#29 – Amazon: Pure Customer Obsession
“To continually raise the bar of customer experience.”
This is the purpose statement of Amazon, the global tech and e-commerce powerhouse founded by Jeff Bezos in 1994 in Bellevue, Washington.
Originally launched as an online bookstore, Amazon quickly evolved into the world’s most influential digital marketplace, expanding across categories and industries — from retail to cloud computing, streaming, AI, and logistics.
Its purpose — to continually raise the bar of customer experience — has guided not just its product design, but its entire business strategy.
The relentless focus on customer satisfaction has driven innovation, operational efficiency, and long-term reinvestment, resulting in one of the most remarkable growth trajectories in modern business history.
Amazon’s performance, aligned with its purpose, is striking:
As of 2023, it is the largest online retailer and marketplace in the world
In 2021, it overtook Walmart as the world’s biggest retailer outside China
It is the global leader in R&D, with $73 billion invested in 2022 alone
As of 2024, it ranks as the second-largest company in the world by revenue
It is also the second-largest private employer in the U.S.
Amazon proves that when purpose drives every decision, from culture to capital allocation, performance follows — at scale, and over time.
