Friday, 10 July 2020 05:30

Jeff Bezos: This experience growing up ‘really made a big impression on me’

Rate this item
(0 votes)

Taylor Locke

“Constraints breed resourcefulness, self-sufficiency, and invention,” reads one of Amazon’s famous core leadership principles delineated on its website.

This, one of the major tenets upon which Jeff Bezos built Amazon, is something he learned as a kid spending more than a dozen summers on working on his grandfather’s ranch in Texas.

“I learned so much from my grandfather because he was – and I think this is true of many people in rural areas – very self-reliant [and] very resourceful,” Bezos said during a fireside chat in India in January 14. “They can get things done on their own.”

“That kind of self-reliance really made a big impression on me,” Bezos said.

Bezos and his grandfather did everything from building fences to fixing equipment themselves.

His grandfather would even “suture up” the animals on the ranch with homemade needles. “He would take a piece of wire, heat it with a blowtorch to pound it until it’s thin, drill a little hole in the end and sharpen it,” Bezos said. “Some of the animals even survived – it was incredible.”

The experience showed Bezos that “when things don’t work, you have to back up and try again. Each time you back up and try again, you’re using your resourcefulness, you’re using self-reliance,” Bezos said at a Summit conference in 2017. “You’re trying to invent your way out of a box.”

Those principles have served Bezos and Amazon well: on Monday, the company’s stock price surpassed $3,000 for the first time, and Bezos, the richest man in the world, has a net worth of $178 billion, according to Bloomberg.

“It’s that resourcefulness of trying new things, clearing things out and seeing what customers really want,” he said in 2017. “It really pays off....”

 

CNBC

January 02, 2025

NewsScroll analysis: Nigerian stock market soars in Naira but falters in dollar terms amid economic…

The Nigerian stock market achieved a robust 37.65% return in 2024, marking another year of…
January 03, 2025

Tinubu spent 180 days abroad in 19 months of presidency - Peter Obi

Peter Obi, the 2023 Labor Party presidential candidate, stated Thursday that President Bola Tinubu has…
January 04, 2025

How to read people like a book, according to body language experts

Alan England Have you ever wanted to know what someone’s thinking, or what their motives…
January 04, 2025

Shy man cuts off 4 fingers instead of telling boss he wanted to quit his…

A 32-year-old Indian man admitted to cutting off four fingers on his left hand to…
December 27, 2024

Christmas Day attack on Benue community claims 11 lives

At least 11 people have been reportedly killed in Tor Azege community in Kwande Local…
January 04, 2025

What to know after Day 1045 of Russia-Ukraine war

WESTERN PERSPECTIVE Russia launches new barrage of drones at Ukraine, kills one, Kyiv says Russia…
December 25, 2024

Stem cell therapy to correct heart failure in children could 'transform lives'

Renowned visionary English physician William Harvey wrote in 1651 about how our blood contains all…
December 17, 2024

Ademola Lookman named 2024 CAF Men’s Player of the year. These players won in other…

Ademola Lookman, the Super Eagles winger, was crowned the 2024 CAF Men’s Player of the…

NEWSSCROLL TEAM: 'Sina Kawonise: Publisher/Editor-in-Chief; Prof Wale Are Olaitan: Editorial Consultant; Femi Kawonise: Head, Production & Administration; Afolabi Ajibola: IT Manager;
Contact Us: info@newsscrollngr.com Tel/WhatsApp: +234 811 395 4049

Copyright © 2015 - 2025 NewsScroll. All rights reserved.