Case 02 — Amazon · Jeff Bezos · 2000
Do you let outside sellers compete with you, on your own product pages, for your own customers?
Amazon sells books, music and electronics from its own inventory. Margins are thin and the dot-com crash has just wiped roughly 90% off your share price. Your buyers are good at picking inventory, and inventory is the thing you control. A proposal lands on your desk: let third-party sellers list their products on your product pages, directly beside yours, competing on price.
Choose before you scroll. The answer is hidden until you commit.
§02 — More forks
- Lululemon · 1998You have one store, no ad budget, and a pair of yoga pants that costs four times what anyone pays today. How do you price it?
- Nike · 1984You can sign five established NBA players, or spend the whole basketball budget on one rookie who would rather sign with your competitor. Which?
- Glossier · 2023The thing that made your brand special is the thing now capping its growth. Do you break your own rule?
- McDonald's · 1956Your franchise royalties barely cover overhead. Where does the money actually come from?