Is it a thing for billionaires? Like investment legend Warren Buffett, founder of Amazon, Jeff Bezosis an acknowledged and unhappy fan of McDonald’s hamburgers.
The difference is that Bezos, then still a cranky teen who had just shed his oversized glasses and miniature appearance, made his first bucks as a cook at the giant with the golden arches. From then on, an endless love story began between the fast food giant and now the third richest man in the world.
Despite only lasting one summer, Bezos’ role at McDonald’s marked his first foray into the working world and also his first foray into retail. It was 1980, he was 16 years old, and he was quickly learning how to stir-fry eggs, remove french fries from boiling oil, and flip hamburgers at just the right time so they didn’t burn.
Automation strategies and customer service
Sweating between hot appetizers and acne breakouts, Bezos has been walking away from the counters, trying to fully understand how automation works and thinking of strategies to improve it. he joked in a 1999 interview with Wired.
His mother, Jacqueline, repeatedly recalled his eagerness to discover the way things worked, especially machines and toys, evident when he once pounced on his bed with a screwdriver.
What is certain is that the brief experience at McDonald’s in Miami gave Bezos an early insight into what customer service means, which he later realized was a “really tough” topic in business. Today, obsession with customer satisfaction is one of the core leadership principles he implements at Amazon.
“I was a cook. They wouldn’t let me near clients. That was my phase as a teenager with acne. They treated me like mmm, why don’t you work in the back?” he told the magazine years later, in 2018. fast company.
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Speed and discipline
In that interview, he was proud of his ability to crack eggs with one hand. “My favorite shift was Saturday morning. The first thing he would do was take a big bowl and crack 300 eggs.”
He continued, “One of the really fun things about working at McDonald’s is learning how to be really quick with all of these things.” “See how many eggs you can break in a given time and don’t drop any shells into the bowl.”
Bezos’ experience at McDonald’s has also taught him how to keep things moving at the right pace during peak hours. According to Cody Tates, author ofThe Golden Opportunity: Great Careers Started at McDonald’s“The most challenging thing is keeping everything going at the right pace during peak hours,” Bezos said.
His first “serious” project
McDonald’s probably gave you the pioneering bug, too. In an effort to avoid another summer of potato chip grease, Bezos and his high school sweetheart, O’Shea Werner, embarked on their first serious entrepreneurial endeavor.
It was a summer educational camp for 4th, 5th, and 6th graders that the two called the DREAM Institute (RAZoning Guided Methods). Six students sign up for the $600 camp; Two of them were Jeff’s brother and sister.
The show focused prophetically on a mixture of science and literature, the future and the past. His required readings included “The Lord of the Rings,” “Dune,” and “Gulliver’s Travels,” among other works. Science approaches ranged from fossil fuels and fission to space colonies and interstellar travel. “Our software is focused on using new ways to think about old areas,” said the post Bezos designed on his Apple II phone.
Bezos isn’t the only successful entrepreneur who has learned valuable lessons from working at a fast food chain. Alexis Ohanian, the co-founder of Reddit, started out as a dishwasher at Pizza Hut and worked his way up to becoming a waiter in high school.
“I’ve learned basically everything I need to know about customer service,” Ohanian said. New York times.
Barbara Corcoran, star of “Shark Tank,” found great value working as a waitress in her twenties. She said, “You learn more as a waitress than in any other job.” CNBC Make It. “It’s the best job you could ever have to prepare for entrepreneurship: walking across the counter and serving people.”
“You can learn from any job”
Bezos’ advice to young men is to keep your eyes open for lessons in any job, even if it’s just flipping burgers.
“You can learn responsibility in any job if you take it seriously,” Bezos said. golden opportunity. “When you’re a teenager, you learn a lot working at McDonald’s. It’s different from what you learn in school. Don’t underestimate it!”
Although Bezos may also eat caviar every day, he still goes back to his roots and eats classic McDonald’s hamburgers every now and then. In August of last year, he posted a photo on Twitter of himself enjoying his group photo: “My first job. And still the same great burger.”
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