[Aside] Quotes from Jeff Bezos interview

Jeff Bezos is one of those CEOs I admire. He is different. Has a long term vision. So it’s always fun to read an interview of him. Here are some quotes from a recent interview of his. Stuff I believe in and agree with but put way better by him.

On Experiments

… one of my jobs is to encourage people to be bold. It’s incredibly hard.  Experiments are, by their very nature, prone to failure. A few big successes compensate for dozens and dozens of things that didn’t work.

What really matters is, companies that don’t continue to experiment, companies that don’t embrace failure, they eventually get in a desperate position where the only thing they can do is a Hail Mary bet at the very end of their corporate existence. … Whereas companies that are making bets all along, even big bets, but not bet-the-company bets, prevail. I don’t believe in bet-the-company bets. That’s when you’re desperate. That’s the last thing you can do.

My main job today: I work hard at helping to maintain the culture. A culture of high standards of operational excellence, of inventiveness, of willingness to fail, willingness to make bold experiments. I’m the counterbalance to the institutional “no” who can say “yes.”

On Time

Where you are going to spend your time and your energy is one of the most important decisions you get to make in life. We all have a limited amount of time, and where you spend it and how you spend it is just an incredibly levered way to think about the world.

On Passion

Probably my favourite quote of all. Because I am big on passions. And my biggest passion is computers, which I don’t know why is the case but it is.

… you don’t get to choose your passions. Your passions choose you.