Each time we had these meetings, Jeff would reject what he saw as copycat thinking, emphasizing again and again that whatever music product we built, it had to offer a truly unique value proposition for the customer. He would frequently describe the two fundamental approaches that each company must choose between when developing new products and services. We could be a fast follower—that is, make a close copy of successful products that other companies had built—or we could invent a new product on behalf of our customers. He said that either approach is valid, but he wanted Amazon to be a
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