The Everything Store

By: Brad Stone

Narrated by: Pete Larkin

Length: 13 hrs

Publisher's Summary

Winner of the 2013 Financial Times and Goldman Sachs Business Book of the Year Award.

Amazon.com started off delivering books through the mail. But its visionary founder, Jeff Bezos, wasn't content with being a bookseller. He wanted Amazon to become the everything store, offering limitless selection and seductive convenience at disruptively low prices.

To achieve that end, he developed a corporate culture of relentless ambition and secrecy that's never been cracked. Until now...

Brad Stone enjoyed unprecedented access to current and former Amazon employees and Bezos family members, giving readers the first in-depth, fly-on-the-wall account of life at Amazon.

Compared to tech's other elite innovators - Jobs, Gates, Zuckerberg - Bezos is a private man. But he stands out for his restless pursuit of new markets, leading Amazon into risky new ventures like the Kindle and cloud computing, and transforming retail in the same way Henry Ford revolutionized manufacturing.

The Everything Store is the revealing, definitive biography of the company that placed one of the first and largest bets on the Internet and forever changed the way we shop and read.

©2013 Brad Stone (P)2013 Hachette Audio, published in the UK by Random House Audiobooks 2013

An information packed narration

It's a very good read with incredible insight to the company from a varied list of sources. It's captivating but wasn't for me, a page turner. It's harsh but maybe not unfair. Paints a grim but impressive picture of the company and its ceo.

The narration is very good except that it seems to cut and change every so often, even mid sentences.

The Amazon backstory<br />

If you want to know the Amazon story - then this book is for you!

really great book!

tells about the hardwork that goes into building an organization, which is world class! awesome

The Narrative of Amazon

interesting insights into the stroy behind Amazon and it's founder. a company where anything seems possible, and likely

Great book

This book gives great insight into the world of Amazon and its creator. Definitely worth the listen.

Beautiful insight into Amazon world

Book gives a good account of Amazon practises , culture , circumstances that the company and its founder had to navigate but I think the book is too gung-ho in the praise of bezos.

Nice read otherwise.

great read

really interesting. well narated story. similar extreme thinking to jobs in some ways. focused on delivering a great product

Must-read for anyone in a IT startup

A fascinating story, very well told.

The challenges and battles of Amazon in the early years were interesting. Anyone in a startup will be able to relate and learn from Jeff's example.

example of what business should not be....

eye opener on what a bad irresponsible company Amazon and founder is Not a roll model for the future generation

1 person found this helpful

Force for good or for evil?

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

Fascinating story about disruptive business innovation. Also a warning to anyone who may want to work for Amazon but does not share the company ethos! to learn the background to Amazon Prime was a real eye opener.

What was one of the most memorable moments of The Everything Store?

Hearing of publishers' wrangling the impossible dilemma of price (value) and sales volume. It was also interesting to hear of Jeff Bezos' personal background and management approach. He has some seriously risky gut instinct that he is not afraid to act upon.

What does Pete Larkin bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you had only read the book?

Initially Pete Larkin's narration style reminded me too much of the way movies trailers are are presented. I got used to it after a while but I would probably avoid other books narrated by him unless it involved men in muddy vests crawling into a demilitarized zone being chased by relentless waves of zombies.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Yes, a page turner.

Any additional comments?

This felt thoroughly and carefully researched, the author did a great job and revealed some fascinating facts.

9 people found this helpful

Not a bar raiser...

The first half of the download really did not get behind the building of Amazon and there was a real lack of depth to the people involved for me. Having just listened to Steve Job's story, this lacked detail on Bezos and the people behind the build up. The second half of the download is much better. Some of the narration with the quotes is really jarring and really irritated me. Worth a listen? - Yes, but the sorry could have been so much better..

4 people found this helpful

Good book, not enthusiast about the narration

Would you try another book written by Brad Stone or narrated by Pete Larkin?

Written by the author yes, narrated by this narrator possibly not. I found the narration boring.

What was one of the most memorable moments of The Everything Store?

Several interesting points. For instance, at the beginning, the three reasons that distinguish Amazon.

2 people found this helpful

Loved it:)

Great insight and so interesting to dig beneath the skin of such an incredible company. Fascinating

A few useful ideas, but mainly a great story.

Good book. Enjoyed the story, the ups and downs and took a couple of good ideas to apply in business. It’s a shame it is a little old as I would have liked to hear a lot more about AWS.

everything you want it to do. ....

.....help understand why and how in an engaging way.
great book.
where's the next edition that tracks the launch of Alexa and onwards?!

A to Z

Decent book, decent story, decent performance.

Bought this after ShowDog which I loved.

This ain’t a patch though!

Someone successes don’t make them worthwhile in my opinion.

Bezos treatment of his workforce is also......poor.

Prime Cancelled and Amazon off my supported business list.

Definitely a story your aren’t expecting!

The story of Amazon is like nothing I could have expected! From the start, it seems like your usual ultra focussed entrepreneur story, but often, those stories take a turn towards profitability very quickly.

Jeff Bezos’ story is unique in a way like no other - his culture of always letting customers profit, even if that includes running losses on promotions or breaking relationships with retailers or suppliers in the process.

His business acumen was to be expected - a ruthless character who makes the pulse of even the strongest who work for him soar, yet what was so impressive is his ability to create new ideas at breakneck speed. This helped the company to innovate much quicker than any other, but also his approach to his monolithic creation to this day remains very micro managed. It is truly incredible how he finds so many hours in the day.

The book tells the story of a company that could have many areas to improve - supplier relations, working conditions for staff - and is often hindered by frugality, yet remains one of the greatest companies ever created.

The book is captivating, and the reader tells the story patiently and brilliantly. An absolute MUST for anyone with an interest to how simple ideas and determination can surpass even your wildest imaginations.

A must read for any digital or eCommerce business!

My first impression of this book, and of Jeff Bezos. Wow Amazon and Jeff are brutal in business! I thought with a book being written about Amazon and Jeff, that they would hold back and portray him as a righteous leader of sorts. No they didn't hold back. The writer embraced his humility, his brutality and his moments of compassion and quite rightly so. Without these aspects to Jeff Bezos I highly doubt Amazon would be the world leading company it is today. So pretty much common sense to include it. The book doesn't even go easy on the working conditions of Amazon employees.

Before this book, I feel I had a rose tinted view on the company and its CEO. Now, knowing past those rose tints, I feel nothing but a sense of awe.

Definitely has everything in this book

Great book, interesting to learn how Amazon got to where it did and the way they did it!