Essential Wisdom from Jeff Bezos’ Shareholder Letters

You don’t have to like him to understand Jeff’s a smart guy.

One of the best things you can do for yourself is listen to smart people.

He writes one of these bad boys every year. Well, he did. 2020 was his last year since he stepped down as head honcho of Amazon.

I pulled the best wisdom from all 24 of shareholder letters and distilled it here, for you.

Bring on shareholders who align with your values

For our purpose, shareholders will be friends, family, mentors, clients, etc.

Surround yourself with people who buy into the values you buy into.

No sense in constantly butting heads ineffectively or dealing with negativity.

Build on top of infrastructure that’s improving on its own

What did Jeff mean?

The internet.

This can work for you too.

I’ve made a lot of money using the internet. I didn’t have to build the network or do any coding. I’m just piggybacking off people smarter than myself.

In the coming years people will make a fortune off the back of blockchain.

In lean times, build a cash moat

Cash is trash.

Cash is king.

Which is true? Both. Neither.

Cash loses money sitting around in a savings account.

But it can be used in lean times to buy things which will earn a lot.

Measure your success by your free cash flow

Cash flow was the single variable Jeff thinks explains long term stock price.

It also explains your success.

How much free cash flow do you have every month?

The real quote should be, cash flow is king.

Don’t get fixated on short term numbers

I don’t give a damn what my 401k says today.

Okay, maybe I care a little. I’m a human.

But still, this is a long game. I care what the number is in 20 years 100x more than I care about today’s #.

This quarter doesn’t matter nearly as much as this decade.

Nurture your seedlings to build big lines of business

Affiliate marketing is a tiny seed right now. It doesn’t account for much of my cash flow.

But, neither did Medium at one time. And now it’s my second largest income stream.

If you have little seeds that trickle in dollars, figure out ways to nurture them.

Focus on inputs- the outputs will take care of themselves

Be highly selective about what you watch, read, listen to, eat, who you spend time with, etc.

You don’t have full control of your outcomes. You do have 99% control of your inputs and processes and habits.

Focus on what matters that’s within your control.

Surprise and delight your customers to build long-term trust

In your case it may be your audience.

Want them to pay you 5/month for a newsletter? Give them 100 dollars worth of value.

Want their email address? Give them an ebook that’s actually worth something.

Write a Twitter thread with 10 pieces of advice? Give them 11.

Email and respond directly to your audience. Let them know you appreciate their attention. They’re giving up precious time to read/see/listen to you. That means something.

Bet on ideas that have unlimited upside

Such as say writing online.

When I started writing back in 2014 I never dreamed I’d have made thousands online and have 20k plus followers in 2022.

Ebooks and courses are another unlimited upside endeavor. Create once, make unlimited money over its lifetime.

In times of crisis, be aggressive and agile

“Reflect on this from Theodor Seuss Geisel: ‘When something bad happens you have three choices. You can either let it define you, let it destroy you, or you can let it strengthen you.’ I am very optimistic about which of these civilization is going to choose.”

Always choose ‘let it strengthen you’.

Wandering is an essential counterbalance to efficiency

You can’t be a rational, efficient creature 24/7. Nor would you want to be.

Our species is well known for wandering off the beaten path at various points throughout history.

That’s how we’ve achieved exponential growth. Give yourself a chance to grow off the linear path.