Amazon’s First Non-Employee Customer and What He Bought
Amazon’s First Non-Employee Customer and What He Bought

The story of John Wainwright and his journey to the first purchase at Amazon.

Author purchased rights via adobe stock photos

Vincent Van Gogh once wrote that, “Great things are not done by impulse, but by a series of small things brought together.”

In many ways, the beginnings of a business is a canvas, an idea that’s initiated with a scary, committal brushstroke, evolving into a beautiful final product, or a botched and forgotten disaster.

It’s particularly interesting looking at the humble origins of ubiquitous, global companies. Their beginnings are almost always inspirationally small, the first half of their founder’s proof of perseverance.

Jeff founded Amazon in 1994, walking away from a well-paying finance job in New York City. His supervisor implored him not to leave, namely because Bezos was a good employee and worth keeping, but also because he thought Jeff was on a fool’s errand. He’d seen so many great minds fall into the abyss of failed startups.

Most of you know the rest of this story. But let’s go back, and see the part most don’t know: the story of their first sale.
['Sean Kernan']
['Life', 'History', 'Technology', 'Sean Kernan', 'Artificial Intelligence']