Running through an interview with Jeff Bezos on Les Echos reminds me that the mass take-up of the internet stretches to one decade, no more. All of our household names have sprang up in that time.
Bezos ruminates on how Amazon has survived and thrived as an internet firm. The death of the core competence is celebrated; the search for stability is actually stagnation. Bezos highlights the cultural adaptations of Amazon: obsession with the customer, not the competitor; an ability to think over the long-term; and, the courage to learn whole new sets of skills and build new institutions if that is required to build a profitable service.
In fast growing sectors, companies can acquire the skills of the conglomerate: acquiring, seizing, learning, innovating and adapting. Sticking to one's knitting is a recipe for stagnation as all profitability is open to disruption.
A core competence is now extend and profit.
