“Value is Paramount,” Sinegal to Bezos. Back in the early 2000s, the dot-com bubble decimated many tech companies, and Amazon faced an existential crisis.
A then-struggling Jeff Bezos met with Jim Sinegal, founder of Costco, according to the 2013 book “The Everything Store,” by journalist Brad Stone.
Sinegal told Bezos that Costco found success by reducing costs which included securing the best pricing on bulk goods. However, low cost does not mean low quality. Sinegal emphasized that “Value is Paramount,” and that customers will be happy if they get a high-quality product for a great price.
Fast forward over two decades… (and benefiting from antiquated anti-trust laws and preferential corporation laws) …Amazon enjoys a market cap greater than the GDPs of Mexico, Switzerland, and the Netherlands.