We are our choices. Build yourself a great story.
Jeff BezosRead
I think one of the things people don't understand is we can build more shareholder value by lowering product prices than we can by trying to raise margins. It's a more patient approach, but we think it leads to a stronger, healthier company. It also serves customers much, much better.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Lowering product prices can create more value for shareholders than increasing profit margins, leading to a healthier company and better customer service.
In this quote, Jeff Bezos highlights the importance of prioritizing customer satisfaction and long-term growth over short-term profit maximization. By choosing to lower product prices instead of raising profit margins, companies can build greater shareholder value while also fostering loyalty and trust among their customers, creating a sustainable business model that benefits all stakeholders.
Themes
Shareholder ValueProduct PricesCustomer SatisfactionLong-Term GrowthBusiness Strategy
In practice
Example use cases
In a business seminar discussing sustainable practices, this quote can illustrate a customer-first approach.
More from Jeff Bezos
All quotes →Work hard, have fun and make history.
Jeff BezosRead
If you're not stubborn, you'll give up on experiments too soon. And if you're not flexible, you'll pound your head against the wall and you won't see a different solution to a problem you're trying to solve.
Jeff BezosRead
But there's so much kludge, so much terrible stuff, we are at the 1908 Hurley washing machine stage with the Internet. That's where we are. We don't get our hair caught in it, but that's the level of primitiveness of where we are. We're in 1908.
Jeff BezosRead
Because, you know, resilience - if you think of it in terms of the Gold Rush, then you'd be pretty depressed right now because the last nugget of gold would be gone. But the good thing is, with innovation, there isn't a last nugget. Every new thing creates two new questions and two new opportunities.
Jeff BezosRead
When you are eighty years old, and in a quiet moment of reflection narrating for only yourself the most personal version of your life story, the telling that will be most compact and meaningful will be the series of choices you have made. In the end, we are our choices.
Jeff BezosRead
Similar quotes
You have family-owned businesses that have been around for 500 years. You cannot name a corporation that survives intact for even a few decades.
Nassim Nicholas TalebRead
My half-baked reading of history is that we continue to go through these waves of entrepreneurial explosion followed by merger mania and consolidation. Out of that come big sluggish companies that eventually collapse under the weight of what they've created, and are killed off by the next wave of entrepreneurs.
Tom PetersRead
I don't think a true company - one that builds sustainable value - can ever only exist online or remotely.
Margaret HeffernanRead
I wasn't running toward the theater but running away from the sporting goods store. Of course now that I'm selling spaghetti sauce (with Newman's Own), I begin to understand the romance of business.. the allure of being the biggest fish in the pond and the juice you get from beating out your competitors.
Paul NewmanRead
Values-based business behavior is no longer simply an interesting option - it's crucial to your survival. Once you understand your mission and values, you have a strong basis for evaluating your practices and aligning them accordingly.
Ken BlanchardRead
The buyer is entitled to a bargain. The seller is entitled to a profit. So there is a fine margin in between where the price is right. I have found this to be true to this day whether dealing in paper hats, winter underwear or hotels.
Conrad HiltonRead