Amazon.com is one of the world's most successful online companies. However, Amazon's investments are so diversified that one has difficulty figuring out what business Amazon is in. The above presentation sheds light on the evolution of Amazon's business model using the theory of the 5 Stages of Market Evolution.

1. Amazon’s
5
Stages
of
Market
Evolu7on
Simply
Visualize
Pa/erns
in
the
Evolu7on
of
Mul7-­‐sided
Business
Models
Register
at
www.visionaryd.com
to
learn
more
about
Business
Model
Engineering.
Lean
Startup
Coach.
Dr.
Rod
King.
rodkuhnhking@gmail.com
&
h/p://businessmodels.ning.com
&
h/p://twi/er.com/RodKuhnKing
ORPHAN
(Stone)
Pa/ern
CHAIN
(Linear/Pipe)
Pa/ern
TREE
(Hierarchical/V-­‐)
Pa/ern
TRIANGLE
(Network)
Pa/ern
WEB
(Network)
Pa/ern
No
Market
1-­‐Sided
Market
2-­‐Sided
Market
2-­‐Sided
Market
Mul7-­‐sided
Market
1st
Wave
q Bookseller
2nd
Wave
q Online
Shopping
q Affiliates/Alliance
Program
q Auc7oning
PlaRorm
q Reseller
Service
q Web
Services
3rd
Wave
q Web
Storage
Services
q Online
Streaming
Services:
Music;
Video
q Manufacturer
of
Consumer
Electronics,
e.g.,
Kindle
Cadabra.com
Buyers
Buyers/Users
Amazon.com
Amazon.com
Big
Box
Retailers
Buyers/Users
(Online
Shoppers;
Cloud-­‐based
Companies)
Affiliates/Auc7oners/
Cloud-­‐based
Businesses
Amazon.com
Buyers
(Book
buyers)
Affiliates/Auc7oners
Affiliates/
Alliances
Amazon.com

2. Amazon.com
Business
Model
Strip
Rapidly
Document,
Analyze,
Prototype,
and
Design
Business
Model
Engines
for
CUSTOMER
GROWTH
ENGINEERING
BUSINESS
MODEL
REVENUE
MODEL
Business
Model
(Strip):
Customer
Growth
Engine
Job
To
Get
Done
(JTGD)
Product
(Asset)
Sale;
Ad;
Subscrip7on;
Service
-­‐
Model
Amazon.com
• Founded:
1994
(Cadabra)
• Tagline/Value
Proposi7on:
“Earth’s
most
customer-­‐
centric
company”
• Industry/Product:
Online
Shopping;
Web
Hos7ng;
Content
Distribu7on
• Compe7tors:
Barnes
&
Noble;
BestBuy;
NeRlix;
Apple;
Google;
Wal-­‐Mart;
Citrix
Systems;
...
Amazon.com
“Our
vision
is
to
be
earth's
most
customer
centric
company;
to
build
a
place
where
people
can
come
to
find
and
discover
anything
they
might
want
to
buy
online.”
Business
Model
Engine
(Blue
Ocean
Strategy):
Low
Cost
&
High
Quality
Buyers/Users
(Consumers)
q Simply
obtain
goods/service
from
trustworthy
seller
3rd
Party
q Obtain
more
customers
q Obtain
inexpensive
service
Big
Box
Retailers
q Make
more
profit
in
selling
(products
such
as
Kindle)
Amazon.com
(Online
Commerce/Web
Hos7ng:
MulQ-­‐sided
PlaRorm)
Big
Box
Retailers
Buyers/
Users
3rd
Party
(Developers;
Resellers;
Affiliates)
Register
at
www.visionaryd.com
to
learn
more
about
Business
Model
Engineering.
Lean
Startup
Coach.
Dr.
Rod
King.
rodkuhnhking@gmail.com
&
h/p://businessmodels.ning.com
&
h/p://twi/er.com/RodKuhnKing

3. Amazon’s
5
Stages
of
Market
Evolu7on
Simply
Visualize
Pa/erns
in
the
Evolu7on
of
Mul7-­‐sided
Business
Models
Register
at
www.visionaryd.com
to
learn
more
about
Business
Model
Engineering.
Lean
Startup
Coach.
Dr.
Rod
King.
rodkuhnhking@gmail.com
&
h/p://businessmodels.ning.com
&
h/p://twi/er.com/RodKuhnKing
ORPHAN
(Stone)
Pa/ern
CHAIN
(Linear/Pipe)
Pa/ern
TREE
(Hierarchical/V-­‐)
Pa/ern
TRIANGLE
(Network)
Pa/ern
WEB
(Network)
Pa/ern
No
Market
1-­‐Sided
Market
2-­‐Sided
Market
2-­‐Sided
Market
Mul7-­‐sided
Market
1st
Wave
q Bookseller
2nd
Wave
q Online
Shopping
q Affiliates/Alliance
Program
q Auc7oning
PlaRorm
q Reseller
Service
q Web
Services
3rd
Wave
q Web
Storage
Services
q Online
Streaming
Services:
Music;
Video
q Manufacturer
of
Consumer
Electronics,
e.g.,
Kindle
Cadabra.com
Buyers
Buyers/Users
Amazon.com
Amazon.com
Big
Box
Retailers
Buyers/Users
(Online
Shoppers;
Cloud-­‐based
Companies)
Affiliates/Auc7oners/
Cloud-­‐based
Businesses
Amazon.com
Buyers
(Book
buyers)
Affiliates/Auc7oners
Affiliates/
Alliances
Amazon.com
BUMP
BUMP
BUMP
BUMP
(BUMP:
Big
Urgent
Market
Problem)

4. “0-­‐1-­‐N”
Evolu7onary
Cycle
for
Online
Shopping
and
Other
Industries
Cycle
of
CentralizaQon-­‐DecentralizaQon-­‐MiniaturizaQon
Register
at
www.visionaryd.com
to
learn
more
about
Business
Model
Stripping.
Lean
Startup
Coach.
Dr.
Rod
King.
rodkuhnhking@gmail.com
&
h/p://businessmodels.ning.com
&
h/p://twi/er.com/RodKuhnKing
NOTHING:
0-­‐System
SOMETHING:
1-­‐System
MANY:
N-­‐System
Centraliza7on
(CreaQon;“Big
Bang”;
InvenQon)
Decentraliza7on
(Divergence;
MulQplicaQon)
Miniaturiza7on
(Singularity;
“Big
Crunch”;
Convergence”)
“0-­‐1-­‐N”
Evolu7onary
Cycle