Nearly 50 years on from the original “Stanford Marshmallow Experiment”, a study into the effects of delaying gratification in children, another example of how having a longer term focus has it’s benefits smacks us in the face.
With Jeff Bezos formally stepping down from his role as the CEO of Amazon on 5th July it gave us an opportunity to look back on what he has created since incorporating the company, coincidentally, on the 5th July 1994.
More than a quarter-century ago today a new company based in Seattle launched a website immodestly claiming to be “earth’s biggest bookstore”.
Audacious? Maybe, but hindsight shows it to be a testament to Founder, Jeff Bezos’s relentless focus on long-term growth. What was a presumptuous statement then is an understatement now and in just two and half decades Amazon, is not only the biggest bookstore on earth but arguably the biggest store!
“When you look at our financial results, what you’re actually seeing are the long-run cumulative results of invention”
As Jeff turns his head to space, more importantly his first flight into space via his Blue Origin business, under Bezos’ leadership, the innovation and wealth created by his long-term vision for Amazon has been nothing less than outstanding. “When you look at our financial results, what you’re actually seeing are the long-run cumulative results of invention,” Bezos recently said at the announcement of his stepping down…if Amazon’s financial results really are “the long-run cumulative results of invention”, there must have been some good inventions along the way.
