Jeff's Letters
Activity Overview
Episode publication activity over the past year
Episodes
2018 Letter - The Value of Wandering.
15 Dec 2022
Contributed by Lukas
The 2018 letter to shareowners (released April 2019). Key theme is wandering and curiosity as a counterbalance to efficiency, even if it leads to fail...
2017 letter - High Standards
01 Dec 2022
Contributed by Lukas
2017 letter to shareowners. Key theme is the importance of high standards and the elements of having them. It's crazy to think Amazon has nearly a mil...
2016 letter - Why it always has to be Day 1
24 Nov 2022
Contributed by Lukas
2016 Letter to shareowners. Key theme is how to avoid atrophy as a business, such as Amazon, gets bigger. As a reminder, Jeff's letters is a non...
2015 Letter
15 Nov 2022
Contributed by Lukas
The 2015 letter to shareowners. Key theme is high velocity decision making. One of my favorites! As a reminder, Jeff's letters is a non-commercial pro...
2014 Letter - What Great Businesses Look like
02 Nov 2022
Contributed by Lukas
The 2014 letter to shareowners. Key theme is what great businesses look like. As a reminder, Jeff's letters is a non-commercial production with Preet ...
2013 Letter - Wow
26 Oct 2022
Contributed by Lukas
The 2013 letter to shareowners. Key theme is invention at every layer from every employee. Amazon shows the full breadth of the many things it is...
2012 Letter - Internally Driven
19 Oct 2022
Contributed by Lukas
The 2012 Letter. Jeff articulates how being customer centric enables Amazon to be internally driven in its innovations and not chasing after competito...
2011 Letter - The Power of Invention
11 Oct 2022
Contributed by Lukas
The 2011 Letter. Jeff shares stories about how Amazon's self service platforms have made a major difference for creators and also the powerful impact ...
2010 Letter - Amazon is a tech company
05 Oct 2022
Contributed by Lukas
The 2010 letter. This one is a bit of a weird one. Jeff starts and stays at the very nitty gritty level detailing Amazon's incredible technical effort...
2009 Letter - Setting Goals
27 Sep 2022
Contributed by Lukas
The 2009 letter. Jeff articulates the incredible outcomes Amazon has had by 2009, but then shifts to why they focus on customer-facing inputs.
2008 Letter - Working Backward
22 Sep 2022
Contributed by Lukas
The 2008 letter. Jeff introduces two very valuable techniques for how to invest: working backwards and considering which needs are durable over the lo...
2007 Letter - A Team of Missionaries and The Kindle's Release
13 Sep 2022
Contributed by Lukas
The 2007 letter. Jeff discusses the Kindle's launch and how they approached improving upon the book. There's a wonderful reminder to always figure out...
2006 Letter - Growing New Businesses
08 Sep 2022
Contributed by Lukas
The 2006 letter. Jeff articulates Amazon's tests for a worthwhile new business to invest in. But he also articulates how Amazon celebrates the momentu...
2005 Letter - Sometimes Decisions just need Math, but sometimes they need Judgment
31 Aug 2022
Contributed by Lukas
In this letter, Jeff articulates how Amazon makes certain types of decisions. Sometimes decisions can be made with only analysis and math. But sometim...
2004 Letter - Thinking about Finance
24 Aug 2022
Contributed by Lukas
In this letter, Jeff details why free cash flow per share is the way Amazon measures the value it creates. It's worth reading the letter instead of li...
2003 Letter - Long Term Thinking
16 Aug 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Jeff takes Long Term Thinking pretty seriously. The majority of his letters up until 2003 have the 'Long Term' or 'Long View' in the title! In ...
2002 - What's good for customers is good for business
14 Aug 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Jeff demonstrates how what's good for customers is good for business. Especially since Amazon's growth gets back above 20% and they become cash flow p...
2001 Letter - The Flywheel Evolves
10 Aug 2022
Contributed by Lukas
The 2001 Letter. Jeff discusses how Amazon has hit a point where both growth and cost reductions can be funded. Then he details how the relationship b...
Production delay due to COVID!
06 Aug 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Caught COVID while overseas! Next week will have two episodes and then we will back to our regular cadence. Thanks for listening!
2000 letter - How to do a Reality Check
26 Jul 2022
Contributed by Lukas
The 2000 Letter. Jeff acknowledges the dot com crash and that Amazon.com's shares are down more than 80%. Then he provides a reminder on the business ...
1999 Letter - Compounding Strengths and Clear Observation
19 Jul 2022
Contributed by Lukas
The 1999 Letter. Jeff shares his view on what shareowners own and the goals for 2000. Check out the section on Operational Excellence! The themes that...
1998 Letter - On Growth and Humility
12 Jul 2022
Contributed by Lukas
The 1998 Letter. Jeff shares his reflections on Amazon's incredible growth, sets expectations for the future, and also provides some guidance on how t...
1997 Letter - The Original
05 Jul 2022
Contributed by Lukas
** Re-publishing on the anniversary of Jeff’s last day as Amazon CEO**. The original letter to shareholders. It's the letter Jeff refers to in...