Hello. This is 6 Minute English from
BBC Learning English. I'm Neil.
And I'm Georgina.
If you've ever done shopping online,
then you may well have used
internet giant, Amazon.
From its origins as an online bookstore,
Amazon has grown into grocery deliveries,
TV and music streaming and even space
exploration, making its founder, Jeff Bezos,
the richest person on Earth.
Amazon is so successful it affects how
many of us live our lives, so in this
programme we'll be taking a look
inside the brain of Jeff Bezos to
find out how he thinks.
When Jeff Bezos's friends talk
about him, three words they
often use are: invention, risk-taking
and long-term vision.
These are qualities which Bezos
admired in his grandfather, Lawrence,
who from an early age taught Jeff that
by careful thinking, any
problem can be solved.
As a boy, Jeff and his grandfather
repaired an old, broken down truck.
When interviewed today, Bezos
sometimes compares Amazon to
that truck: very heavy, but impossible
to stop when it rolls downhill - which
is exactly what accidentally
happened one day!
But do you know how the story ends,
Georgina? That's my quiz question.
What happened when the young Jeff
Bezos s car accidentally rolled
downhill? Was it: a) Jeff jumped in
and pulled the handbrake?, b) Jeff's
grandad lost a thumb?
or, c) Jeff's hair fell out?
Well, Jeff Bezos is bald so maybe
it's c) his hair fell out.
OK, Georgina. We'll find out later.
As a company, Amazon has been
remarkably strong: it survived the
dot com crash of 2000 and saw
profits jump during the Covid
pandemic as more and more
people started shopping online.
Retail analyst, Natalie Berg, thinks
Amazon's success is due to its customer
strategy as she explained to BBC
Radio 4 programme, 'Seriously':
Jeff Bezos applied this concept to
Amazon by relentlessly focusing on
customers, by putting them at the
heart of the businesses - that would
attract more customers, more traffic
to its site which would in turn attract
more sellers, which would mean
a greater selection for customers,
which again would enhance
the customer experience.
Natalie thinks that Amazon put
customers at the heart of their
business - in other words, they
make customers the
most important part.
This improves Amazon's customer
experience - a customer's total
perception of their experience with a
business, which includes such things
as the quality of service and support
if something goes wrong.
Customers can write reviews on
Amazon's website and happy customers
mean more web traffic - the number of
people visiting a particular website.
In the difficult years following the dot
com crash, Jeff Bezos started
Market Place where other sellers
compete with Amazon's own
products. More sellers brought
more customers which in turn
brought down prices.
Then in 2013, Bezos bought
The Washington Post. And in
2019 he launched his space
exploration company, Blue Origin,
to explore mineral resources on Mars.
Most recently, Jeff Bezos has set his
sights on even bigger things -
saving the future of the planet!
Bezos chose Tom Rivett-Carnac of
the environmental group, Global
Optimism, to help Amazon meet
Climate Initiative goals aimed at
slowing climate change.
Here is Tom Rivett-Carnac telling
David Baker, presenter of BBC
Radio 4 s, Seriously, about his
conversation with Jeff Bezos:
It did seem to me that it was a
legacy issue for him, that he
wanted to be on the right
side of history.
And you don't think it's just
greenwashing in the end?
How do you define that? Would you
define greenwashing if you said
somebody got into this issue 'cos
they wanted to improve a reputation
of company or an individual?
Actually, that is fine. Right?
As long as they do something
meaningful and deliver a major outcome.
Protecting the planet is part of
Jeff Bezos s legacy - the
achievements of his life that will
continue after he dies.
In other words, Bezos wants to be
on the right side of history - judged
to have acted correctly or morally
by future generations.
Ultimately though, it's real action
on climate change that counts, not
just greenwashing. Do you know
this new expression, Georgina?
Well, I know that 'whitewashing'
means trying to hide the truth
about something.
Right - so greenwashing means
trying to make people believe that
your company is doing more to
protect the environment than it really is.
Well, with so many achievements already
behind him, I'm sure Jeff has made
his grandparents very proud - which
reminds me of your quiz question, Neil.
Ah yes, I asked Georgina what happened
when the car Jeff Bezos and his grandad,
Lawrence, were fixing accidentally
rolled downhill.
I thought it was c) that Jeff lost
all his hair. Was I right?
No, you were wrong, I'm afraid
Georgina. The correct answer was
b) - that his grandfather lost his thumb.
OK, Neil, let's recap the vocabulary,
starting with customer experience -
a customer's feelings about their
experience with a business.
If you put something at the heart
of things, you make it the
most important part.
Web traffic is the number of people
visiting a website.
Your legacy means all your life
achievements that will continue
after your death.
Someone who is on the right side
of history will be judged positively
by future generations.
And finally, greenwashing is when
you pretend that your company is
doing more to protect the
environment than it really is.
That's all for our peek inside the
brain of Jeff Bezos, the world's
richest man. Join us again next time
when we'll be discussing another
trending topic. Bye for now!
Goodbye!