize, it looks like the $50 loss comes from an analyst comparing it to the iPad, whereas the $50 profit claim comes from a firm comparing it to the more-similar BlackBerry Playbook. The research firm that did a tear-down estimated it at about a $10 loss. In other words, no-one really knows, but it looks like they're probably closer to breaking even than chugger claims. Chugger is taking the worst-case estimate here, and also the one that seems the most unsubstantiated. Thanks for the link.
brudgers 15y ago
Analysts work quarter to quarter - anything long term exceeds their horizon.
ajtaylor 15y ago
For years I though Bezos was crazy and that Amazon could never, ever repay all the billions it had raised/spent. I was so, so wrong... I wouldn't bet against Bezos.
- wisty 15y ago
  From all I've heard, Bezos is more "crazy like a fox" than Jobs was. There's a lot to hate about Amazon. Apparently, it's a totally caustic work environment, that's only making money because Bezos is such a brilliant strategist. Like A/B testing everything, before it was popular. Like telling everyone they need web APIs for everything they do, and will be fired if they use non-web APIs to other team's apps. Way to shove SOA down people's throats! The pay-off is modular systems. EC2. Margins will drop, but he'll make money on up-selling special Amazon services.
  - srdev 15y ago
    As with most big companies, whether its a caustic environment or not really depends on which team you're working for. The culture instilled by your manager or manager's manager is more powerful than the corporate culture as a whole.
    - gruseom 15y ago
      more powerful than the corporate culture as a whole My experience has been the opposite, that a deviant subculture can't survive for long and is eventually rejected by the host.
      - gujk 15y ago
        You really think JeffB is walking around interviewing thousands of individual contributors and line managers, and firing the ones who are nice to each other? Senior management creates a culture for middle management. Middle management decides how to transmute that into the lower management community.
        15y ago

I wonder if analysts have learned yet not to dismiss apparently crazy moves by Jeff Bezos.

by pg 15y ago

I wonder if analysts have learned yet not to dismiss apparently crazy moves by Jeff Bezos.

They'll probably never learn, but Jeff doesn't care: http://www.geekwire.com/2011/amazons-bezos-innovation http://www.geekwire.com/2011/amazons-bezos-innovation

deleted 15y ago
[deleted]
aik 15y ago
That's great, thanks for sharing. "Very importantly, we are willing to be misunderstood for long periods of time.... I believe if you don’t have that set of things in your corporate culture, then you can’t do large-scale invention. You can do incremental invention, which is critically important for any company. But it is very difficult — if you are not willing to be misunderstood. People will misunderstand you."

hyperbovine 15y ago

If they had they would probably be off running successful companies of their own instead of analyzing.

rbranson 15y ago

I'm sure the employees and shareholders in the know are taking it with stride -- in 6 months they'll look back and laugh.

nobody3141 15y ago

Crazy moves like "heavy spending on warehouses, data centers and digital-content offerings" An online store buying stock and building infrastructure !!!!! Crazy , they should be borrowing money and paying themselves bonuses before going bust - that's what Wall St wants

jrockway 15y ago
Wall Street share prices are not particularly high either.
- eurohacker 15y ago
  yes, but management and insiders make money as always
chugger 15y ago
How about the $50 Amazon is losing per Kindle Fire sold?
- tomkarlo 15y ago
  They haven't sold any yet.
- srdev 15y ago
  Has that been confirmed? I've heard anywhere from $5 to $50, and its always been from analysists trying to estimate the cost from parts. As far as I know, the only people who really know how much the Kindle costs to make are Amazon.
  - cas 15y ago
    This piece gives a run down of all the analysts claims, with some calculating a $50 profit instead but as you can imagine none of it is substantiated. http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-20114722-93/amazon-kindle-fire-profit-or-loss-for-retailer/ http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-20114722-93/amazon-kindle-f...
    - srdev 15y ago
      Interesting. To summarize, it looks like the $50 loss comes from an analyst comparing it to the iPad, whereas the $50 profit claim comes from a firm comparing it to the more-similar BlackBerry Playbook. The research firm that did a tear-down estimated it at about a $10 loss. In other words, no-one really knows, but it looks like they're probably closer to breaking even than chugger claims. Chugger is taking the worst-case estimate here, and also the one that seems the most unsubstantiated. Thanks for the link.

brudgers 15y ago

Analysts work quarter to quarter - anything long term exceeds their horizon.

ajtaylor 15y ago

For years I though Bezos was crazy and that Amazon could never, ever repay all the billions it had raised/spent. I was so, so wrong... I wouldn't bet against Bezos.

wisty 15y ago
From all I've heard, Bezos is more "crazy like a fox" than Jobs was. There's a lot to hate about Amazon. Apparently, it's a totally caustic work environment, that's only making money because Bezos is such a brilliant strategist. Like A/B testing everything, before it was popular. Like telling everyone they need web APIs for everything they do, and will be fired if they use non-web APIs to other team's apps. Way to shove SOA down people's throats! The pay-off is modular systems. EC2. Margins will drop, but he'll make money on up-selling special Amazon services.
- srdev 15y ago
  As with most big companies, whether its a caustic environment or not really depends on which team you're working for. The culture instilled by your manager or manager's manager is more powerful than the corporate culture as a whole.
  - gruseom 15y ago
    more powerful than the corporate culture as a whole My experience has been the opposite, that a deviant subculture can't survive for long and is eventually rejected by the host.
    - gujk 15y ago
      You really think JeffB is walking around interviewing thousands of individual contributors and line managers, and firing the ones who are nice to each other? Senior management creates a culture for middle management. Middle management decides how to transmute that into the lower management community.
      - 15y ago