Noah

finance nerd | data | quant

[Noah @xbtnoah]

@Pixel_Neuron And customers still want lower prices and faster delivery. That’s a pretty durable bet.

[Noah @xbtnoah]

If you had watched this Jeff Bezos lecture in 2005, you might be competing with Amazon today.

Long before Amazon became the giant we know now, Bezos stood at Stanford and explained the principles behind its success. The entire 50-minute lecture is still available, and most people have never seen it.

He explains why Amazon deliberately made failure cheap, how an obvious website improvement actually hurt sales, and why he kept a feature that was costing the company money.

Then he recalls the moment Barnes & Noble, a much larger competitor, entered online retail. Bezos gathered his employees and told them they should wake up terrified. Not of Barnes & Noble. Of their customers.

He also shares a question that shaped Amazon's strategy: instead of trying to predict what will change in ten years, figure out what won't. Lower prices, more selection, and greater convenience.

The fascinating part is that Bezos wasn't looking back on a finished success story. He was explaining how he made decisions while Amazon's future was still uncertain.

Most people will scroll past this because it's 50 minutes long. Don't. Bookmark it now and watch it when you have an uninterrupted hour.

Follow me for more rare interviews and stories from the people who built the world's biggest companies.

[Lumen @lumenxbt]

https://t.co/3hWKMIBJcw

[Noah @xbtnoah]

@lorneseth Knowing the principles is easy. Sticking to them when they cost you money is the hard part.

[Noah @xbtnoah]

@limalemonnn The article linked to the post is excellent; I don't regret a single moment I spent reading it.

[Noah @xbtnoah]

If you had watched this Jeff Bezos lecture in 2005, you might be competing with Amazon today.

Long before Amazon became the giant we know now, Bezos stood at Stanford and explained the principles behind its success. The entire 50-minute lecture is still available, and most people have never seen it.

He explains why Amazon deliberately made failure cheap, how an obvious website improvement actually hurt sales, and why he kept a feature that was costing the company money.

Then he recalls the moment Barnes & Noble, a much larger competitor, entered online retail. Bezos gathered his employees and told them they should wake up terrified. Not of Barnes & Noble. Of their customers.

He also shares a question that shaped Amazon's strategy: instead of trying to predict what will change in ten years, figure out what won't. Lower prices, more selection, and greater convenience.

The fascinating part is that Bezos wasn't looking back on a finished success story. He was explaining how he made decisions while Amazon's future was still uncertain.

Most people will scroll past this because it's 50 minutes long. Don't. Bookmark it now and watch it when you have an uninterrupted hour.

Follow me for more rare interviews and stories from the people who built the world's biggest companies.

[Noah @xbtnoah]

@Allx032 The real leverage was making his failure the banks’ problem too.

[Noah @xbtnoah]

@0xzeiv probably because of that he is richer than anyone else

[Noah @xbtnoah]

@DarioCpx Funny how every ‘coincidence’ seems to happen right where the market is thinnest

[Noah @xbtnoah]

@TheProfInvestor As Munger once said, “The big money is not in the buying and selling, but in the waiting.”

[Noah @xbtnoah]

@LateReaponder But how do you tell the difference between resilience and just getting lucky enough to survive?

[Noah @xbtnoah]

Michael Bloomberg would rather hire someone who worked three shifts at McDonald's than someone with a Harvard degree.

And his reasoning is not what you might expect.

Speaking alongside Warren Buffett and Goldman Sachs' former CEO, Bloomberg described his ideal candidate: someone whose father was never around, whose mother was in drug treatment, and who had to work three shifts at McDonald's just to support their siblings.

He wasn't looking for the most impressive résumé. He was looking for someone who had already learned what responsibility, sacrifice, and hard work actually mean.

Then he went further.

Why he avoids hiring friends and relatives. Why he tore down the walls at Bloomberg to create an open office. And why a prestigious university degree doesn't necessarily tell you who will succeed in business.

These are the principles behind the company he built from scratch into a global financial powerhouse with 20,000 employees.

Nearly 9 minutes of Bloomberg explaining how he thinks about people, hiring, and building a business.

Bookmark this so you don't forget to watch the whole thing later.

[Lumen @lumenxbt]

https://t.co/3hWKMIBJcw

[Noah @xbtnoah]

Michael Bloomberg would rather hire someone who worked three shifts at McDonald's than someone with a Harvard degree.

And his reasoning is not what you might expect.

Speaking alongside Warren Buffett and Goldman Sachs' former CEO, Bloomberg described his ideal candidate: someone whose father was never around, whose mother was in drug treatment, and who had to work three shifts at McDonald's just to support their siblings.

He wasn't looking for the most impressive résumé. He was looking for someone who had already learned what responsibility, sacrifice, and hard work actually mean.

Then he went further.

Why he avoids hiring friends and relatives. Why he tore down the walls at Bloomberg to create an open office. And why a prestigious university degree doesn't necessarily tell you who will succeed in business.

These are the principles behind the company he built from scratch into a global financial powerhouse with 20,000 employees.

Nearly 9 minutes of Bloomberg explaining how he thinks about people, hiring, and building a business.

Bookmark this so you don't forget to watch the whole thing later.

[Noah @xbtnoah]

@KobeissiLetter Deciding mode on day 204? At what point does the war become the decision?

[Noah @xbtnoah]

@0xzeiv interesting part is that he treated the office layout as a management decision rather than just a design choice

[Noah @xbtnoah]

@iamStatsNerd exactly and you cant teach that kind of responsibility in a classroom

[Noah @xbtnoah]

@Benderxxx7 I wish i know about him earlier

[Noah @xbtnoah]

@DarioCpx You really think he’s about to strike Iran, sensei?

[Noah @xbtnoah]

@ItsTheEnforcer Trump leaving Camp David too ... something big is going on stay tuned

[Noah @xbtnoah]

@unusual_whales The Fed may be watching the wealth effect more closely now. When nearly half of household financial assets are tied to stocks, a market selloff can hit spending before it shows up in employment.

[Noah @xbtnoah]

@HormuzLetter I’ve said this before: France saw it in 2022. Refinery strikes forced it to chase imported diesel, pushing prices higher across Europe. A fuel shortage doesn’t stay local for long.