WEBVTT - How Big is Amazon? 0:00:00.080 --> 0:00:02.320 Guess what, Mango? What's that? Will? Did you know that 0:00:02.440 --> 0:00:05.040 the early days of Amazon dot Com they actually had 0:00:05.080 --> 0:00:07.920 this bell installed and they would ring it every time 0:00:07.960 --> 0:00:10.879 a book was sold. The employees we then rush over 0:00:10.880 --> 0:00:12.719 to see if they knew the name of the customer 0:00:12.720 --> 0:00:15.240 who had made the purchase. I mean, that's crazy. I mean, 0:00:15.440 --> 0:00:18.400 especially considering they now sell more than six items per 0:00:18.440 --> 0:00:21.080 second on their biggest days. I'm guessing they don't ring 0:00:21.120 --> 0:00:24.119 that bell anymore. Probably not, but actually it feels like 0:00:24.160 --> 0:00:26.000 they should do this as a symbol, like maybe get 0:00:26.079 --> 0:00:28.639 some intern that give them a bell and just be like, 0:00:28.720 --> 0:00:30.840 just just do your best every time in order comes in? 0:00:31.360 --> 0:00:33.080 All right, that that might be a little bit mean, 0:00:33.440 --> 0:00:35.519 but it is crazy to think just how much Amazon 0:00:35.560 --> 0:00:37.720 has grown in the past couple of decades, and how 0:00:37.720 --> 0:00:40.640 many industries they're involved in, and and the crazy things 0:00:40.640 --> 0:00:42.880 they may be up to next. So that's what today's 0:00:42.880 --> 0:01:03.160 episode is all about. Let's get started, either podcast listeners, 0:01:03.200 --> 0:01:05.400 Welcome to Part Time Genius. I'm Will Pearson and as 0:01:05.400 --> 0:01:07.639 always I'm joined by my good friend Man guesh Ticketter 0:01:08.000 --> 0:01:09.440 and the man on the other side of the sound 0:01:09.480 --> 0:01:12.800 proof glass. What did he do? He checking his stocks 0:01:12.800 --> 0:01:17.440 in the news anyway, whatever he's doing, that's our friend 0:01:17.440 --> 0:01:20.679 and producer Tristan McNeil. That's that's been so long since 0:01:20.680 --> 0:01:23.240 people check their stocks that way. But all right, well, 0:01:23.280 --> 0:01:25.959 today we're talking about Amazon dot Com, the company that, 0:01:26.040 --> 0:01:29.160 in twenty two short years has gone from this tiny 0:01:29.200 --> 0:01:32.960 garage based startup in Washington to the largest and most 0:01:32.959 --> 0:01:36.480 successful online purveyor of well, I mean, pretty much everything, 0:01:37.160 --> 0:01:39.399 and likely it feels like every week brings this fresh 0:01:39.440 --> 0:01:42.640 announcement from Amazon about some new product or venture that 0:01:42.680 --> 0:01:46.080 the company's launching, or some milestone has reached on its 0:01:46.120 --> 0:01:49.880 journey to total global domination. Right, and with all that 0:01:49.920 --> 0:01:51.800 recent news in mind, we thought it might be interesting 0:01:51.840 --> 0:01:54.480 to take a deep dive into Amazon's history and trying 0:01:54.480 --> 0:01:56.400 to get a sense of how it got so big 0:01:56.440 --> 0:01:58.360 and how much growing it could still do in the 0:01:58.440 --> 0:02:00.600 years ahead. And along the way, of course, we'll get 0:02:00.600 --> 0:02:02.800 a couple of PTG listeners on the line for a quiz. 0:02:03.120 --> 0:02:05.040 All right, So let's start from the beginning on this one, 0:02:05.040 --> 0:02:08.399 which which for Amazon was the your nineteen and that's 0:02:08.400 --> 0:02:10.920 when the founder and CEO of the company, Jeff Bezos, 0:02:11.000 --> 0:02:13.720 decided to quit his job at an investment firm and 0:02:13.760 --> 0:02:17.080 take a gamble by starting his own internet company, which 0:02:17.120 --> 0:02:20.880 is so risky. I mean this is remember the Internet 0:02:20.919 --> 0:02:23.360 was a new phenomena for most people, and buying something 0:02:23.360 --> 0:02:26.239 online was just about the shadiest, riskiest thing you could 0:02:26.240 --> 0:02:28.799 think of. Yeah, and Bezos saw the potential though, and 0:02:28.840 --> 0:02:31.760 when when he noticed the early rumblings of the impending 0:02:31.800 --> 0:02:36.000 Internet revolution while working on Wall Street. And according to him, quote, 0:02:36.280 --> 0:02:39.320 the wake up call was finding this startling statistic that 0:02:39.360 --> 0:02:44.519 web usage in the spring of was growing at a year. 0:02:45.000 --> 0:02:48.040 You know, things just don't grow that fast. It's highly unusual. 0:02:48.080 --> 0:02:51.000 And that started me about thinking what kind of business 0:02:51.080 --> 0:02:53.880 plan would make sense in the context of that growth. Well, 0:02:53.919 --> 0:02:56.400 apparently the kind that involves starting an online bookstore out 0:02:56.440 --> 0:02:58.680 of your garage, because that's what Jeff wound up doing 0:02:58.680 --> 0:03:01.320 when he founded Amazon just a year later. And you know, 0:03:01.440 --> 0:03:03.639 he wasn't sure what to name his company. The front 0:03:03.720 --> 0:03:07.240 runner name I found was actually Cadabra, which is a 0:03:07.240 --> 0:03:10.840 crib from that word abra cadabra, but that idea was 0:03:10.880 --> 0:03:13.000 scrapped when jeffs lawyer pointed out that it sounded a 0:03:13.040 --> 0:03:16.200 little too close to cadaver. That's kind of I could 0:03:16.200 --> 0:03:18.440 see how that might be an issue cadaver. So the 0:03:18.520 --> 0:03:22.720 name went from magician lingo to corpse, then to a river. 0:03:22.840 --> 0:03:26.600 So how exactly did that progression happened? Well, supposedly went 0:03:26.639 --> 0:03:28.560 with the river name for two reasons. The first was 0:03:28.600 --> 0:03:30.520 that the Amazon River is one of the largest and 0:03:30.600 --> 0:03:32.959 longest in the world, so the name has this built 0:03:33.000 --> 0:03:36.400 in connotation of scale. Uh and and the second reason 0:03:36.520 --> 0:03:39.800 was a bit more practical, like website listings for businesses 0:03:39.800 --> 0:03:42.600 were usually alphabetical back then, and Jeff wanted a place 0:03:42.640 --> 0:03:44.320 at the top of the list. So I love the 0:03:44.360 --> 0:03:47.320 idea of the alphabetical listings like that. That that happened 0:03:47.360 --> 0:03:50.400 at some point. Yeah, these have those directories, remember directory 0:03:50.400 --> 0:03:53.520 of websites. But but by the way, another name Bezos 0:03:53.560 --> 0:03:57.240 kicked around was Relentless, and while he eventually decided against it, 0:03:57.280 --> 0:03:59.480 if you type relentless dot com and your search bar, 0:03:59.800 --> 0:04:04.160 you actually get taken to Amazon. Cool. Yeah, all right, Well, 0:04:04.160 --> 0:04:08.000 well back to the company's founding. In the whole venture 0:04:08.160 --> 0:04:10.920 was Jeff's idea, but he definitely didn't get it off 0:04:10.920 --> 0:04:13.760 the ground by himself, and the initial capital for the 0:04:13.800 --> 0:04:17.240 site actually came from his parents and admittedly, they didn't 0:04:17.240 --> 0:04:20.280 really understand what their money was going toward. In fact, 0:04:20.279 --> 0:04:23.000 the very first question Jeff's dad asked after hearing the 0:04:23.040 --> 0:04:26.600 pitch for this web based bookstore was what's the internet? 0:04:27.720 --> 0:04:30.159 You know. Nonetheless, jeff parents ponied up a large portion 0:04:30.200 --> 0:04:32.400 of their life savings. I mean, this was hundreds of 0:04:32.440 --> 0:04:35.680 thousands of dollars all for their son's crazy dream of 0:04:35.720 --> 0:04:39.640 opening this invisible bookstores. They saw it. Yeah, that's so serious, 0:04:39.720 --> 0:04:43.640 unconditional love. But thankfully, Mom Potizos have done pretty well 0:04:43.640 --> 0:04:46.320 on their investment. Uh. And that's to put it mildly. 0:04:47.080 --> 0:04:48.799 I mean the site was a success from the start, 0:04:48.880 --> 0:04:51.960 and that was with zero press promotion. I mean Amazon 0:04:52.040 --> 0:04:54.800 sold books to customers in all fifty states and forty 0:04:54.839 --> 0:04:58.240 five different countries within its first month of operation. It's 0:04:58.279 --> 0:05:00.840 pretty incredible. Yeah, but it's second on. The site was 0:05:00.880 --> 0:05:04.200 making more than twenty dollars in sales per week, and 0:05:04.240 --> 0:05:06.120 that was way more than Jeff and his tiny startup 0:05:06.120 --> 0:05:08.719 team ever anticipated. Yeah. You know, I still laugh thinking 0:05:08.720 --> 0:05:11.039 about them ringing a bell with every sale in those 0:05:11.080 --> 0:05:13.760 early days. Yeah, and especially thinking about that stat we 0:05:13.839 --> 0:05:17.920 discussed earlier where peak times Amazon's annual prime day. For instance, 0:05:18.120 --> 0:05:23.920 the company sells over six items per second. Never stopped ringing. Yeah, 0:05:23.920 --> 0:05:26.280 I would be a total nightmare. Speaking of which, did 0:05:26.279 --> 0:05:29.239 you hear about that early Amazon software bug? It basically 0:05:29.279 --> 0:05:31.880 handed out free money to customers? Oh I did, I'm 0:05:31.880 --> 0:05:34.240 sorry I missed out on this. What happened a fairly 0:05:34.240 --> 0:05:36.480 There was a glitch in the program that allowed users 0:05:36.520 --> 0:05:39.159 to order a negative quality of books, and the site 0:05:39.160 --> 0:05:40.960 would end up crediting the cost of the books to 0:05:41.040 --> 0:05:43.800 the customer's credit card. I mean, Amazon's team caught onto 0:05:43.800 --> 0:05:46.960 it pretty quickly, but but it's still kind of amazing. Yeah, 0:05:47.000 --> 0:05:49.200 you know. And Amazon has always been good about identifying 0:05:49.240 --> 0:05:53.200 these hiccups in its service and quickly getting solutions in place. 0:05:53.279 --> 0:05:55.560 And one great example of this is the decision to 0:05:55.640 --> 0:05:58.359 branch out from book sales just three years after the 0:05:58.360 --> 0:06:01.000 company's launch. And don't get me wrong, I mean, books 0:06:01.000 --> 0:06:03.679 were a smart choice to start out with because they're sturdy, 0:06:03.839 --> 0:06:06.440 they're fairly uniform in shape, and all of that makes 0:06:06.480 --> 0:06:09.520 them easy to store and ship and bulk. But focusing 0:06:09.520 --> 0:06:11.720 on just one product, you know, no matter how popular 0:06:11.920 --> 0:06:14.440 or convenient it is, it puts a cap on the 0:06:14.440 --> 0:06:17.080 company's growth potential. And it left a lot of money 0:06:17.160 --> 0:06:19.040 on the table, as they saw it, and and that's 0:06:19.120 --> 0:06:22.000 ultimately why Amazon started selling other forms of media. They 0:06:22.160 --> 0:06:26.360 moved into CDs and DVDs, and they then moved into 0:06:26.440 --> 0:06:29.719 things like clothing and toys and electronics, and since then 0:06:29.800 --> 0:06:33.400 it's just about anything else. I Mean, what's baffling to 0:06:33.440 --> 0:06:35.880 me is that Amazon's like one of the few expanding 0:06:35.880 --> 0:06:38.520 e commerce sites that actually managed to survive that whole 0:06:38.640 --> 0:06:40.560 dot bomb bust, you know that are the one in 0:06:40.560 --> 0:06:43.240 the late nineties and early two thousands, and and I 0:06:43.240 --> 0:06:45.520 don't know if you remember, but like, there are so many, 0:06:45.680 --> 0:06:48.200 I think there are hundreds of online retail startups. I mean, 0:06:48.480 --> 0:06:51.400 we remember things like pets dot com and Cosmo dot com. 0:06:51.480 --> 0:06:54.480 But there was just so much hype. Yeah, and there's 0:06:54.480 --> 0:06:57.120 been all this excitement about the burgeoning online market, and 0:06:57.440 --> 0:07:00.359 investors were quick to back these fledgling companies that really 0:07:00.360 --> 0:07:03.839 had no long term plan or business model really and 0:07:03.839 --> 0:07:06.479 and then once the huge losses started mounting, they all 0:07:06.480 --> 0:07:09.040 that funding dried up and the dot com bubble burst, 0:07:09.120 --> 0:07:11.400 of course, So I'm curious how did Amazon manage to 0:07:11.400 --> 0:07:14.240 come through all of that unscathed. Well, for one thing, 0:07:14.320 --> 0:07:15.960 and this was something I really didn't know, but just 0:07:16.040 --> 0:07:19.080 looking into this that Amazon was a lot more frugal 0:07:19.120 --> 0:07:21.400 than some of the cash happy startups that were spending 0:07:21.720 --> 0:07:24.360 so much money on things like lavish office space and 0:07:24.400 --> 0:07:27.160 all these wild parties that you read about. And you know, 0:07:27.200 --> 0:07:30.280 for example, Amazon's offices used to have these makeshift what 0:07:30.320 --> 0:07:33.360 they called door desks for workers to use. According to 0:07:33.400 --> 0:07:37.040 former employee Greg Lindon, the company would quote buy a 0:07:37.040 --> 0:07:40.000 wooden door, preferably a hollow core wooden door with no 0:07:40.120 --> 0:07:42.960 whole free drilled saw, a couple of four by four 0:07:43.040 --> 0:07:45.680 by six pillars in half, bolt them to the door 0:07:45.760 --> 0:07:48.720 with a couple of scary looking angle brackets, put them 0:07:48.720 --> 0:07:53.040 in front of a programmer, and doordesk. That's what it is. 0:07:53.080 --> 0:07:55.480 But I mean, there's no way Amazon survived just by 0:07:55.480 --> 0:07:58.120 pitching pennies on a few door dusks. No, I mean, 0:07:58.160 --> 0:08:00.480 but it's not like Amazon was completely she folded from 0:08:00.520 --> 0:08:02.720 the dot com crisis either. The at one point in 0:08:02.760 --> 0:08:05.760 two thousand one, the company's stock plummeted from a high 0:08:05.760 --> 0:08:07.920 of about a hundred dollars per share to a low 0:08:08.000 --> 0:08:11.200 of just six bucks. You know, Bezos was said to 0:08:11.200 --> 0:08:13.200 have taken all of this in stride, though, I mean, 0:08:13.200 --> 0:08:15.600 he said he preferred to focus on the ever increasing 0:08:15.680 --> 0:08:18.640 cash flow that Amazon had to play with. He felt 0:08:18.640 --> 0:08:21.679 the long term opportunities afforded by this capital would secure 0:08:21.720 --> 0:08:25.080 the company's future, even if that meant profits would stay 0:08:25.080 --> 0:08:28.400 at or you know, even below zero for the time being. Yeah. 0:08:28.480 --> 0:08:31.080 Doing the research for this episode really highlighted how much 0:08:31.120 --> 0:08:34.880 more Amazon values revenue over net income. But since most 0:08:34.920 --> 0:08:37.280 of us tend to use those terms interchangeably, I just 0:08:37.320 --> 0:08:39.439 want to give a quick note about the distinction between 0:08:39.480 --> 0:08:42.480 the two. So, in a financial context, revenue is the 0:08:42.480 --> 0:08:45.800 total amount of money generated through everything the company sells, right, 0:08:46.240 --> 0:08:49.800 and net income refers to just the company's profits. So 0:08:50.200 --> 0:08:52.520 that's the amount of money that it stays after you 0:08:52.600 --> 0:08:55.320 take away you know, the company's operating costs and and 0:08:55.360 --> 0:08:58.760 all their other expenses. Yeah. So for two thousand and sixteen, 0:08:58.840 --> 0:09:01.560 just looking at the number here, Amazon earned about a 0:09:01.640 --> 0:09:04.920 hundred and thirty six billion in revenue, but it only 0:09:04.960 --> 0:09:09.160 reported two point three billion as actual profit only only time. 0:09:10.120 --> 0:09:12.200 And how depressing would that be if our business only 0:09:12.240 --> 0:09:15.800 generated two point three billion and actual profit. But you know, 0:09:15.840 --> 0:09:18.680 sometimes you'll see reports that Amazon never turns a profit 0:09:18.760 --> 0:09:22.120 despite being this huge sales juggernaut, but that's not really 0:09:22.120 --> 0:09:25.160 the case at this point. Yeah. I mean, it's true 0:09:25.160 --> 0:09:27.760 that the company didn't report a profit until six years 0:09:27.760 --> 0:09:32.040 after it launched, and even today Amazon fluctuates between losses 0:09:32.120 --> 0:09:35.200 and gains and breaking even all on a quarterly basis. 0:09:35.480 --> 0:09:37.800 But the thing to remember is that those sometimes less 0:09:37.800 --> 0:09:41.080 in stellar profit margins are all part of visas plan. 0:09:41.600 --> 0:09:43.920 Like Amazon makes a ton of money, it's just that 0:09:43.960 --> 0:09:46.520 most of that money is immediately reinvested in the company's 0:09:46.520 --> 0:09:49.839 growth and diversification, rather than being divvied up amongst its 0:09:49.840 --> 0:09:53.520 employees and shareholders or set aside for a rainy day. Well, 0:09:53.520 --> 0:09:55.640 and that's how we ended up with things like Prime 0:09:55.720 --> 0:09:59.439 Shipping and the Kindle Alexa and all these other services 0:09:59.440 --> 0:10:01.680 and gadgets that the company has developed and rolled out 0:10:01.679 --> 0:10:04.800 over the years in lieu of banking these sky high profits. 0:10:05.280 --> 0:10:08.040 So Bezos convinced the company to set aside short term 0:10:08.040 --> 0:10:11.720 income really more in favor of long term expansion, And 0:10:11.800 --> 0:10:14.120 just like the early move beyond books, the decision has 0:10:14.160 --> 0:10:17.280 definitely paid off in a huge way. Yeah, and they're 0:10:17.320 --> 0:10:19.480 all kinds of examples of that payoff. But I think 0:10:19.480 --> 0:10:23.120 Amazon's Web services division, the a WS, is probably the 0:10:23.120 --> 0:10:26.319 best one. That's the cloud computing business that Amazon started 0:10:26.320 --> 0:10:28.800 in two thousand two, right after the dot com crash, 0:10:28.920 --> 0:10:33.120 and it's really prescient these days. A WS is actually 0:10:33.120 --> 0:10:35.960 the most profitable part of the company. And if you 0:10:35.960 --> 0:10:38.440 look at it, like last year when Amazon reported the 0:10:38.440 --> 0:10:41.040 two point three billion dollars in income that you mentioned 0:10:41.280 --> 0:10:44.360 the profits from their web services that represented more than 0:10:44.440 --> 0:10:47.160 half of that take. Yeah, so so really the company's 0:10:47.200 --> 0:10:49.440 biggest money maker has nothing to do with selling or 0:10:49.440 --> 0:10:52.280 shipping physical products at all, which is just amazing to 0:10:52.280 --> 0:10:54.760 think of more than half of the company's profits coming 0:10:54.840 --> 0:10:57.320 from a part of the company that most people really 0:10:57.360 --> 0:11:00.400 don't even know exists or understanding exactly what it is. 0:11:00.480 --> 0:11:02.400 And so for our listeners who might be going a 0:11:02.400 --> 0:11:04.840 little cross side at the mention of web services and 0:11:04.960 --> 0:11:08.479 cloud computing, you know, here's a little bit of an explanation. 0:11:08.520 --> 0:11:11.280 So to just think about these companies that maybe startups 0:11:11.360 --> 0:11:14.120 or even bigger companies, and they know that as they grow, 0:11:14.520 --> 0:11:16.600 they're going to need new servers, they're going to need 0:11:16.679 --> 0:11:19.640 to equipment all to be able to manage the you know, 0:11:19.679 --> 0:11:22.960 a bigger online business. But it's hard to predict exactly 0:11:23.000 --> 0:11:24.959 how quickly you're going to grow, and if you were 0:11:24.960 --> 0:11:27.720 having to buy these servers in every piece of equipment 0:11:27.720 --> 0:11:31.280 to predict that each time, it can get extraordinarily expensive. 0:11:31.280 --> 0:11:34.160 And so to be able to just use Amazon Services 0:11:34.200 --> 0:11:37.040 and Amazon servers saves them a ton of money and 0:11:37.080 --> 0:11:39.439 allows them to grow at exactly the rate they need 0:11:39.480 --> 0:11:42.600 to grow. Yeah, but what's interesting that isn't just like 0:11:42.679 --> 0:11:45.640 small companies and startups that are taking advantage of this arrangement, 0:11:46.000 --> 0:11:48.840 like big companies actually use it too. And if you 0:11:48.840 --> 0:11:52.920 look at the client list, it's like Netflix, Instagram, Spotify, Airbnb. 0:11:53.360 --> 0:11:55.920 They all rely on a w S servers for their power, 0:11:56.240 --> 0:11:59.240 and even the government's partnered with a WS like did 0:11:59.280 --> 0:12:01.280 you know the cia A uses them? I mean they 0:12:01.280 --> 0:12:03.720 owe much of its computing power to a customize cloud 0:12:03.800 --> 0:12:06.800 on the AWS servers that most of the division's one 0:12:06.840 --> 0:12:10.560 million plus customers represent for profit businesses, but there are 0:12:10.600 --> 0:12:14.480 also about eighteen thousand nonprofits, five thousand schools, and close 0:12:14.520 --> 0:12:17.640 to two thousand government agencies to wow, and you know, 0:12:17.760 --> 0:12:20.640 all that attention and profitability has caught the attention of 0:12:20.679 --> 0:12:22.960 these other mammoth companies who now want in on this 0:12:23.040 --> 0:12:26.840 cloud computing industry. You've got place like IBM and Microsoft 0:12:26.880 --> 0:12:30.240 and Google. They've all started investing tons of money into 0:12:30.240 --> 0:12:33.800 growing their competing services. Of course, a WS has poised 0:12:33.800 --> 0:12:37.280 to make a record setting sixteen billion dollars in revenue 0:12:37.320 --> 0:12:39.560 this year. The other guys have a long way to 0:12:39.600 --> 0:12:41.560 go if they have any chance at trying to catch 0:12:41.640 --> 0:12:44.160 up with Amazon, which is exactly how Amazon likes that, 0:12:44.200 --> 0:12:46.040 I'm sure. I mean, they've made a habit of getting 0:12:46.040 --> 0:12:47.600 out in front of the competition when it comes to 0:12:47.600 --> 0:12:50.720 emerging tech and infrastructure, and that's to the chagrin of 0:12:50.800 --> 0:12:54.560 all these rival companies and traditional brick and mortar stores. Yeah, 0:12:54.559 --> 0:12:56.320 why don't we talk a little bit about some of 0:12:56.320 --> 0:12:58.839 the other innovations that have given Amazon a leg up 0:12:58.880 --> 0:13:01.520 over the years, and including a few on the horizon 0:13:01.559 --> 0:13:06.560 that do raise some serious questions about things like consumer privacy. Yeah, definitely, 0:13:06.559 --> 0:13:08.000 But why don't we get a listener on the line 0:13:08.000 --> 0:13:17.319 for a quiz first? All right, so Ango, we've got 0:13:17.320 --> 0:13:19.960 a brilliant listener on the line right now, and I 0:13:20.000 --> 0:13:22.520 know we're going to be doing today's quiz about Amazon 0:13:22.640 --> 0:13:25.559 because of the episode today. But the reason we've actually 0:13:25.559 --> 0:13:27.959 got today's guest on the phone is because he called 0:13:27.960 --> 0:13:31.320 into our Fact hotline with a terrific story related to 0:13:31.400 --> 0:13:35.520 our Sugary Serials episode. So, Jeffrey Nichols, welcome to Part 0:13:35.520 --> 0:13:39.320 Time Genius. Well, thank you for having me. All right, So, Jeffrey, 0:13:39.360 --> 0:13:41.440 we we really need you to share with our listeners 0:13:41.440 --> 0:13:44.640 what you told us and your voicemail. So it turns 0:13:44.640 --> 0:13:47.840 out that you actually won a grand prize from a 0:13:47.920 --> 0:13:51.000 box of wheaties almost thirty years ago. Is this right? 0:13:52.360 --> 0:13:56.920 That that is correct? I had forgotten about it until 0:13:57.679 --> 0:14:00.520 you got to the end of the Sugary Cerial episode 0:14:00.520 --> 0:14:03.000 when you were discussing the prizes and how they had 0:14:03.040 --> 0:14:06.320 to start putting. They couldn't put them in the actual 0:14:06.360 --> 0:14:08.720 bag of cereal, and it was in the bag between 0:14:08.760 --> 0:14:10.920 that and the box. And then I stopped in my 0:14:11.000 --> 0:14:14.280 tracks while I was walking my dog and realized I 0:14:14.440 --> 0:14:17.720 won one of those. And so, needless to say, I 0:14:17.760 --> 0:14:21.200 had the Facebook you guys instantly and then lo and 0:14:21.240 --> 0:14:24.720 behold you guys enjoyed by doing that and had me 0:14:24.800 --> 0:14:27.680 leave the message on the fact. Yeah, but you got 0:14:27.800 --> 0:14:30.920 you gotta tell everyone what you want because it's crazy. Um, 0:14:31.000 --> 0:14:34.440 So there was there was a box of Walter Payton Wheatie's, 0:14:34.560 --> 0:14:42.040 which I imagine was probably procured in the fall, because 0:14:42.200 --> 0:14:45.680 that's that's when they're playing football, and Walter Payton was 0:14:45.720 --> 0:14:52.040 still a demigogue at that time. And I months and 0:14:52.120 --> 0:14:55.360 months later, I the box of cereal was still there. 0:14:55.680 --> 0:14:59.280 I poured it in in this plastic envelope, her plunked 0:14:59.320 --> 0:15:03.000 in the bowl and you know, we've all had that 0:15:03.040 --> 0:15:06.480 happened a million times. But for whatever reason, I opened 0:15:06.520 --> 0:15:11.800 it up and it said you won, and I uh. 0:15:11.880 --> 0:15:14.120 I was still living at home because I was a teenager, 0:15:14.200 --> 0:15:16.240 and I and I yelled up to my mom and 0:15:16.600 --> 0:15:19.560 you're never gonna believe this, but we won the grand prize, 0:15:19.560 --> 0:15:23.720 which turned out to be a thousand dollars cash and 0:15:23.840 --> 0:15:27.760 a week in Aspen slash Snowmac with the Phil and 0:15:27.960 --> 0:15:32.360 Steve Mayer, who were the greatest Olympic American skiers of 0:15:32.400 --> 0:15:37.280 all time at that point. And so it just it 0:15:37.400 --> 0:15:40.720 was happening. It was falling at the end of what 0:15:40.960 --> 0:15:43.960 was my spring break of I guess would have been 0:15:44.000 --> 0:15:47.000 the spring of eighty nine, my senior year, And so 0:15:47.080 --> 0:15:52.080 my mom flew and I flew up to Colorado and 0:15:52.160 --> 0:15:57.680 the most bizarre aspect of this whole uh contest was 0:15:57.760 --> 0:16:01.480 that I was the only person who won the contest 0:16:01.640 --> 0:16:05.440 by accident. And what do you mean? Well, I didn't 0:16:05.440 --> 0:16:08.640 realize that, because why would I I was only teen 0:16:08.720 --> 0:16:11.720 and a half years old. But there's a whole subculture 0:16:11.720 --> 0:16:16.760 in America apparently who everything that they eat and consume 0:16:17.160 --> 0:16:24.640 and where and do is because of no purchase necessary. Um. 0:16:24.680 --> 0:16:28.880 They have these big ledgers filled um from front to 0:16:28.920 --> 0:16:32.520 back and top to bottom with every contest that they 0:16:32.560 --> 0:16:37.120 are currently uh entered in, and and that's how they live. 0:16:37.360 --> 0:16:40.240 It was the bizarre I mean, of all of the winners, 0:16:40.280 --> 0:16:43.480 they were all looking at each other's ledgers to see 0:16:43.480 --> 0:16:48.080 where they were in proximity to everybody else's occupations. But 0:16:48.320 --> 0:16:51.480 so I was the only person who skied, and so 0:16:51.640 --> 0:16:54.600 Phil Mere and I just skied all day every day 0:16:54.640 --> 0:16:57.160 and ask them because all of the other Grand Prize 0:16:57.200 --> 0:17:00.840 players they were all back in their hotel room working. 0:17:01.640 --> 0:17:03.400 I do love that you actually one of the Grand Prize. 0:17:03.400 --> 0:17:06.680 That sort of restores some faith in these serial prizes 0:17:06.680 --> 0:17:08.639 for me, because you know, you always see these massive 0:17:08.640 --> 0:17:10.720 prizes and you don't think anyone's actually winning them. So 0:17:10.760 --> 0:17:14.040 I'm glad to know you want it. Yeah, it was, 0:17:14.240 --> 0:17:16.879 I mean it was. It was very cool and in 0:17:17.080 --> 0:17:18.800 just so look, I mean it was as cool to 0:17:18.920 --> 0:17:21.200 have one as it was to find out that there 0:17:21.359 --> 0:17:24.879 is a subculture. Um he was to say it was funny. 0:17:24.880 --> 0:17:27.959 When the topic of the thousand dollars cash came up, 0:17:28.119 --> 0:17:32.040 my mother quickly reminded me as to who bought the cereal, 0:17:32.600 --> 0:17:37.280 So that's who was also pocketing the thousand dollars cads. Well, 0:17:37.320 --> 0:17:39.280 that is a great story and actually gives us an 0:17:39.320 --> 0:17:42.679 idea for a future episode on that subculture. But for 0:17:42.760 --> 0:17:46.560 today's episode, since we're focused on Amazon, we're going to 0:17:46.640 --> 0:17:49.199 have a related quiz. Now, angle what what quiz are 0:17:49.200 --> 0:17:51.680 we having Jeffrey play today? So we're playing a game 0:17:51.720 --> 0:17:54.560 called one star movie Reviews and this all comes from 0:17:54.600 --> 0:17:58.160 the great Twitter account Amazon movie Reviews, which is which 0:17:58.200 --> 0:18:00.720 is hilarious. And so there's actually a review on there 0:18:00.760 --> 0:18:03.080 for Tooth Fairy Too that I was looking at starring 0:18:03.160 --> 0:18:06.560 Larry the Cable Guy, I think, and so the review says, 0:18:07.119 --> 0:18:10.480 I have kids, they wanted to watch it. Sometimes I 0:18:10.520 --> 0:18:16.480 wish I didn't have kids. One star my favorite on 0:18:16.520 --> 0:18:18.600 there's actually this five star review on the site. It's 0:18:18.640 --> 0:18:22.200 for boss Baby, and it just reads, quote, this movie 0:18:22.200 --> 0:18:26.160 saved my marriage five stars. That's pretty incredible. All right, So, Jeffrey, 0:18:26.160 --> 0:18:28.880 we're going to read you some reviews from the site there, 0:18:28.920 --> 0:18:30.560 and all you have to do is tell us what 0:18:30.680 --> 0:18:35.119 movie they're referring to you. Ready to play? Alright? Review 0:18:35.200 --> 0:18:39.240 number one, there were no wolves in this movie? One star. 0:18:39.960 --> 0:18:43.760 So what two thousand thirteen movie featuring Leonardo DiCaprio are 0:18:43.800 --> 0:18:47.879 we talking about. I would have to say The Wolf 0:18:47.920 --> 0:18:50.800 of Wall Street. Yeah, that's right. So they're actually a 0:18:50.880 --> 0:18:53.919 similar one star reviews for The Accountant, which says not 0:18:54.040 --> 0:18:57.639 enough accounting in this movie, and Cars, which simply says, 0:18:58.000 --> 0:19:02.320 I see enough cars in real life. All right, all right, 0:19:02.400 --> 0:19:04.639 you're one for one, Jeffrey, here we go. Number two. 0:19:05.320 --> 0:19:09.080 What Nickelodeon cartoon about an intrepid Mexican girl who loves 0:19:09.119 --> 0:19:12.840 to travel got the following review? Hate it? Who lets 0:19:12.880 --> 0:19:15.080 their three year old go on adventures with just a 0:19:15.080 --> 0:19:21.560 monkey for supervision? I would have to say Dora the Explorer. 0:19:22.119 --> 0:19:25.840 Absolutely your two for two? All right too for two? 0:19:25.920 --> 0:19:30.159 Question number three, This classic Judy Garland movie features some 0:19:30.240 --> 0:19:33.399 monkey talk as well. There's a one star review that reads, 0:19:33.480 --> 0:19:37.560 flying monkeys, that's too far fetched. I would certainly hope 0:19:37.600 --> 0:19:42.800 they were referring to the Yeah, of course, and I 0:19:43.160 --> 0:19:45.359 love that, like evil witches and a tin man and 0:19:45.400 --> 0:19:47.879 a talking line are all within the realm of possibility. 0:19:47.960 --> 0:19:51.720 But somehow flying monkeys are a step too far. Alright. 0:19:51.800 --> 0:19:54.439 Question number four, You're doing great so far. This review 0:19:54.480 --> 0:19:59.080 starts quote, I've never seen penguins dance. This propaganda film 0:19:59.160 --> 0:20:02.040 is meant to deprive of us of tuna. What movie 0:20:02.040 --> 0:20:04.879 about dancing penguins which shares its name with an old 0:20:04.920 --> 0:20:08.439 cab callaway song? Are we talking about? That would be 0:20:08.520 --> 0:20:13.359 happy feats? Yeah, you're right, a four for four. Nice job. 0:20:13.440 --> 0:20:15.000 Let's see if you can bring it home with the 0:20:15.080 --> 0:20:17.920 last one and go five for five. Question number five, 0:20:18.520 --> 0:20:22.440 This review disappointedly sums up the movie quote one star, 0:20:22.800 --> 0:20:28.399 the boat sinks. What movie are we talking about? That 0:20:28.440 --> 0:20:32.120 would be tight hand? That's amazing, Jeffrey. So you went 0:20:32.200 --> 0:20:34.800 five for five, which gets you an official part Time 0:20:34.840 --> 0:20:37.760 Genius Certificate of Genius along with the part Time Genius 0:20:37.800 --> 0:20:54.520 t shirts. So congratulations, thank you. You're listening to part 0:20:54.520 --> 0:20:56.840 Time Genius and we're talking about the innovative thinking and 0:20:56.920 --> 0:20:59.960 breakthrough technologies that have made Amazon one of the fastest 0:21:00.040 --> 0:21:04.200 growing and most ubiquitous companies in history. And just how 0:21:04.200 --> 0:21:07.560 prevalent is Amazon exactly? According to a report out earlier 0:21:07.600 --> 0:21:11.440 this year from Walker Sands Communication, an astounding eighty four 0:21:11.560 --> 0:21:14.760 percent of US consumers have bought something from Amazon in 0:21:14.800 --> 0:21:19.119 the past. Unbelievable and as far as consumer basis go, 0:21:19.240 --> 0:21:21.800 that's just about as good as you could possibly get. 0:21:21.840 --> 0:21:24.199 It's pretty much everyone. Yeah, And and part of the 0:21:24.200 --> 0:21:26.200 reasons so many people buy from Amazon is that the 0:21:26.200 --> 0:21:28.640 company has gotten so good at selling what you want, 0:21:28.960 --> 0:21:31.640