TABLE OF CONTENT
Choosing the right partner was important to Jeff Bezos' success
Avoiding multitasking to be successful
Knowing where your talents are
Opting for adventure over ease
Cofounder, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
Think critically about your success
Cofounder, Chairman and CEO, Facebook
7. CHAPTER 5: Carlos Slim Helu
Honorary Chairman, America Movil SAB de CV (ADR)
Carlos Slim Helu Exclusive Interview
Full Transcript of Charles Koch's Interview with Fortune
According to an article in FastCompany, "Why Most Venture Backed Companies Fail," 75 percent of venture-backed startups fail. This statistic is based on a Harvard Business School study by Shikhar Ghosh. In a study by Statistic Brain, Startup Business Failure Rate by Industry, the failure rate of all U.S. companies after five years was over 50 percent, and over 70 percent after 10 years. But these men have been in business for decades and have maintained consistent success.
- How did they do it?
- What’s their philosophy about business?
- What do you do when you’re faced with overwhelming business challenges?
- How do you become your competitor’s inspiration?
Emerge (Vol. 2) answers these and many more questions.
Recently, Forbes released the rank of World’s Billionaires which are stated below
RANK |
NAME |
NET WORTH |
CHANGE |
AGE |
SOURCE |
#1 |
$140.1 B |
$0 |
54 |
Amazon |
|
#2 |
$92.2 B |
$3 M |
62 |
Microsoft |
|
#3 |
$80.6 B |
$0 |
87 |
Berkshire Hathaway |
|
#4 |
$77.3 B |
$587 M | -0.8% |
69 |
Lvmh |
|
#5 |
$73.7 B |
$0 |
34 |
||
#7 |
$62.8 B |
$34 M | -0.1% |
78 |
Telecom |
|
#8 |
$54.5 B |
$0 |
73 |
Software |
These seven (7) successful tycoons shared the story of their journey to the top, the challenges, quotes and philosophy about business. Most of what you will read here may not be new to you, while some could be new and enlightening.
It’s not about what you read, but what you do with what you read. This work is a collection that will definitely reposition you for excellence and success in your business. I will advise you to have a to-do list while reading to enable you personalize everything therein.
Enjoy!
Okorie, Stephen Odum
JEFF BEZOS
CEO and Founder, Amazon.com
Real Time Net Worth — as of 6/10/18 - $138.8 B
2018 Billionaires Net Worth — as of 3/6/18 - $112 B
Jeff Bezos Advice
“Your brand is what other people say about you when you’re not in the room.”
“You have to be willing to be misunderstood if you’re going to innovate.”
“One of the only ways to get out of a tight box is to invent your way out.”
“I knew that if I failed I wouldn’t regret that, but I knew the one thing I might regret is not trying.”
“A company shouldn’t get addicted to being shiny because shiny doesn’t last.”
“If you do build a great experience, customers tell each other about that. Word of mouth is very powerful.”
“If you don’t understand the details of your business you are going to fail.”
“There are two kinds of companies – those that work to raise process and those that work to lower them.”
“The common question that gets asked in business is, why? That’s a good question, but an equally valid question is why not?”
“A brand for a company is like a reputation for a person. You earn reputation by trying to do hard things well.”
“The best customer service is if the customer doesn’t need to call you, doesn’t need to talk to you, it just works.”
“If you make customers unhappy in the physical world, they might each tell 6 friends. If you make customers unhappy on the internet, they can each tell 6,000 friends.”
“In business, what’s dangerous is not to evolve.”
“There’ll always be serendipity involved in discovery.”
“Kindness is a choice.”
“If you’re not stubborn, you’ll give up on experiments too soon. And if you’re not flexible, you’ll pound your head against the wall and you won’t see a different solution to a problem you’re trying to solve.”
“We have focused like a laser on customer experience, and that really does matter.”
“Frugality drives innovation.”
“We see our customers as invited guests to a party, and we are the hosts. It’s our job every day to make every important aspect of the customer experience a little bit better.”
“Keep our competitors focused on us, while we stay focused on the customer.”
“Invention by its very nature is disruptive.”
“The people who are right a lot, often change their minds.”
“The thing that motivates me is a very common form of motivation. And that is, with other folks counting on me, it’s so easy to be motivated.”
“If you never want to be criticized, for goodness sake don’t do anything new.”
“If you want to be inventive, you have to be willing to fail.”
“When the world changes around you and when it changes against you, what used to be a tail wind is now a head wind, you have to lean into that and figure out what to do because complaining isn’t a strategy.”
“If you’re competitor-focused, you have to wait until there is a competitor doing something. Being customer-focused allows you to be more pioneering.”
“Patience, persistence, and obsessive attention to detail.”
“What we need to do is always look into the future.”
“Are you lazy or just incompetent?”
“We expect all our businesses to have a positive impact on our top and bottom lines. Profitability is very important to us or we wouldn’t be in this business.”
“It’s not an experiment if you know it’s going to work.”
“The human brain is an incredible pattern-matching machine.”
“Obsess about customers, not competitors.”
“It’s hard to find things that won’t sell online.”
“Be stubborn on vision but flexible on details.”
“One of the huge mistakes people make is that they try to force an interest on themselves. You don’t choose your passions. Your passions choose you.”
“If you decide that you’re going to do only the things you know are going to work, you’re going to leave a lot of opportunity on the table.”
“Life’s too short to hang out with people who aren’t resourceful.”
“Work hard, have fun, and make history.”
“My own view is that every company requires a long-term view.”
“Part of company culture is path-dependent – it’s the lessons you learn along the way.”
“We’ve had three big ideas at Amazon that we’ve stuck with for 18 years, and they’re the reason we’re successful: Put the customer first. Invent. And be patient.”
“I strongly believe that missionaries make better products. They care more. For a missionary, it’s not just about the business. There has to be a business, and the business has to make sense, but that’s not why you do it. You do it because you have something meaningful that motivates you.”
“Position yourself with something that captures your curiosity, something that you’re missionary about.”
Jeff Bezos Exclusive Interview
During an interview at the ideas festival Summit LA17, in Los Angeles in November, Bezos divulged some of the secrets to his insane fame and fortune. TechCrunch posted tidbits from the conversation; below, we've rounded up the highlights.
Jeff and MacKenzie Bezos have been married 24 years. They met when Bezos interviewed MacKenzie at investment management firm D.E. Shaw.
After a series of blind dates with other people, Bezos said he knew he'd found his life partner when he saw that MacKenzie was resourceful. "I wanted someone who could get me out of a third-world prison," he said at the conference.
“When I have dinner with friends or family, I like to be doing whatever I'm doing," Bezos said. "I don't like to multi-task. If I'm reading my email I want to be reading my email" with his full attention and energy.
Indeed, scientists say only about 2% of the population is capable of multitasking. As for the rest of us, trying to do too much at once generally backfires.