9781422270400

chapter 1

STORY OF A STARTUP

Today, the Internet is as integral to daily life in America and much of the world as electricity. There is an entire generation that has come of age not knowing a world without it even though it is a relatively recent phenomenon. It didn’t become a part of most people’s lives until the 1990s. At that time, companies began selling products online, which quickly became a popular way of shopping. Since it was still a new trend, most companies kept their physical stores built out of bricks and mortar in addition to their online stores. In 1994, Jeff Bezos started a different kind of business, Amazon.com, which began as a digital bookstore. Unlike other companies, Amazon had no physical store where people could go inside a building and look at the books lined up on shelves. Instead, every book Amazon sold had to be bought online. What began as a simple online bookstore eventually blossomed into one of the largest online stores of any kind. Customers from all over the world can now purchase all sorts of products from Amazon.com, ranging from books and clothes to food and health care products. However, the company never forgot its roots. Books have always been one of Amazon’s top priorities.

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