On Amazon founder Jeff Bezos’s last day as the CEO of the global tech giant on Monday, those who worked with him remember everything from blockbuster launches to times spent with the boss and what they learnt from him.

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Dan Rose, chairman, Coatue Ventures, who spent two decades at Amazon and Facebook, shared a series of tweets on what he learnt from Bezos.

“Develop a bias for action,” said Rose about one of the most important things he learned from Bezos during the launch of Kindle.

One of the most important things I learned from Jeff Bezos was to develop a bias for action. He wasn't always right, but he was always ready to act (and he was right much more than wrong). Like the time we were flying to Chicago and nearly wound up in Paris. Here's what happened:

— Dan Rose (@DanRose999) July 5, 2021

Admitting that Bezos wasn't always right but he was right much more than wrong, but he was always ready to act, reminisces Rose.

In November 2007, Kindle revolutionised reading thanks to its high-resolution electronic paper display and compact design.

Amazon faced challenges such as slow processors, limited memory, stiff competition from Apple iBooks and Newsstand; hindrance to publishers; customisation to Kindle firestick; unclear positioning; unsure of acceptance by tech-savvy media junkies, etc.

In 2004, Rose joined Steve Kessel's newly formed digital team to incubate the Kindle. The Kindle device was a formidable and intimidating initiative for Amazon, he said.

Rose remembered the time they were flying to Chicago and nearly wound up in Paris.

It turned out that Bezos had met the CEO of Motorola, who invited him to Chicago for a tour and meetings. And Bezos invited Kessel who added Rose and two others from the team.

Rose remembered that Bezos was fired up from the start, the moment they all got on his plane in Seattle (Washington). Bezos was posing strategy questions and brainstorming our approach to hardware, software and content (my job). He had us captive for four hours and didn't waste a second.

When Bezos asked about their strategy for getting book publishers on board with digital books, Rose said that they would need a DRM solution (like Apple had done with music).

Rose mentioned that there was a small start-up based in Paris that had already built DRM for e-books and we might want to acquire them.

When Bezos heard this, he said, "let's fly straight to Paris and buy this company", according to Rose. He thought Bezos was kidding but found out later that he was dead serious.

Kessel reminded Bezos that they had two days of operating reviews scheduled with the executive team later that particular week. But Jeff said he would move or cancel them.

Ultimately, Kessel convinced Jeff to keep the existing itinerary, tweeted Rose. Kessel and Rose would eventually fly to Paris and acquire Mobipocket as their DRM for Kindle. On April 15, 2005, Amazon.com, Inc. acquired software company Mobipocket SA.

This was Amazon’s first transaction in the software sector and in France.

And the rest, as they say, is history!

The original Kindle service had 90,000 books available to purchase and download. The Kindle sold out within 5.5 hours of its release on November 19, 2007, says the company.

Pocket Lint's then editor Chris Hall noted that Kindle was dubbed as "the iPod of reading".

The launch became a case study in B-schools.

Replying to Rose, Alex Ullman tweeted that Hank Paulson had said that Bezos wasn’t necessarily the smartest in the room in a given challenging situation, but he was always the first to run toward the fire.

Hank Paulson said he wasn’t necessarily the smartest in the room in a given challenging situation, but he was always the first to run toward the fire.

— Alex Ullman (@ullmanalex) July 5, 2021

(Edited by : Ajay Vaishnav)