There’s an air of intrigue & mystery around successful business founders. What sets them apart? Is it their vision, drive, creativity, execution or insight? Great reads that shed the light on the real people behind successful start-ups & how much their imprint matters.
In Amazon Unbound: Jeff Bezos & The Invention Of A Global Empire, Brad Stone explains Amazon’s evolution from a mere success to an inescapable part of everyday life. Bezos is a founder against whom contemporaries are measured. Legendary 14 leadership principles (customer obsession, bias for action) inform decision-making at Amazon. Instrumental in the innovative development of Alexa, Amazon Web Services, Prime Video. Efficiency inspires Amazon’s expansive distribution network & fulfilment centres.
Tencent: The Extraordinary Story Of A Chinese Internet Enterprise by Wu Xiaobo argues Pony Ma transformed Tencent from a company that connected the internet to pagers into one that spans gaming, mobile payments, e-commerce & messaging service WeChat. A focus on creative strategic growth made Tencent adept at exploiting emerging opportunities. Guiding principles of product minimalism, user-driven strategy, rapid testing aren’t necessarily novel but Tencent executed it better than others. Can we tell the difference?
