David's Macro Blog

72-yr-old Ernestine Shepherd runs 80 miles a week and helps seniors live fit.  Previously, at age 62 she won the 45 and older masters division.

To learn what makes Amazon.com such a great company, listen to CEO Jeff Bezos talk about its recent acquisition of Zappos, innovation, and customer obsession.

Everything Jeff knows seems to be a very short list.

#1 – Obsess Over Customers

Put customers first because ultimately they’ll make or break your business.

Jeff doesn’t clearly state this, but it seems that the main reason for Amazon’s acquisition of Zappos is the fact that both companies (and CEOs Bezos and Tony Hsieh) share similar values, starting with customer obsession.

#2 – Invent

“Don’t accept either/or thinking”, instead invent your way out of any problem. 

Invent solutions on your customer’s behalf. You can invent your way out of any box if you think you can.

#3 – Think Long Term

For any company to be innovative or focused on customers needs, it needs to think long term. Some ventures will take 5 to 7 years to pay dividends. New inventions take time to be understood.

Applying the principle to think long term might pay dividends for customers BEFORE benefiting shareholders.

Note: Jeff candidly admits that Amazon has made a lot of mistakes along the way, with the result being Amazon has learned something.  You don’t get to know much without trying lots of things and making a lot of mistakes.

“Failure is only the opportunity to more intelligently begin again.”

“If you want to succeed, double your failure rate.” 

It’s important to note that innovation isn’t the result of focusing on next quarter’s earnings and short term gains.

In summary, if you want to innovate in your business, you need to obsess over your customers and invent new solutions for them, knowing that you’ll make a lot of mistakes along the way.

For more reading on Amazon’s innovation, visit:
Amazon.com Whiz Jeff Bezos Keeps Kindling Hot Concepts

Please comment below – I’d love to know what you think.

You’ve probably read about the Marshmallow Test or at least heard it referenced with regards to delayed gratification and success in life.

Recently, Stanford scientists replicated a classic experiment from the 60s, in which they tested children’s ability to delay gratification. Researchers gave each child a marshmallow and told them that they would receive a second marshmallow — if they were able to wait until the researcher left and returned.

Recent Stanford Reproduction of the Orignal Test

Marshmallow Test Reproduced by Dr. David Walsh

The original marshmallow experiment was conducted by Walter Mischel in the 60s. Afterward, Mischel followed the children’s progress through adolescence – finding that those who were able to wait without eating the marshmallow were better adjusted, “more dependable”, and got higher SAT scores too.

The lesson: Kids who wait — later in life do great! Or perhaps you’ve heard it this way: “Good things come to those who wait.”