2. Who is Jeff Bezos?
• Born on Jan 12, 1964 in New Mexico
• Graduated from Princeton (electrical engineering & computer
science degrees)
• Worked on Wall Street (D.E. & Shaw) after a couple of jobs
– Hired as the youngest senior VP
– Described as hard-working, intelligent, driven
• Innovative & visionary
– Developed the idea of “Everything Store” when he was at DESCO
– Amazon Prime
• Founded Amazon.com in 1995. Sales grew from $510K in 1995
to $155B in 2013!
• The world’s 18th richest man with net worth $31.5 Billion1
• Married to Mackenzie Bezos for 21 years1: As of April 2, 2014
Source: Forbes
3. Integrating his life and applying TL skills:
Self & Work
Work
Home
Self
Community
• Have a clear vision to create
Everything Store
• Took risk of leaving high-
paying Wall Street job
• Work countless hours to
create Everything Store and
satisfy customers
Be Real: “I have a vision of where I’m headed, the legacy I want to leave, and
how to pursue what is most important in my life.”
Be Real: “I make choices about how to spend my time and energy that match
what I really care about.”
4. Integrating his life and applying TL skills:
Community & Work
Work
Home
Self
Community
• Developed the concept of
Everything Store with colleagues
at DESCO
• Bezos reached out to his friends
at DESCO to be introduced to key
contacts (e.g. Kaphan - engineer)
• Asked Holden for feedback on
beta platform; offered him a
position to lead a recruiting team
at Amazon later
Be Whole: “I use skills and contacts from different parts of my life to help meet
needs and goals in other parts of my life.”
5. Integrating his life and applying TL skills:
Home & Work
Work
Home
Self
Community
• Mackenzie believed in Bezos’
charisma and supported his
decision to work on his start-
up from the beginning
• Bezos convinced his parents to
invest in his start-up through
show of passion and
commitment
Be Whole: “I am able to convince people to support me in reaching important
goals.”
6. Integrating his life and applying TL skills:
Work
Work
Home
Self
Community
• Allow customers to email
Bezos personally
• Constantly experiment to offer
better services to customers
(e.g. 3P sellers’ program, free
shipping, Kindle & e-books)
Be Whole: “I look for opportunities to help others and build relationships with
many different people.”
Be Innovative: “I challenge traditional assumptions about how things are
done, experimenting to make things better whenever possible.”
7. Leadership lessons
• Follow your passion!
• Demonstrate
qualities that earn
trust
(charisma, commitm
ent)
• Gain support
