Jeff Bezos, the founder of Amazon.com, Inc. AMZN and one of the world's most influential entrepreneurs, once opened up in an interview about why most people fail to follow through on business or invention ideas — and how a rare mix of traits helped him turn an online bookstore into a $1.97 trillion e-commerce empire.
What Happened: "Well, it’s hard work," Bezos said during the interview in 2011. "It's easy to have ideas — it's very hard to turn an idea into a successful product."
He underscored that while anyone can dream up a business, very few can navigate the long, grueling path of bringing that idea to life. According to Bezos, the secret lies in a powerful combination of what he calls "stubborn relentlessness" and "flexibility."
"You need to be stubborn on your vision because otherwise, it’ll be too easy to give up," he explained. "But you need to be very flexible on the details because as you go along pursuing your vision, you’ll find that some of your preconceptions were wrong and you’re going to need to be able to change those things."
Bezos added, "Taking an idea successfully all the way to the market and turning it into a real product that people care about — and that really improves people’s lives — is a lot of hard work."
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Why It's Important: Bezos didn't just talk the talk — he walked it all the way to Wall Street. After quitting his job at a New York investment firm, he drove cross-country to Seattle to launch Amazon from his garage in 1994.
The first product sold? A science textbook titled Fluid Concepts & Creative Analogies: Computer Models of the Fundamental Mechanisms of Thought.
Amazon went public on May 15, 1997, with a share price of $18 and a valuation of around $300 million. Today, the company is worth over $1.97 trillion and has expanded far beyond books, offering everything from groceries to streaming content and cloud services.
Investors who put $1,000 into Amazon stock at its IPO and held on would now have about $1.86 million, thanks to stock splits and the company's meteoric rise.
Over the past five years, Amazon shares have gained 56.62%. However, the stock has slipped 1.25% over the past 12 months and is down 15.38% so far this year, according to Benzinga Pro.
Bezos currently has a net worth of $209 billion, making him the third wealthiest person in the world after Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg, according to the Bloomberg Billionaire Index.
Amazon boasts a strong growth score of 94.12% in the Benzinga Edge Stock Rankings. Click here to compare its performance with other top e-commerce competitors.
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Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of Benzinga Neuro and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors.
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