Amazon's stock market value will reportedly reach 30 times its current level.
In the garage where it all began, Amazon, now one of the world's largest corporations, was founded by Jeff Bezos in 1998. The company's humble origins are rich with surprising and interesting stories that highlight its chaotic growth, unique culture, and the elements that shaped its future success.
During Amazon's startup phase, a literal bell or alert would signal a new customer order on the website. This simple yet effective system was crucial for motivating the small team and reinforcing the excitement of each sale as it came in during those early days when every order counted. This practice, part of Amazon's lore, symbolised direct customer engagement and rapid iteration from its founding in 1994–1995.
The holiday season, particularly the first Christmas in 1998, tested Amazon's logistical abilities to the limit. With an explosion of orders, Bezos and his wife MacKenzie personally worked packing books and making post office trips to fulfil orders. This hands-on effort during peak seasons underscored how scrappy and labor-intensive the operation was.
Amazon's early days were marked by a strong culture of cost-consciousness and innovation. Desks were made out of doors, and the company operated out of a rented garage with concrete floors and humming servers. The company's original name choices, such as "Cadabra" and "Relentless.com", reflect Bezos's relentless approach to business growth.
Bezos always envisioned Amazon expanding beyond books, aiming for an "everything store," which shaped their diverse product range over time. An interesting side story is the company's original name choices: Bezos first named it "Cadabra" but switched to "Amazon" because of the association with a large river and the advantage of alphabetic listing starting with "A". The domain name "Relentless.com" was also registered early on and still redirects to Amazon’s site.
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While Amazon offers a variety of products, it does not sell cars, houses, cigarettes, or real animals. Interestingly, a bite guard to help with teeth grinding is the most frequently wished-for product on Amazon wishlists and wedding registries.
These narratives show Amazon's beginnings as a small, customer-obsessed startup propelled by Bezos’s vision, frugality, and willingness to embrace chaos and learning on the fly, all of which seeded its future success as a global ecommerce powerhouse.
The simple system of a bell signaling a new customer order on Amazon's website served as a motivational tool for the small team during the startup phase, emphasizing the importance of each sale due to the company's cost-consciousness and rapid growth.
During the first Christmas season in 1998, Amazon's logistical abilities were tested, with Bezos and his wife packing books and making post office trips to meet the demand for products, underscoring the scrappy and labor-intensive nature of the operation during peak periods.
