07.25.12
The brilliant Mr. Bezos — he knows what customers want
From the Financial Times:
Mr Bezos does not have an obvious deputy, but former employees say its most influential senior executives are fearsomely smart. The unified way they repeat Mr Bezos’s mantras suggests they are so well drilled that the company could tick over without him for a while.
[Mr Bezos] said he was focused on customer needs that were not going to change, because he could plan for them. “I know for a fact that 10 years from now customers will still want low prices. I know for a fact that they will still want fast delivery. I know they will still want selection.???
Amazon says it “obsesses??? over doing what is best for customers. But coddling them seems to depend on stretching its employees.
According to an investigation last year by the Morning Call, a Pennsylvania newspaper, workers at local warehouses said they endured punishing productivity targets and temperatures that soared above 38C in the summer, while Amazon parked ambulances outside to treat people with heat stress.
Federal regulators that received complaints from some employees recommended that Amazon take several steps to reduce the risks, the newspaper said.
Amazon says its safety record cannot be portrayed accurately with anecdotes …
Fearsomely smart. And making life more miserable for everyone except Mr. Bezos and the people who buy lotsa stuff through the mail, one day at a time.
And this, the press-release trivial profile on the Presto and E la Carte, the innovative business for eliminating the poorest paid wait staff at the most generic restaurants, because — y’know — people who earn less than minimum wage and get tips already take away too much profit.
E La Carte knows that waiting too long in a restaurant can leave customers with a bad taste in their mouths, regardless of the chef’s best efforts …
“It’s so fast, so easy to order and pay,??? said Rajat Suri, CEO and founder of E La Carte …
E La Carte has already received $5 million in funding from investors including SV Angel and Lightbank, and Suri said he plans to continue focusing on the casual dining experience rather than replace the interactions between waiters and customers in high-end restaurants.
Appropriately, written by an intern at the San Francisco Chronicle. Interns work for free, just for the privilege of it. Cuz they wouldn’t work at all for corporate America were it any other way.
The brilliant Mr. Bezos — from the archives.