“Be Like Amazon – Even a Lemonade Stand Can Do It”
I don’t normally do book reviews on Shortcut Content’s blog, and I’m not really sure why. Maybe I need to read more books. But I did read this one: “Be Like Amazon – Even a Lemonade Stand Can Do It,” by Jeffrey and Bryan Eisenberg and my Wizard of Ads business partner, Roy H. Williams.
The book focuses on the four stone pillars of Amazon – customer centricity, continuous optimization, a culture of innovation, and corporate agility. If you study Jeff Bezos and Amazon, you’ll realize that it’s not some evil plan they put together to become who they are. It’s pretty simple: no matter what else, create a better customer experience.
The book delves into the four pillars in a really interesting way. At slightly more than 110 pages, it reads unlike any other business book. While most business books are filled with charts, graphs, white papers, and proofs, “Be Like Amazon” is told as one continuous story.
The Einsenbergs had all the data about Amazon, and Roy H. Williams put it in story form. The book follows Sunshine and his elder Poobah on their journey across the landscape of Texas, talking about Amazon and other companies that that have done similar things, and how it’s turned out for them.
It’s a really entertaining book. I learned lessons from it that I’m putting into use for my own business, and I’m giving to clients to read as well. I highly recommend grabbing a copy and going on the truck ride with Poobah and Sunshine.