nelsonic
commented
5 years ago Unrelated to the idea of "collaborative commerce" ...
Bezos has really "shot himself in the foot" by having an "affair" with Lauren Sánchez ... 😞 I'm not going to link to any "scandal" tabloid noise, 🔗 👎 (because privacy invasion is not "news"!) but if you are "people-curious", search for "bezos sanchez" ... 🙄 Jeff should definitely not have "cheated" on his wife ... (what a schoolboy error!) 🤦♂️ McKenzie has (by all accounts) been Jeff's biggest supporter read: https://www.amazon.com/Everything-Store-Jeff-Bezos-Amazon/dp/B00FJFJOLC ... So betraying her shows a deep character flaw that people should not ignore.
But the way he is reacting to the personal data leaks is very interesting indeed: https://medium.com/@jeffreypbezos/no-thank-you-mr-pecker-146e3922310f via: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19109474
Simple: build a better product search engine where people can collaborate in real-time.
The reason there are so many people in history who are billionaires out of retail and more recently e-commerce is simple: information asymmetry https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Information_asymmetry The seller knows where to buy the product cheaper than they are selling it. The buyer either doesn't have the information/knowledge or doesn't want to spend the time to investigate it and as a result pays more for the product.
The successful retailer does the exact same thing that a successful "general" does in battle: "divide and conquer" ... The general (or soldier) knows that the "enemy" is weaker when they are divided. The same is true for the "consumer", the consumer pays more for products when they buy individually from the retailer. The individual has zero bargaining power and is forced to take the "price" determined by the retailer. But if people had a way of sharing their product searches and consolidating them into a bulk order then negotiation is possible and everyone benefits from the lower price while eliminating the "middle man".
When I worked at Groupon we often discussed making the platform a tool for collective buying. But sadly, the "MBAs" didn't get it so they instead made it into a "me too" online retailer. 😞
This opportunity is still wide open.
If anyone is interested in executing on this idea, making the world a much better place (by cutting out the middle men) and making life cheaper for the lowest income people, comment below!!