Amazon Unbound: Jeff Bezos and the Invention of a Global Empire

Amazon Unbound is a great book and an excellent follow-up to The Everything Store, and you don't need to be an Amazon buff to enjoy it. The book is a fascinating portrait of Bezos as he's navigated his transition from someone famous in the tech world to someone who's famous, period.The reason Bezos was interesting in this book to me is not because he's now the world's wealthiest person - what kept me turning the page were: Stone's very natural style of writing - I found myself reading multiple chapters at a time without really realizing it, as the story flows so easily from one topic to the next -- that's not easy to do; the fact that every page deepened my understanding of Bezos and what makes him tick as a kind of psychological study, even though Bezos did not actually sit for an interview for the book (which I think actually works to the book's advantage, because you wind up learning about him a better way, which is through his interactions -- good and bad -- with people in his orbit); and because Stone has done the hard work of finding the right people to tell this story and you can tell that he knows the Amazon story so deeply that you are getting the information from a place of real authority.The book works brilliantly on many levels and it's the definition of balanced journalism -- you get a sense of what's made Amazon one of the most successful technology companies the world has ever seen, and how hard all of that has been to accomplish, while at the same time getting an unvarnished inside look at how the company has responded as it's drawn the ire of Congress and labor groups and many of its own seller partners.Bezos is presented as a complicated, brilliant, flawed person, and it feels like an authentic, well-rounded presentation of who he actually is and what the universal lessons are that can be learned from his story -- which is a high compliment and a hard thing to pull off while constructing an entertaining read.Highly recommended!

Brad Stone writes with the intensity of an investigative reporter and the creativity of a suspense novelist with a little sensationalism intertwined. Every word is carefully placed to induce the attention you'd pay to the most interesting subject you could imagine. For me, what happens at Amazon is so compelling that I need to read every book written about Jeff Bezos and Amazon. If you've read The Everything Store and One Click, this is like the next level and covers everything significant going on at amazon lately.What happens at Amazon seems so easy to the customer, but behind-the-scenes an incredible amount of work is going on. The Amazon employees who make everything possible should win the highest awards. How ideas turned into reality is basically what this book is about. You will learn amazing things about Alexa and who her voice really belongs to. Jeff Bezos was also so clever when selecting Alexa's name. You will also get a crash course in how artificial intelligence learns.The work that makes amazon what it is is mind blowing. In my mind at least I feel that the employees at Amazon are the smartest in the world. And Jeff's ideas have always led us into the future of the Internet. This book reveals all sorts of thought processes and ideas that made the realities we enjoy today.Brad Stone looks at the positives and negatives and in general he has a balanced view. I think he does not shy away from the truth, but maybe emphasizes more of the negatives for their appeal. If you ignore the little jabs at Amazon and Jeff, you will enjoy this book more. The writing itself is however stellar to the point of amazement.Brad Stone asks an interesting question at the end of the book. Basically he asks whether the world is better because of Amazon and I think it is. Not only did they manage to help millions of people during the pandemic, they continue to provide a high level of service to customers that is unparalleled online. Jeff Bezos is also indirectly responsible for me meeting all my best friends at Amazon. So my own life would be less interesting if it wasn't for Amazon. I've been reviewing for 21 years and have enjoyed every minute. I also love the convenience of shopping online! I sure do love getting a verified purchase tag on my reviews. :) It is a motivating factor.So I'd say read this book, but also balance it with your own experience of how Amazon has made your life easier as a customer. By reading this book I also found out about some coconut toffee roasted cashews which I immediately decided to get.By reviewing this book I am not endorsing all the movies and TV shows this book mentions. I have not seen them all or read all the books mentioned either. I am way behind in movies and TV shows because I've read thousands of books in the past 21 years. Having a kindle has majorly increased my reading habits. I love getting a book instantly. But this book – I bought the physical book.From this book I take away one line by Jeff Bezos that I think can apply to all of life for the most part: “Be the tortoise and not the hare.”So this book is thoughtful and it is one of the most interesting books on Amazon to date. I think you will enjoy it and learn some useful life lessons from reading about the experiences of the Amazon employees and Jeff Bezos.Amazon's beauty is in its diversity and we all have dreams and wishes. At Amazon a lot of the great ideas are wishes we did not even know we had when amazon first started. But over time this site has evolved into a pure delight for the customer. You don't have to agree with everything Amazon sells, but you have to agree you can normally find exactly what you are looking for!Onward to the continuing adventure...I can't wait to see what happens when Jeff goes up into outer space and then comes back to tell us all about it.~The Rebecca ReviewP.S. There are two typos in the whole book. Not anything serious.P.S. II - Was happy to see Jeff return from space safely! :) 7/20/2021

Brad Stone has done it again. All of his books are excellent, and this one is no exception.I can only imagine the insane amount of work it was to cajole and interview all his sources, and then to weave the narrative into coherent chapters on different topics such as Amazon's expansion into India, the rise of the third-party marketplace, and advertising, to name a few.Stone peels back the layers of the onion and shows us the underlying complexity at Amazon. This is a tough business, and even the best managers make mistakes.I was particularly impressed by Chapter 10. You really get a sense here that if Bezos were not at the helm, there are important things that wouldn't get the proper attention (in this case, the underlying profitability of retail ex-advertising). Every company needs a real owner--someone who "owns" the problems and opportunities.Founders can do this. But can managers who succeed the founder keep it up? We'll find out over the next few years.Things I wish the author had covered (Brad, here's my wishlist for the next book :):- AWS (this was covered more in-depth in "The Everything Store" but a lot has happened since then)- Project Kuiper and other "moonshot" or speculative projects- More profiles of some of the key executives such as Andy JassyIt would be fun if Stone could pull off a Jeff Bezos collaboration for volume three, similar to the excellent book "Softwar" on Oracle. In that book, Larry Ellison got to comment on each page, and the result is an interesting book unlike any other.If you're a fan of business, technology and Amazon, this book is very much worth reading. A+

Excellent book on the story of Amazon. Lots on interesting facts that I was not aware of. Well worth the read

Solo que es pesado de leer. Pero en presentación, calidad de tapa y Envio, perfecto

Jeff Bezos é, sem dúvida, um grande homem de negócios. Não só por estar sempre disputando a posição de Homem Mais Rico do Mundo (o que eu acho uma bobagem, aliás), mas pela criação da Amazon e sobretudo pela persistência em continuar investindo na Alexa quando todos duvidavam dele. O livro é bem escrito e a versão em Português está muito boa também. Li as duas. mas isso porque o Port não estava à venda ainda. Aliás li não, a Alexa leu pra mim. rs.

You can see the author put in the time and research to develop a thorough yet easy to read book. A good read for everyone interested in Amazon and technology in general.

Excellent coverage of Amazon beyond its traditional retail business