From next Monday's Barron's:
At a time when investors' concerns about excessive spending are running high for Amazon.com, the firm's new chief financial officer, Warren Jenson, was on hand in Scottsdale [at Credit Suisse First Boston's annual technology conference] to allay such fears.
Last Wednesday, the same day Amazon announced that it took a 17% stake in luxury online retailer Ashford.com, Jenson attempted to persuade believers and non-believers alike that the company's zeal to build the biggest e-tail site on the Web was not without discipline.
"There's not an ounce in our blood ... that we would approach anything cavalierly," said Jenson, who is a seasoned vet at talking to the Street after successful stints at Delta Air Lines and General Electric's NBC unit.
In fact, Jenson referred to his previous experience at NBC to make an analogy defending Amazon's hyper-aggressive expansion strategy, whereby it added more than a dozen new online operations in just a year's time. Jenson contended that Amazon's brand name and massive customer base is so powerful, it is not unlike a major television network when it dominates the ratings. "When we launch a new site, it's like launching a new show behind Seinfeld every time," Jenson said. Maybe that makes Zshops the e-tailing equivalent of Just Shoot Me.
"We are working hard toward profitability," said Jenson, reiterating that the company expects its book business to be in the black during the fourth quarter.
CSFB's Internet analyst, Lise Buyer, indicated that Amazon will probably provide more detailed financial results to keep the natives from growing more restless. A case in point is the company's recent release of early holiday sales performance, saying Amazon's business was 19% ahead of last year's post-Thanksgiving results.
In a session closed to the press, Buyer asked venture capitalist Doerr if it was important for Amazon to begin paying more attention to the bottom line, and "he said yes." In addition, Doerr intimated that Amazon had an obligation to shareholders to start sharing more details about its operations and performance.
Coming from Doerr, that's news. He is a partner of Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, which knocked up a grand slam with its early stage investment in Amazon.
"We can learn a lot of lessons from Amazon," Doerr reportedly told the crowd. What those lessons will be, however, is about as clear as the e-tailer's alleged timeline for profitability.
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