Categories: Articles

Building A Better Business By Thinking Like Amazon

**Don’t try to be like Amazon**
[Amazon](http://www.amazon.com “Amazon”) is a business like no other. Retailers might not like to hear this, but it is true. They have a spirit of innovation that looks at both software and hardware, plus they have a spirit of customer service that is tough to rival. Everyone talks about the pioneering spirit of Amazon, and it is a story that is worthy of telling. Still, people like [Avinask Kaushik](http://www.kaushik.net “Avinash Kaushik”) and I would agree that trying to be like Amazon, [Apple](http://www.apple.com “Apple”), [Google](http://www.google.com “Google”) can be hard for most (maybe even all) businesses. For a myriad of reasons. Still, there is always something that we can think about, learn from and implement to make our businesses that much better.
**How is Amazon thinking there days?**
We don’t get to hear from Amazon founder, [Jeff Bezos](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeff_Bezos “Jeff Bezos”) nearly enough. It’s usually the odd quote, here or there. But, it’s rarely in the context of a longer and more focused interview. This past Tuesday, [Business Insider](http://www.businessinsider.com “Business Insider”) posted [their full fifty-minute live, one-on-one conversation](http://recode.net/2014/12/16/watch-amazon-ceo-jeff-bezos-get-grilled-in-rare-public-interview-video/) between Business Insider founder, [Henry Blodget](https://twitter.com/hblodget “Henry Blodget”) and Bezos from their [Ignition – Future of Digital conference](http://www.businessinsider.com/event/ignition-2014 “Ignition”). It is very raw and direct. The questions are very probing and provocative. I have rarely seen a conversation like this, only because I found myself questioning my own business-thinking and reaching for my [Field Notes](http://fieldnotesbrand.com/ “Field Notes”) with some new ideas to jam on. I think you will too.
**What is the future of Amazon? What is the future of business? [Watch this](http://recode.net/2014/12/16/watch-amazon-ceo-jeff-bezos-get-grilled-in-rare-public-interview-video/)…**

Mitch Joel

Mitch Joel lives at the intersection of technology, business transformation and consumer culture. He is the Executive Director of Next Era Institute, a strategic intelligence platform helping leaders understand the forces reshaping business, technology, culture and society. The Institute identifies which shifts matter, explores their wider significance and translates them into strategic direction and momentum. Mitch is also a globally recognized keynote speaker. He has delivered thousands of presentations across both B2B and B2C industries to organizations including Google, Walmart, LEGO, Shopify, Microsoft, Procter & Gamble and Unilever. Strategy Magazine has called him “one of North America’s leading visionaries.” Mitch built his career by working directly inside the waves of change that reshaped modern business. He founded and built a digital marketing agency that worked with some of the world’s largest brands and was later acquired by WPP, where he served as President of a firm operating in 25 countries with almost 3,000 employees. Mitch is the bestselling author of Six Pixels of Separation and CTRL ALT Delete, and the host of Thinking With Mitch Joel, one of the longest-running business podcasts in the world. His writing and commentary appear in outlets including Harvard Business Review, Fast Company and Inc. Magazine. He is a member of Dr. Marshall Goldsmith’s 100 Coaches and was named to the Thinkers50 Radar. Mitch also hosts Groove – The No Treble Podcast, documenting the oral history of electric bass players. Mitch is also Co-Founder of ThinkersOne, a platform that enables companies to bring personalized thought leadership from world-class experts into meetings, events and off-sites in focused 15-minute bursts.