導讀
這封信是2011年Amazon的第15封致股東信。
在信的一開始，Jeff Bezos介紹了很多Amazon的成功案例，Amazon提供的服務大大改變了他們的事業。
這些對象有些是企業，有些是個人。Amazon創新的發明，讓他們的生活大大受益。
AWS的出現，為音樂新創企業提供了強大的技術支持。第三方配送服務減少倉儲和物流的負擔，大大減低個體戶經營事業的難度。Kindle自助出版的出現，讓作者無須經過出版社冗長的審核，可以直接將作品提供給感興趣的讀者。
這些案例不單單是技術上的成果，不是推出新功能就能取得這樣的成績。
這些服務被客戶喜愛，並驅動創新造就商業上的成功，背後有一個很關鍵的原因－那就是這些服務都是「自助」屬性的服務。
因為是自助服務，所以功能推出來之後不會被限制如何使用。客戶有什麼新想法就可以立刻試看看，不會被我們限制。他們可以按照自己的需求，把這些自助服務應用在自己的所需的場景中。
最終，許多看似不可能的想法成功了，而這些點子讓所有人受益匪淺。
運用技術，創造客戶想要的服務；透過自助屬性，讓客戶可以充分運用這些服務。
好了，導讀結束，以下致股東信正文開始。
正文
To our shareowners:
致我們的股東：
The Power of Invention
發明的力量
“To us, the value of Amazon Web Services is undeniable — in twenty seconds, we can double our server capacity. In a high-growth environment like ours and with a small team of developers, it’s very important for us to trust that we have the best support to give to the music community around the world. Five years ago, we would have crashed and been down without knowing when we would be back. Now, because of Amazon’s continued innovation, we can provide the best technology and continue to grow.” That’s Christopher Tholen, the Chief Technology Officer of BandPage. His comments about how AWS helps with the critical need to scale compute capacity quickly and reliably are not hypothetical: BandPage now helps 500,000 bands and artists connect with tens of millions of fans.
「對我們來說，沒有人可以否定AWS的高價值。20秒內，我們就能將伺服器的容量提高一倍。我們的增長速度極快，且僅有為數不多的開發人員。我們相信Amazon的服務可以提供全世界的音樂社群最好支持。5年前，我們的伺服器早就該崩潰倒下。然而，在Amazon的不斷創新之下，我們現在可以提供全世界最好的技術，並不斷發展。」BandPage的首席技術官Christopher Tholen對此給出以下評論：Amazon提升計算能力的速度之快、技術之穩定並不是空談，有了AWS的技術支持，BandPage現在可以幫助50萬個樂團和藝術家與他們的千萬粉絲建立聯繫。
“So, I started selling on Amazon in April of 2011, and by the time we became the top Amazon lunchbox seller in June, we had between 50 and 75 orders a day. When we hit August and September — our busiest time, with the start of the school year — we had 300, sometimes 500 orders a day. It was just phenomenal… I’m using Amazon to fulfill my orders, which makes my life easier. Plus, when my customers found out they could get free shipping with Prime subscriptions, the lunchboxes began selling like crazy.” Kelly Lester is the “mom entrepreneur” of EasyLunchboxes, her own innovative line of easy-to-pack, environmentally friendly lunchbox containers.
「因此，我在2011年4月開始在Amazon上販售商品。當我們在6月成為Amazon最暢銷的便當盒賣家時，我們一天能有50到75筆訂單。我們最忙碌的月份8月和9月，也就是學校開學的月份，一天能賣出300筆訂單，有時甚至能達到500筆。這是十分了不起的……我一直都在使用Amazon的服務來配送商品，這為我的生活減輕許多麻煩。另外，當我的客戶發現他們可以用Prime服務買到免運的商品後，訂單數開始暴增」EasyLunchboxes的「媽媽企業家」Kelly Lester如此說道。EasyLunchboxes是她自己的創新商品，特色是易於包裝且環保。
“I sort of stumbled onto it, and it opened a whole new world for me. Since I had over a thousand [book] titles at my house, I thought, ‘I’ll give this a try.’ I sold some and I kept expanding it and expanding it, and come to find out this was so much fun I decided I don’t ever want to get another job again. And I’ve got no boss — other than my wife, that is. What could be better than that? We actually work together on this. We both go out hunting, so it’s a team effort that’s worked out very well. We sell about 700 books a month. We ship between 800 and 900 to Amazon each month and Amazon ships out the 700 that people buy. Without Amazon handling shipping and customer service, my wife and I would have to be running to the post office or someplace every day with dozens of packages. With that part taken care of for us, life is much simpler… This is a terrific program and I love it. After all, Amazon supplies the customers and even ships the books. I mean, how can it get better than that?” Bob Frank founded RJF Books and More after getting laid off in the midst of the economic downturn. He and his wife split their time between Phoenix and Minneapolis, and he describes finding the books he sells like “a treasure hunt every day.”
「我偶然發現Amazon，結果它為我打開了一個新的世界。由於我家裡有上千本書，所以我想試著在Amazon上賣點書。我賣了一些書，然後不斷擴張業務。接著，我發現這實在太有趣了，我決定不再尋找其他工作，專職做這項業務。沒有老闆，而且可以和妻子一起工作，有什麼工作比這個工作更好呢？我們為此一起努力，外出尋寶找書，團隊合作非常順利。我們每個月向Amazon寄出800至900本書，可賣出其中約700本書，並由Amazon幫我們處理物流。沒有Amazon的物流及客服服務，我和我的妻子需要每天扛著幾十個包裹到快遞收件中心寄貨。有了這些服務，我們的生活變得更加簡單。這是相當了不起的服務，我非常喜歡。畢竟，Amazon除了幫助我們銷售，還幫我們處理物流，還有什麼比這個服務更好？」在經濟不景氣中被裁員之後，Bob Frank創立了RJF Book。他和妻子花時間在鳳凰城和明尼阿波利斯之間尋找書籍，他將這樣的過程稱之為「每日尋寶」。
“Because of Kindle Direct Publishing, I earn more royalties in one month than I ever did in a year of writing for a traditional house. I have gone from worrying about if I will be able to pay the bills — and there were many months when I couldn’t — to finally having real savings, even thinking about a vacation; something I haven’t done in years… Amazon has allowed me to really spread my wings. Prior, I was boxed into a genre, yet I had all of these other books I wanted to write. Now I can do just that. I manage my career. I feel as if I finally have a partner in Amazon. They understand this business and have changed the face of publishing for the good of the writer and the reader, putting choices back into our hands.” That’s A. K. Alexander, author of Daddy’s Home, one of the top 100 best-selling Kindle books in March.
「由於使用了Kindle自助出版（Kindle Direct Publishing），我在一個月內獲得的版稅比為傳統出版社寫作一年還多。過去我經常擔心收入是否能支付生活開支，但現在我不用擔心了。我開始有了積蓄，甚至考慮給自己放個假，假期可是我好幾年想都不敢想的事。Amazon讓我能夠真正展翅高飛。以前，雖然我想寫很多類型的書，但我往往會被出版社定型成特定類型的作家。現在，我可以寫各種我想寫的類型的書。我管理自己的事業，我感覺自己在Amazon中有合作夥伴。他們了解這項業務，並為作家和讀者的利益改變了出版業的面貌，將選擇權重新交到我們手上。」 《Daddy’s Home》是三月份最暢銷的Kindle電子書之一，它的作者A. K. Alexander如此說道。
“I had no idea that March of 2010, the first month I decided to publish on KDP, would be a defining moment in my life. Within a year of doing so, I was making enough on a monthly basis to quit my day job and focus on writing full time! The rewards that have sprung out of deciding to publish through KDP have been nothing short of life changing. Financially. Personally. Emotionally. Creatively. The ability to write full time, to be home with my family, and to write exactly what I want without the input of a legacy publisher marketing committee wanting to have a say in every detail of my writing, has made me a stronger writer, a more prolific writer, and most importantly a far happier one…. Amazon and KDP are literally enabling creativity in the publishing world and giving writers like me a shot at their dream, and for that I am forever grateful.” That’s Blake Crouch, author of several thrillers, including the Kindle best seller Run.
「2010年3月，也是我使用Kindle自助出版的第一年，我當時並不知道，這將成為我生活的決定性時刻。在不到一年的時間裡，我每個月都能夠賺到足夠的錢，讓我能夠辭掉工作，全職投入寫作！使用Kindle自助出版服務的這個決定，大大的改變了我的生活，無論是從財務層面、個人層面、情感層面還是創意層面。能夠全職寫作、和家人更多的相處時間、沒有傳統出版商對細節的控制、寫我想寫的內容，這些使我成為一個更優秀、更多產、更快樂的作家。Amazon自助出版服務確實使出版界更能發揮創造力，並為像我這樣的作家提供了實現夢想的機會，對此我非常感激。」Kindle暢銷電子書《Run》及多本驚悚小說的作者Blake Crouch如此說道。
“Amazon has made it possible for authors like me to get their work in front of readers and has changed my life. In a little over a year, I have sold nearly 250,000 books through the Kindle and have traded in old dreams for bigger and better ones. Four of my books have hit the Top 100 Kindle Best Sellers List. Also, I have been approached by agents, foreign sales people, and two movie producers, and have received mentions in the LA Times, Wall Street Journal, and PC Magazine, and was recently interviewed by USA Today. Mostly, I am excited that all writers now have the opportunity to get their work in front of readers without jumping through insurmountable hoops. Writers have more options and readers have more choices. The publishing world is changing fast, and I plan to enjoy every minute of the ride.” Theresa Ragan is the KDP author of multiple Kindle best sellers including Abducted.
「Amazon讓我這樣的作家有機會在讀者面前展示作品，改變了我的生活。在一年多的時間內，我透過Kindle售出近25萬本書，用舊的夢想交換更大的新夢想。我有四本書進入Kindle暢銷排行榜100名，代理商、國外銷售人員和兩個電影製片人和我聯繫合作事宜，《LA Times》、《Wall Street Journal》和《PC Magazine》對我進行介紹，而我最近還接受了《USA Today》的採訪。讓我感到興奮的是，此時此刻任何作家都有機會在讀者面前展示自己的作品。作家有了更多選擇，讀者也是。出版界瞬息萬變，我享受每一分鐘的旅程。」《Abducted》等多本Kindle暢銷書作者Theresa Ragan如此說道。
“Past age 60 and in the midst of the recession, my wife and I found our income options severely limited. KDP was my one shot at a lifelong dream — our only chance at financial salvation. Within months of publishing, KDP has completely changed our lives, enabling this aging nonfiction writer to launch a brand-new career as a best-selling novelist. I can’t say enough on behalf of Amazon and the many tools that they make available to independent authors. Without reservation, I urge fellow writers to investigate and seize the opportunities that KDP offers. As I’ve happily discovered, there is zero downside risk — and the potential is virtually unlimited.” Robert Bidinotto is the author of the Kindle best seller Hunter: A Thriller.
「在經濟衰退期間，我和我的妻子發現自己的收入來源選項很有限，此時我們已經60歲了。Kindle自助出版是我對畢生夢想的一次嘗試－我們僅有的財務機遇。出版後幾個月內，Kindle自助出版大大改變了我的生活，使一名年邁的非小說家，可以用新的身分－暢銷小說作者重新開始。我並不能充分代表Amazon，他們為獨立工作者提供很多工具。我毫無保留地鼓勵其他作家研究Kindel自助出版，好好保握Amazon提供的機遇。我很高興地發現，風險為零而潛力幾乎無限。」Kindle暢銷書《Hunter: A Triller》的作者Robert Bidinotto如此說道。
“I leveraged KDP’s technology to blow through all the traditional gatekeepers. Can you imagine how that feels, after struggling so hard, for so long, for every … single … reader? Now, inspirational fiction lovers I never would have reached are enjoying Nobody and my other two novels from the Kindle Store at $2.99. I’ve always wanted to write a Cinderella story. Now I have. And, thanks to Prince Charming (KDP), there will be more to come…” Creston Mapes is the author of the Kindle best seller Nobody.
「我利用Kindle自助出版，突破了所有傳統出版業的桎梏。你能想像那種十分堅持才能得到一個又一個讀者的感受嗎？現在，我從未接觸過的讀者，正以2.99美元享受我所創作的小說。我一直希望能夠寫個像《灰姑娘》的故事，現在我實現了。感謝我的白馬王子－Kindle自助出版，將來還會有更多好故事。」Kindle暢銷書《Nobody》作者Creston Mapes如此說道。
Invention comes in many forms and at many scales. The most radical and transformative of inventions are often those that empower others to unleash their creativity — to pursue their dreams. That’s a big part of what’s going on with Amazon Web Services, Fulfillment by Amazon, and Kindle Direct Publishing. With AWS, FBA, and KDP, we are creating powerful self-service platforms that allow thousands of people to boldly experiment and accomplish things that would otherwise be impossible or impractical. These innovative, large-scale platforms are not zero-sum — they create win-win situations and create significant value for developers, entrepreneurs, customers, authors, and readers.
發明總是以多種形式、不同規模出現。其中，最激進且最具變革性的莫過於那些鼓勵他人釋放創造力、追求夢想的發明。AWS、Amazon物流和Kindle自助出版正是這樣的發明。有了他們，我們正在創建一個強大的自助平台，讓上千上萬的人們可以大膽嘗試，並完成原本不可能的事情。這些創新的大規模平台所開創的並非是一方有所得，他方必有所失的零和遊戲，而是雙贏局面，為開發者、企業家、消費者、作家和讀者產生巨大價值。
Amazon Web Services has grown to have thirty different services and thousands of large and small businesses and individual developers as customers. One of the first AWS offerings, the Simple Storage Service, or S3, now holds over 900 billion data objects, with more than a billion new objects being added every day. S3 routinely handles more than 500,000 transactions per second and has peaked at close to a million transactions per second. All AWS services are pay-as-you-go and radically transform capital expense into a variable cost. AWS is self-service: you don’t need to negotiate a contract or engage with a salesperson — you can just read the online documentation and get started. AWS services are elastic — they easily scale up and easily scale down.
AWS已經發展成30種不同服務，客戶包括成千上萬個大小企業及個人開發者。AWS的首批產品之一，Simple Storage Service目前有超過9000億個數據對象，每天還會增加超過10億個數據對象。一般來說，Simple Storage Service每秒處理超過50萬筆交易，峰值可達100萬筆交易。所有AWS服務都是「隨收隨付制（pay-as-you-go）」，用多少才收多少，客戶因此可以將固定的伺服器支出，轉為可變動成本。AWS是自助服務：你不需要和銷售人員簽訂合約，只需要閱讀線上文件之後，就可以開始使用。AWS服務有很大的彈性，可以輕鬆調整使用容量。
In just the last quarter of 2011, Fulfillment by Amazon shipped tens of millions of items on behalf of sellers. When sellers use FBA, their items become eligible for Amazon Prime, for Super Saver Shipping, and for Amazon returns processing and customer service. FBA is self-service and comes with an easy-to-use inventory management console as part of Amazon Seller Central. For the more technically inclined, it also comes with a set of APIs so that you can use our global fulfillment center network like a giant computer peripheral.
2011年的最後一個季度，Amazon配送服務為賣家們運送了數千萬件商品。當賣家使用Amazon配送服務時，他們的商品可以搭配Prime會員服務、Super Saver Shipping和Amazon客服支援。Amazon配送服務是易於使用的自助服務，而且是庫存管理後台（Amazon Seller Central）的重要組成。對於更傾向技術的使用者，它還提供了一組API，讓使用者可以像使用大型計算機外圍設備一樣，使用我們的全球配送中心網絡。
I am emphasizing the self-service nature of these platforms because it’s important for a reason I think is somewhat non-obvious: even well-meaning gatekeepers slow innovation. When a platform is self-service, even the improbable ideas can get tried, because there’s no expert gatekeeper ready to say “that will never work!” And guess what — many of those improbable ideas do work, and society is the beneficiary of that diversity.
我要再次強調這些平台的「自助服務」特性，因為我認為它容易被忽略，但卻非常重要。即使是立意良好的管制，也會降低創新的速度。當一個平台的服務是自助式的，客戶有什麼新想法就可以立即嘗試，因為沒有人會跳出來說「別那麼做！那行不通！」很多看似不可能的想法最後確實起作用，最終整個社會從這些點子中受益匪淺。
Kindle Direct Publishing has quickly taken on astonishing scale — more than a thousand KDP authors now each sell more than a thousand copies a month, some have already reached hundreds of thousands of sales, and two have already joined the Kindle Million Club. KDP is a big win for authors. Authors who use KDP get to keep their copyrights, keep their derivative rights, get to publish on their schedule — a typical delay in traditional publishing can be a year or more from the time the book is finished — and … saving the best for last … KDP authors can get paid royalties of 70%. The largest traditional publishers pay royalties of only 17.5% on ebooks (they pay 25% of 70% of the selling price which works out to be 17.5% of the selling price). The KDP royalty structure is completely transformative for authors. A typical selling price for a KDP book is a reader-friendly $2.99 — authors get approximately $2 of that! With the legacy royalty of 17.5%, the selling price would have to be $11.43 to yield the same $2 per unit royalty. I assure you that authors sell many, many more copies at $2.99 than they would at $11.43.
Kindle自助出版一推出之後，很快就發展到令人驚訝的規模－如今有上千名作家每月賣出超過1000冊書籍，其中有兩名作家甚至達到Kindle百萬銷量俱樂部。Kindle自助出版能大大幫助作者，作者可以透過它保有版權及衍生權利，可以在書籍完成後就計畫出版，不用像傳統出版一樣等上一段時間。最有價值的是，使用Kindle自助出版的作者可以拿到70%版稅。最大型的傳統出版商只給電子書作者17.5%版稅（70%版稅再25%）。Kindle自助出版的版稅計算方式對作者來說是非常創新的。一般來說，一本Kindle電子書的售價是2.99美元，其中作者大約可以得到2美元。以傳統出版商17.5%版稅的方式來計算，作者想要得到同樣的2美元收入，需要賣掉的是一本定價高達11.43美元的書。我跟你保證，作者以較低的2.99美元價格銷售，可以賣掉更多冊書籍。
Kindle Direct Publishing is good for readers because they get lower prices, but perhaps just as important, readers also get access to more diversity since authors that might have been rejected by establishment publishing channels now get their chance in the marketplace. You can get a pretty good window into this. Take a look at the Kindle best-seller list, and compare it to the New York Times best-seller list — which is more diverse? The Kindle list is chock-full of books from small presses and self-published authors, while the New York Times list is dominated by successful and established authors.
Kindle自助出版對於讀者來說也有好處，他們可以得到更便宜的書籍，以及更重要的是，還有更多樣化的書籍，因為那些可能會被出版社拒絕的書籍，現在都有機會被出版，並且很容易被你找到。看一下Kindle的暢銷排行榜你就會發現，與《New York Times》的暢銷排行榜相比，Kindle的排行榜內容多樣性比較高。Kindle的排行榜中擠滿了小型出版社和自費出版的書籍，而《New York Times》的排行榜則以知名作家的著作為主。
Amazonians are leaning into the future, with radical and transformational innovations that create value for thousands of authors, entrepreneurs, and developers. Invention has become second nature at Amazon, and in my view the team’s pace of innovation is even accelerating — I can assure you it’s very energizing. I’m extremely proud of the whole team, and feel lucky to have a front row seat.
Amazon人正以嶄新的、變革性的創新邁向未來，為成千上萬的作家、企業家、開發者創造價值。創新已經成為Amazon的第二天性，團隊的創新腳步越來越快。我可以向你保證，我們正踩著充滿活力的步伐。我對於整個團隊的表現感到十分自豪，擁有這個團隊的前排座位我感到十分幸運。
As always, I attach a copy of our original 1997 letter. Our approach remains the same, and it’s still Day 1!
如同往常，我把我們在1997年寫的致股東信附在文末。我們的價值觀依然不變，今天依舊是Day 1。
Jeffrey P. Bezos
Founder and Chief Executive Officer
Amazon.com, Inc.
傑夫·貝佐斯
Amazon創始人暨CEO
以上就是2011年Amazon致股東信。
想看隔年的Amazon致股東信，請至《2012年Amazon致股東信：總能把握先機，憑藉的是聚焦客戶帶來的主動性》。
想看全系列導讀目錄，請至《Amazon 1997–2019年致股東信導讀目錄》。
