Amazons best trailblazers are the people that helped Amazon grow from a fledgling online bookstore to the giant it is today. These pioneers came in with innovative ideas, thinking outside the box and challenging convention. They also pushed Amazon to build new and better services, widening their horizons as they went along. They includes;
1. Jeff Bezos
The founder of Amazon .com [Jeff Bezos], conventional wisdom has it that he came up with the idea for Amazon as he was driving from New York City back to Seattle on the interstate. The story goes that he wanted a copy of Farenheit 451, and, finding it expensive at $8, he thought people would be attracted to an online bookstore. However, some have now said this is a myth, and it happened in 1994 not 1995. Nonetheless, it’s true that Bezos is one of the greatest trailblazers in their history. He not only founded the company but has been there since day one and is still active today – driving innovation forward while leading every program they have going.
2. Richard Hugus
Richard Hugus joined Amazon in April of 1995 as senior vice president of systems. He had worked for IBM for 13 years, helping that company become large enough to split into the number one and number two PC companies. It was Richard who convinced Amazon to start using Oracle databases to create a standardized back end system to allow them to handle 70% of what they were doing online. Previously they had used a combination of products by Informix and Sybase so the transition was quite painful. But without these standardized systems Amazon may not have expanded so quickly.
3. Shel Kaphan [1947-2003]
A long time employee who played a vital role in shaping amazon through his work as chief programmer. He was responsible for the creation of the infrastructure that drove Amazon’s book catalog, which included file compression and a search function. He also played a part in application design and led the team that created Amazon’s first web page.
4. Ryan Zurrer
He joined the company in 1998 as vice president of international operations, after being president of online distributor Drugstore.com for an unsuccessful IPO later that year, he left to join Amazon .com Inc . where he was eventually made vice president of global marketing in 2000. In his time at Amazons he helped build a solid foundation from which they could grow internationally with his help they have been able to expand into numerous countries including Japan and many others with equal success.
