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  • Essay / Jeff Bezos - 3001

    INTRODUCTIONSStudies have been conducted to examine the different characteristics of an entrepreneur. Visionaries and risk-taking are two characteristics identified by authors (Fisherman, 2000; Covey, 2006; et al) as characteristics of a successful entrepreneur, although some (Schultz, 1980 and Brockhaus, 1980) argue otherwise . The aim of this article is to explore whether there are relationships between the 2 traits; vision and risk-taking. We also look at how much risk an entrepreneur is willing to take to realize their company's vision for the future. We want to find evidence of this in Jeffrey Preston Bezos (also known as “Jeff Bezos”) in his business activities. Many articles about Bezos, founder and CEO of the successful online store Amazon, describe him as a visionary and a risk-taker. Before Amazon, he was a senior vice president at DE Shaw, a Wall Street hedge fund firm, before leaving his job to start his own virtual bookstore in 1994. Over the past twenty years, that store has expanded its line of products to include other products such as clothing, beauty products and even groceries. In its 7th year of business in 2012 (Stone: page 6), Amazon had revenue of $61 billion. Besides Amazon, Bezos also acquired numerous online stores, ventured into Blue Origin, an aerospace company developing technology to bring space travel to its customers, and bought a news agency called The Washington Post. In the following sections, we examine how the authors share their opinions. the results on risk-taking and the visions leading an individual to embark on entrepreneurship and whether these entrepreneurs have a propensity to take risks in order to achieve their objectives. We also take a closer look at Bezos' business ventures, his business philosophy and...... middle of paper ...... commerce-oriented business was the key to a successful business venture . His business decisions were always focused on meeting the needs and wants of his customers. It was never about ripping off the customer in order to maximize profits for Amazon. To provide solutions to his customers, Bezos has continually invested heavily in new innovations and process improvements at Amazon. He was willing to let Amazon suffer several years of losses, much to the dismay of his staff. The Super Saver shipping service, one-click shopping technology, and Amazon Prime membership were clear examples of risk initiatives taken by Bezos. In order to realize his vision of a customer-centric company, he launched these services at very affordable prices for customers, but they were expensive to maintain and often left Bezos' team wondering if they had committed a serious mistake..