And it’s clear that Jeff has often followed his gut instincts over the years. He respects leaders who are willing to do the same.

There’s a common assumption that it’s important to know the exact right action to take before doing anything. That’s not how things are viewed at Amazon. As Jeff once said, “If you never want to be criticized, for goodness’ sake, don’t do anything new.”

When Doerr asked about the volume of daily transactions, Bezos leaned over a computer and typed a grep command next to a UNIX prompt, instantly pulling up the data—and demonstrating his technical fluency. Doerr swooned.

JEFF BEZOS Founder and CEO, Amazon; Owner, the Washington Post