The Jeff Bezos Hockey Stick Rule: If a technology is growing exponentially, don’t blow the opportunity like most do

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In 1994, a 30-year-old Jeff Bezos was a vice president at a prestigious hedge fund in New York City.

One day, as he was researching markets, he came across a fascinating fact. This fringe thing that people called the Internet was growing at an incredible 2,300% per year.

Immediately, the opportunity alarm bells went off in Bezos’ head. “Things just don’t grow that fast! The Internet might be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity,” he thought to himself.

Now, put yourself in Bezos’ shoes for a minute. After years of hard work, you’ve finally made it. You’re highly paid, your work is stimulating, and you’re on the fast track. You’re also recently married and planning to have kids in the next few years. While the Internet is growing, many “experts” believe that it’s a toy now and always will be.