The founder of Amazon, Jeff Bezos, has consistently thought on a grand scale, so he presented potential investors with the same stark reality he gave his parents: the company faced a 70 percent probability of failure. Despite this, he secured the necessary funding, and those who chose not to invest initially would later come to regret that choice.

With an infusion of new capital, the enterprise enhanced its software and server infrastructure and recruited additional staff. Employees worked incessantly, and an implicit understanding existed that weekends were not for time off.