For the last 21 years, Jeff Bezos has written annual letters to shareholders that reveal the underlying principles and strategies he used to grow Amazon. Steve Anderson discusses tracking down those letters and how he’s discovered 14 principles in Bezos’ words that define and explain Amazon’s incredible success.

In this episode we dive into:

1. Where Steve came up with the idea to write his book “The Bezos Letters” and how it went from an idea to reality.

2. Why the biggest risk often times is not taking the risk at all.

3. Why constant change is actually required to move forward and grow.

4. The behind the scenes research it took for “The Bezos Letters” to come to life.

5. Why Steve shifted the layout of the book away from chronological and into 14 main principles and organizational cycles.

6. Why Jeff Bezos believes that failure is necessary for growth and success.

7. The importance of allowing ourselves to be counterintuitive and how this principle has allowed Amazon to continue to grow.

8. The significance of the first letter that Jeff Bezos sent to shareholders and how he constantly revisits this message throughout his correspondence.

9. Why Amazon always maintains a day 1 mindset.

10. The secret 15th principle that Steve would add to his book.

11. Why the “Flywheel” is one of the most important principles, but also may be the hardest to implement.

12. How the principles of Amazon don’t simply apply to business, but also can be actively applied to our personal life as well.

In this episode Steve:

• Tells us why he decided to write The Bezos Letters
• Declares that the biggest risk businesses take is not taking risks
• Explains the four distinct cycles of business risk and growth and 14 principles that emerged from Bezos’s letters to Shareholders
• Points out that the 3 big Amazon successes today all began as failures
• Explains why Amazon shuts down so many new experiments
• Tells us how Bezos uses risk to strategically grow
• Reveals the 2 types of business decisions at Amazon
• Tells us how the lessons learned from Bezos can be applied to any business, large or small
• And explains why Bezos says that everyday is day 1

The Bezos Letters: 14 Principles to Grow Your Business Like Amazon, deconstructs Jeff Bezos’ 21 years of personal letters to Amazon shareholders through his unique lens of risk, providing readers with a guide on the key takeaways and principles that Bezos leveraged in turning an online bookstore into a trillion dollar company in just over two decades.