I got the idea to start Amazon 16 years ago. I came across the fact that web usage was growing at 2,300 percent per year. Besides, I had never seen or heard of anything that grew that fast and the idea of building an online bookshop with millions of titles - something that simply couldn't exist in the physical world - was very exciting to me. Furthermore, I had just turned 30 years old, and I had been married for a year. Besides, I told my wife MacKenzie that I wanted to quit my job, and go do this crazy thing that probably wouldn't work - since most start-ups don't - and I wasn't sure what would happen after that. MacKenzie wants me to go for it.

I was working at a financial firm in New York City with a bunch of very smart people and I had a brilliant boss that I greatly admired. I went to my boss and told him about my wish to start a company selling books on the internet. He took me on a long walk in Central Park, listened carefully to me and finally said, 'That sounds like a perfect idea, but it would be an even better idea for someone who didn't already have a good job.' That logic made some sense to me, and he convinced me to think about it for 48 hours before making a final decision.

Seen in that light, it really was a difficult choice, but, ultimately, I decided I had to give it a shot. I didn't think I'd regret trying and failing. And I suspected I would always be haunted by a decision to not try at all. After much consideration, I took the less safe path to follow my passion, and I'm proud of that choice.