An Amazon of inspiration: 3 things that make Jeff Bezos tick

(Image source: Inc.com)

Steve Jobs, Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg and Elon Musk are undoubtedly the rock stars of the tech and startup world. However, there’s another man who has rapidly advanced to become the richest man in the world: Jezz Bezos – founder and CEO of Amazon. And guess what? It has taken him only 24 years to achieve this feat. His fortune is now a gargantuan $150 billion dollars.

Here’s what makes this man tick:

Customers-first-competition-secondary policy

Many tech companies make the mistake of focusing on competition and not their customers. Such companies end up losing out on both, customers as well as competition. Jeff Bezos has always focused on his customers, be it the online retailing industry or Amazon’s Web Services. The latter started on the premise of building an eco-system of applications and web services for fast-emerging companies to compete on a level playing field.

Building entrepreneurs, not employees

Jeff Bezos believes in creating a culture that breeds ownership and entrepreneurship. That’s one major reason why Jeff Bezos believes in stock options rather than cash payouts to employees. It makes them think and feel like owners and entrepreneurs rather than just employees. At the same time, it makes them feel empowered to accomplish the vision and goals of Amazon.

 

Always hungry

Being the richest man in the world is no mean feat but at the same time it can also distract you and make you complacent. That word is not in Jeff Bezos’ dictionary as he’s still as hungry (if not more) as he was in 1994 when he started Amazon. He has redefined books with e-books and Kindle. He is now thinking not just out-of-the-box but out of the world, quite literally with his space program – Blue Origin. It even launched its 8th test flight this year successfully. Jeff Bezos considers this program as the most important work of his life because he feels it can make a difference to humanity for hundreds of years to come.