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Jeff Bezos: Be a Missionary, Not a Mercenary. The Missionaries Make More Money Anyway.

By Jeff Bezos · Leadership · 1 min read

Bezos says missionaries build better products. Amazon was called amazon.toast, amazon.con, amazon.bomb in the first three years. He told all 150 employees — don't worry about competitors. They're never going to send us any money.

Key Points

Missionaries build better products than mercenaries — it's a mission, not just a business
Don't obsess over competitors. They're never going to send you any money. Obsess over customers.
Most businesses aren't zero-sum — nobody else has to fail for you to do well

You should wake up worried, terrified every morning. But don't be worried about competitors — they're never going to send us any money. Be worried about our customers.

A Mission Bigger Than the Company

Bezos: Right after World War II, Akio Morita — the guy who founded Sony — set a mission: make Japan known for quality. This was when Japan was known for cheap copycat products. He didn't say make Sony known for quality. He said make Japan known for quality. He chose a mission bigger than Sony.

We have a similar idea at Amazon. We want other companies to look at us as a standard bearer for obsessive focus on the customer — as opposed to obsessive focus on the competitor.

Morita didn't say make Sony known for quality. He said make Japan known for quality. A mission bigger than Sony.

Amazon.Toast

Bezos: We've been called amazon.toast, amazon.con, amazon.bomb — all in the first three years. Barnes & Noble had 30,000 employees. We had 150.

Every employee read the amazon.toast article. Every mother of every employee called and asked — are you okay? I called all 150 together and said — you should wake up worried, terrified every morning. But don't be worried about competitors. They're never going to send us any money anyway. Be worried about our customers. Stay heads down and focused.

Don't worry about competitors — they're never going to send us any money. Worry about customers.

It's Not Zero-Sum

Bezos: People think about business like a sporting event — there's a winner and a loser. It's not a zero-sum game. These are big markets. Nobody else has to fail for us to do well.

I think e-commerce is like that. I think ebooks are like that. There are going to be many winners. Our focus is going to be — we'll pay attention to competitors, but we're not going to obsess over them. We're going to obsess over readers.

Nobody else has to fail for us to do well. We're not going to obsess over competitors. We'll obsess over readers.

Missionaries Build Better Products

Bezos: It's not just a business for us. It's a mission for us. And missionaries build better products.

It's not just a business for us. It's a mission. Missionaries build better products.