I started in June of 1995.
We needed a desk, and we were operating on a shoestring budget.
Jeff Bezos had walked across the street and bought a door and a 4x4 and built the first door desk.
We had to find ways to get things done
without spending a lot of money.
So it was just more out of survival and making sure we had enough money to pay our paychecks.
A door desk is a solid-core door held up by four 4x4 legs and some metal brackets to hold it together.
There was only one or maybe two desks that Jeff Bezos had made, and they were pretty wobbly.
You would never want to hire Jeff Bezos as a carpenter. He's much better at other things.
I think he'd tell you the same thing.
In the later years, the desks really started to become a focal point of Amazon culture.
I think it has taken on a symbolic status.
The philosophy of frugality at Amazon is
when you have a problem, find the easiest, more straightforward, and least expensive way to solve it.
I have a couple. One in the garage, and then I took one and chopped it down and made three desks.
Two of them are my kids’ school desks they use to do homework on.
They know that this is Amazon history and part of the Amazon culture.
There you go. Got yourself a door desk.
