Jeff Bezos reveals the secret to build a successful business like Amazon

Jeff Bezos said people often overestimate risks while underestimating the potential opportunities.

Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, in an recent interview, opened up about the mindset and strategies that helped him build one of the world’s most successful companies and his continued ambitions for the future. Currently the world’s second-richest person with a net worth of $246 billion, Bezos has seen a $69.3 billion increase in his wealth in 2024 alone, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.

Bezos discussed his approach to achieving massive success, particularly in founding and scaling Amazon, as well as his space exploration venture, Blue Origin. When asked about his confidence in building large-scale companies, Bezos shared a thought-provoking perspective on risk and opportunity.

He noted that it is common for people to overestimate risks while underestimating the potential opportunities. To counteract this tendency, Bezos advised entrepreneurs to recognize that the risks they perceive might not be as significant as they seem, and the opportunities before them could be more substantial than they anticipate.

“You say it’s confidence, but maybe I’m just accepting that human bias and trying to compensate against it,” Bezos explained while speaking at the New York Times DealBook Summit last week.

He further emphasised the importance of thinking big, stating, “The second thing I would point out is that thinking small is a self-fulfilling prophecy.”

According to Jeff Bezos, if a person believes they can only achieve small things, their actions will inevitably align with that belief, preventing them from reaching their full potential.