The Grand Theory of Amazon

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Twitter: / polymatters
Reddit: / polymatter
Discord: / discord
Amazon sells everything from streaming video to organic grapes, and it’s all part of a large (likely successful) strategy to dominate the entire consumer market.
*The end of this video includes a paid sponsored promotion. This company had no part in the writing, editing, or production of the rest of the video.
Credits
Music is by Varsity Star: varsitystar.ba...
and the Varsity Star Facebook is / varsitystarmusic
The biggest source of inspiration for this video is the wonderful Ben Thompson's analysis of Amazon at stratechery.com - highly recommended.
“wasted” GTA font used under a free license: www.dafont.com...
SEC report from Amazon, including its competitors: www.sec.gov/Ar...
www.usatoday.c...
money.cnn.com/2...
money.cnn.com/2...
www.usatoday.c...
www.tomshardwa...
www.nytimes.co...
www.businessins...
www.cbinsights...
a16z.com/2014/...
techcrunch.com...
www.usatoday.c...
www.forbes.com...
searchenginela...
www.economist....
www.economist....
www.cnbc.com/2...
stratechery.co...
stratechery.co...
stratechery.co...
stratechery.co...
stratechery.co...
www.entreprene...
www.nytimes.co...
www.wsj.com/ar...
www.investoped...
www.investoped...
www.amazon.com...
markets.busines...
venturebeat.co...
www.greenwicht...
www.investoped...
www.fastcompan...
www.investoped...
www.bloomberg.c...
www.nytimes.co...
thenextweb.com...
www.wsj.com/ar...
www.bloomberg....
stratechery.co...
fortune.com/lon...

[@PolyMatter]

Come chat on our updated Discord: discord.me/polymatter Also: some things had to be cut for time, so I’ve posted my notes to Patreon

[@debojitmandal8670]

Can u plsake grand theory of samsut pls pls pls u make great videos but I would like u to make grand theory of Samsung pls

[@arjunbemarkar8374]

Your link expired

[@sharonlevin9362]

Is This a Tier Zoo Reference? (4:00)

[@cemxwekta358]

Seeing the link pls make how discord is making money. This seems not enough support.discordapp.com/hc/en-us/articles/210544537-How-is-Discord-making-money-How-can-I-contribute-

[@alvinpoly2781]

Hi poly matter I am very interested in your content Can you tell which animation you are using and make a video on how sports is becoming a billion dollar business?

[@MichaelJayValueInvesting]

That sponsor transition was so smooth, just like my face after using the Dollar Shave Club.

[@jpalma200]

The Smiling Sloth I’m guessing you play league? Lol

[@psychogenesis6755]

😂

[@ericka.montanez6821]

💯

[@dbryandolman]

Yes, the transition between the advertisement for Jeff Bezos and the advertisement for the razor was seamless.

[@wasadasa1]

xd

[@rydemk4168]

Amazon: Let’s buy KZbin! Google: no Amazon: ok, let’s buy *KZbinrs*

[@abdulrafay8412]

Ryde Mk 😂😂 tomorrow we log on to KZbin and see all the good ones banned 😂

[@firebadnofire9768]

Pewdiepie: no

[@Atombender]

@The Rational Rifleman Pewdiepie can be shut down with a mouse click by Google at no charge. And nothing of value will be lost

[@G-LukeJA]

@The Rational Rifleman "leftists activists" ok guys, we have seen enough

[@xcalixus]

Twitch

[@ianwong1632]

That ad transition was so smooth, I almost bought a razor. I don't have a mustache.

[@robenzo4216]

Lol i swear it had me considering ordering some razors your comment had me rolling

[@evanjohnson1299]

and to keep it that way why not purchase dollar shave club membership?

[@abhishekdev258]

Stop shaving Wong.

[@shananagans5]

If you don't have a mustache, doesn't that mean you shave? Or am I Wong to assume that? :) lol Great comment, you had me laughing & I am the 722nd thumbs up.

[@AbubakarUsmanZrx]

hahaha

[@austinch3]

That transition was smooth I didn't realize it was an ad until I was buying the razors.

[@apollossevere8602]

Austin Choi 😂😂😂😂😂😂😂

[@Averagegamerguyyy]

😂😂

[@lilguapsi9133]

Austin Choi 😂

[@JaguarTree.MerkabaMusic]

hahahaha

[@DagmawiAbate]

🤣🤣🤣

[@calebsherman886]

My jaw dropped with that transition...

[@LaiPt]

he does that often

[@JosephFellows_loger42]

IKR? I was like damn this guy didn't skip a beat! not even a bit of voice inflection to signal the change in topic XD

[@KalleNoble]

That transition was as smooth as a dollar shave club razor

[@user-yf2kn1gn5b]

it made me think i just watched a ten minute ad

[@anonnihilism6161]

Guys I found the best website that helps you to make big money with with eBay and amazon Visit *MyOnlineSelling. Com* for more details. I personally tried this website and it works Recommended…

[@TheMatthyssen]

6:49 "they only care about the customer to make more money" Oh seriously? I thought the whole Amazon team had a crush on me

[@TierZoo]

Reddit's redesigners seem to have put nearly zero XP into the [user friendly] perks

[@mb98765]

TierZoo I actually prefer the redesign.. I dont know what you people think lol, it's much easier to navigate, it looks more appealing etc..

[@humanbeing2730]

Only thing I like is that you can click comments and they will be displayed as an overlay rather than an entirely new page

[@caesarxinsanium]

hi tier zoo. love your content!!!!

[@mumblernumber7213]

Marin Its too much of a social media

[@zyaicob]

Oof

[@Zachinthehat]

Comment section: 90% are talking about the smooth transition for the shaving ad 10% are talking about the comments talking about the smooth transition for the shaving ad.

[@Alex06CoSonic]

Came here to say exactly that.

[@konankunoichi94]

Hahahahaha

[@kokichioumasgrapefanta9595]

5% have adblocker on

[@a.s945]

🤣

[@subscribefornoreason7390]

1% replying to other comments.

[@alberttaylor4487]

I hate you you make me angry that transition into the sponsor was GENIUS OMG. literally didn't see that coming. Love ya vids! keep up the awesome work!

[@petercarioscia9189]

Albert Taylor LOL I had the exact same reaction XD

[@machintrucGaming]

But are their shave butter as smooth as your ad segway ?

[@marcooosbibendorsht1334]

Use commas for god sake

[@Nietzsche_K_Gote]

Albert Taylor was some real good copy guy there.

[@bruhbro9951]

Albert Taylor m

[@constitution7167]

Amazon on a Sunday: Books Amazon on a Monday: Website Amazon on a Tuesday: Shipping company Amazon on a Wednesday: Streaming service Amazon on a Thursday: Grocery Store Amazon on a Friday: In-home assistant Amazon on a Saturday: Controlling the internet Amazon in 5 years: Human production

[@prashanthraghavendran2628]

Could be a genuine possibility in the distant future. Produce humans with no selfish intent to get free productive labour, especially of a kind too complex for robots

[@asneecrabbier3900]

/[{frick chamber}]\

[@Cre8Lounge]

BnL

[@Menaceblue3]

@@Cre8Lounge Weyland Yutani Corp.

[@DagmawiAbate]

🤣🤣🤣

[@ThePsychicProject]

Ive never seen such a drastic improvement in content from your first video and now, nice job PolyMatter

[@captainaffection]

The channel improves just like Amazon does

[@hyoroemonmeto6874]

"No matter how much our life improves, our expectation adjust". This

[@Le_aissa]

That's really what it is all about, we have to get rid of this consumerism mentality they convinced us that our happiness is in buying more and more goods, recently i watched a documentary called "century of the self" it's about the beginning of marketing and the use of mass psychology by big companies to sell more you look it up, after all if you want to understand today you have to search yesterday, have a good day btw

[@AlexDicy]

I don't know what's going on here, but every video you post, makes me happy. Saying that those are perfect might be a little to much but hey... they are. Keep up your awesome work!

[@pranav4937]

I disagree, the Amazon is shrinking everyday because of deforestation. Do some research next time.

[@GearsoftheCOG3]

Wow you are so dumb It's getting smaller because of global warming, jeez

[@pranav4937]

I hope you are joking

[@GearsoftheCOG3]

Damn, I misread that in my head. I read yours and meant mine as Amazon (the company) is shrinking because of .... So yes absolutely joking hah

[@awepossum1059]

Fun fact: Global tree cover is actually increasing despite the deforestation in the Amazon.

[@Ash-cb2li]

Abc AwesomeP doesn’t make it ok

[@cup_check_official]

The grand theory of why polymatter posts about grand theories

[@Noah-nt4tb]

Software Man he said it himself ad revenue

[@User18277]

i see u everywhere!!

[@giohouse643]

They're all INTP's and Scorpios

[@restreven4455]

love how he literally talks about the employees for one sec and the competitors for two. "we may never know why Amazon makes things so cheap" yeah we do. Its to raise prices later. Like they do on every single product after they've ran out the competitors.

[@FrozenBusChannel]

That's why I always stand against monopolies. They always hurt the consumers at the end

[@vivianloney8826]

Amazon forgets an important part of businesses of scale that Henry Ford learned: "a low wage business is always insecure".

[@furtsmagee1513]

Hahahaha untrue

[@kareemhussein7178]

Excellent analysis as always, this channel always delivers

[@mirkkuffs]

You're absolutely right

[@bloxer9563]

Correct.

[@harshshitole6293]

Hehehe

[@johnwalker1058]

"This channel always delivers." "You know what else always delivers? The dollar shave club, as they deliver smoothness of skin with their excellent razors!"

[@manysaints]

I was worried about replacing my high-end older oasis with this one kzbin.infoUgkxCgPI5O2AtmcHq9SJhgsCGbpAzJAJfrJp but it is surprisingly light and the screen resolution is just as good. I never had the warm light on my old kindle, but i do not use it on the ipad so I will probably not need it. I think the only thing I'll miss is the self-adjusting light, but this is so worth it!

[@teenagegringo393]

I was just talking to my friend who's a bike courier in Seattle. He just found out their app was owned by Amazon. He started asking around and realized that 7 out of 8 of his roomates were also employed by companies that were owned by Amazon.

[@wbichan]

Every amazon purchase you make contributes to the lowering of living standards of citizens

[@John-xs9wi]

8 roommates? Gah damn

[@karwashblark7499]

Was waiting for him to say "oh, by the way, Amazon owns Dollar Shave Club too" at the very end

[@whatareraisins]

4:00 I see that sneaky Tier Zoo reference

[@tanmaykitkat]

Hugo Brice, I thought I was the only one that noticed. 😁

[@jamaalfridge]

I just found out about Tier Zoo, and they are PHENOMENAL.

[@grrr1351]

*snakey*

[@hndrwn]

TIER ZOOO

[@yayu984]

Did you know that tier means animal in german :D

[@jasong9958]

Cleanest ad transition of 10/18.

[@Messerschmidt_Me-262]

Just like my face after Dollar shave club

[@tech-hilfeportal6611]

5/9* sorry I'm good at math

[@UselessDuckCompany]

Wow reddit redesign shots fired 3:55

[@PolyMatter]

It's *so* bad.

[@montylemon9445]

Go to preferences and set it to old

[@Adam-cq2yo]

I haven't got the redesign yet. Is it really that bad?

[@ryanschaff123]

Who cares the only thing worth going to on reddit is The_Donald

[@yeahnoway111]

old reddit was so much worse and outdated, the new is great

[@ericsurf6]

Great job on this one Dan. Love your videos.

[@seaweed6668]

Hell yeah eric surf my boiiii

[@heidirabenau511]

His name is Evan

[@SprHero]

Wow, that was a smooth transition to the sponsor! Great video!

[@BENBOBBY]

Almost as smooth as your face feels after using Dollar Shave Club razors!

[@lock_with_ink_pen]

I must say, I have mixed feelings of amazon. The fear and admiration for the company are equal in this case. I'm as intrigued as I am terrified

[@johnwalker1058]

For me, Amazon is like Darth Vader as a business. They are the big, bad tough guy villain, but they are quite powerful so you can't help but respect them in a certain way out of admiration of their sheer strength, size, and influence.

[@nikhilpranav6915]

The Lucky Luciano of businesses.

[@taintedfrogs2132]

That was the cleanest transition into an ad at the end ever. Congratulations! 😂

[@mike8th411]

9:31 the way he segwayed into to that though

[@captainaffection]

This has to be the smoothest transition from video to sponsor

[@redbeardhomes]

I really love this guy. He really teaches you business and his sponsorship presentation is subtly placed. I actually watched the ad at the end thinking there was more to the video.

[@DagmawiAbate]

I did that before not anymore

[@SoumyadeepBanerjee007]

*I'm getting a Amazon Ad* By playing this video.

[@cheeseburgerthebear8261]

OMG same

[@jjc5475]

poor guy, you still watch adds..

[@mohaksrivastava8541]

Same

[@cj98x]

john pardon you can’t adblock ads on the youtube app. calm it, sweatbeard

[@michaeldelahunty8262]

Same

[@salartahour8284]

Smoothest sponsor transition ever!!!

[@makstracy]

Transition so smooth I got goosebumps

[@WhiteNinja13425]

Amazon : loses money because of vary vary vary low price Apple : the new cheap 750$ iPhone 11

[@IVUSER]

You're slowly becoming one of my fav YT channels. Kepp it up!

[@danilomadalijr4979]

thought it was just me....

[@serafffffff]

holy. How do you only have 300k subscribers............................and ur smooth transition plug is probably the first ad i would want to actually see.

[@davilimalol4612]

He's got 780k now, he'll be big soon

[@NareshUgaonkar]

You have the talent to embed the ad so smoothly like nobody else can.

[@MinecraftsDarkest1]

What a CLEAN CUT to the sponsor... *KneeSlapper*

[@Ayavaron]

Holy shit your transition into the advertisement was seamless!!!

[@kbhasi]

1:23 I bet they own that just in order to use the Alexa name… 7:22 that "2 second shipping" really reminds me of someone's Amazon parody video titled "Yesterday Shipping"

[@RamkrishanYT]

I wonder why audible didn't sponsor this video?

[@mylesunderwood979]

Polymatter, you have a true gift at transitioning to advertisements. I've watched many of your videos and almost every single one was mind blowingly smooth. Good work. Also your videos are wonderfully informative.

[@ashman4874]

normally i cringe when i see a sponsor but the transition was so smooth i gave it a like

[@Zlonk7]

Amazon: WE CONTROL THE ENTIRE WORLD Us government: *your free trial of existence has ended*

[@melt6894]

I think the us government would just tax amazon. A lot

[@YHWHsam]

1:40 ... the French flag 🤔

[@remyb2154]

Sammy 2:13

[@davidobenitez3866]

Illuminati confirmed

[@adityabonarkusuma9339]

that ad transition was so smooth, makes me forget everything i just watch about amazon

[@what8305]

4:00 Is that TierZoo I see?

[@NabhoneelMajumdar]

You guys make the best info videos. Seriously, I didn't even realize when 10 minutes went away. I even watched the sponsor section with an equal amount of attention!

[@DagmawiAbate]

Me too.

[@slimjimcognito]

Love the nod to Tier Zoo

[@rabidkoalaz]

I love the shade thrown on Great Expectations. Everyone in my class in high school despised that book.

[@danabram]

Scale at the cost of quality. Which is why there’s a mutiny at Whole Foods’ corporate board and regulars are leaving for Trader Joe’s and others after the produce is stale.

[@evansilversun3838]

I love the whitisism and depth of knowledge! Great vid! Also the segway into the advertising at the end of every video is genuinely relevant & entertaining! This is the future of education, keep it up ;)

[@bloxer9563]

Great video as always, you always educated your community, and you help us out with things of interest. Thank you, Polymatter.

[@PenguinjitsuX]

Dude, your transitions to the sponsor are the smoothest I've ever seen on all of KZbin. Seriously awesome.

[@mravi8or]

This dude deserves more subs

[@AntsyBoi]

9:30 smoothest transition into an add ever..... EVER!

[@k1ngjulien_]

Dang! You deserve an oscar for that segue to the advert. I really didn't see that coming.

[@Robert-dt3is]

I love the "loading screen" slides, very neat design.

[@thezebraherd8275]

This will make a great series I would like to see the grand theory of Facebook

[@paulinedaithanawong7341]

'profits may be shaved, but you and I will always be able to shave in comfort with Dollar Shave Club', this guy is a genius

[@jacob476]

Amazon is E Corp...

[@sai8098]

@Haile Selassie Watch the show and you'll see

[@HPTeguh]

This is why I freaking love the internet. At first, I was watching info about tech companies and the next thing I know, I was watching an advetorial about shaving lmao

[@Vyrkhan]

How to click bait in the comments section: 1- Make a long list of logical and totally generic things. 2- Put a good title luring readers to think you're aiming for the channel attention but you obviously DON'T. 3- Another generic and mainstream FINALE! (conclusion) Plus: A congratulations message so all the 9yr old kids feel your comment is worthy of approvement. Done, now you're on top of the food chain and you're ready to lure 9yr old kids to your own channel! Need examples? Read more comments above ^^^^^^

[@LeapfrogCrypto]

Your videos are amazing - I'm new to KZbin, but you've inspired me to start creating animated explainers too!

[@amannamedryan]

When your Echo comes on everytime he says "Alexa"

[@jonathanxu4314]

That ad transition was ridiculously smooth. Guaranteed thumbs up from me!

[@izzrainy7410]

>Sees TierZoo logo I see you too are a man of culture

[@takyikobbie3679]

Ur transition to advertisement is the comedy gold of the Yr... All the time

[@avenue69ph]

Man do I love how you introduce the sponsors at the end! lmao :D

[@bearmugs1408]

Theses videos are so good they are hard to describe the quality of every video of every aspect is phenomenal. You pick the best topics and mix just the perfect amount of humour, detail and information that it's always fun to watch, and I want to watch it. It makes economics a great subject. These videos at this quality are hard to find, but I've found them, encased with gold and silver. It's just amazing what you do. Thanks PolyMatter for this

[@zacknicley8150]

2023: Amazon changes its name to Weyland 2027: Weyland partners with Yutani

[@markfryer9880]

So just when is Amazon going to turn a profit? Shareholders eventually want to see not just capital gains but also dividends. Staff want to be paid a living wage and not have to rely on food stamps to make ends meet. Governments eventually need all businesses to pay their fair share in taxes to pay for and do the things that private businesses can't or won't do.

[@BernhardWelzel]

The very moment the U.S. changes from a "buy the government" to an election based system. Until them, people will get what cooperations pay for. Maybe it should allow for more than 2 parties to choose from and maybe - just maybe - make some of the internals transparent like who is paying how much to the puppets on stage?

[@VibrGames]

"Amazon workers pee in bottles to stay on performance targets" I cackled.

[@Mogawty]

Holy. That DSC ad was so well integrated into the end there.

[@dunkleecodunklee]

Love this channel. So many great vids that are very compelling and easy to understand

[@tafaragadze6432]

It honestly took me a few seconds to realise he had transitioned to the video sponsors dollar shave club 😂 that's what you call sleek and smooth. Didn't realise I was even being marketed to

[@NeilNileStudios]

4:33 The business community calls it the fly whell effect

[@OnurTheXbot]

As an average PolyMatter viewer I already know that there is going to be a sponsor.

[@coolcatrat2965]

Wow, its truly great to think about how to business world works! The world is so competitive...

[@Niti10]

I really enjoy your video, No clickbait, short and simple.

[@adityamishrafb]

omg these sponsor transitions tho !!

[@Bromoteknada]

I thought that you would fully detect Amazon's theory, but you didn't and here is why. (just to be clear, I love your videos and the level of work you bring on youtube) 1. Margin. Dropping your margin from low to even negative is a common competitive strategy. HOWEVER when competition is eliminated then the margin WILL increase and there won't be no Walmart or let's say FEDEX, to fight Amazon with lower prices. So what you will get as a customer in margin is : 1% (good for you) , 5%(still good for you) , but when competition is eliminated prices will go up for 15% margins (bad for you) , 30-40% (very bad for you) and there won't be a competitor to stop it, so basically your pocket will be defenceless in any oligopoly-industry. As you said it, scale. Selling 1000 pieces on a 1% margin is better than selling 100 pieces on a 5-10% margin. 2.I also think that you didn't describe the ad thing as it is. Amazon is actually moving into the "ad" business in order to develop its own tools (until now they would just retarget on adsense) and implement them into its products. Maybe the video was uploaded before these announcements. You also didn't mention that what Echo does is what other...sketchy sound monitoring companies do, gather data by keywords. I'm not saying that they directly listen to your...kitchen conversations however it is proven that they gather the keywords that you are using. Google does the same. If you start mentioning words like "tv,buy,samsung, 50 inches etc." then you will probably get tv-based ads google ads. So basically they may sell to you cheap products, but they will know your consumer behavior SO WELL , that you will end up buying dozens of shit that you don't need or will use. And that is just way worse than just buying some bucks cheaper. Oligopolies and monopolies are so bad for the global economy that personally I find the current and the upcoming situation way more dangerous than , let's say, Kim Jong Jun. And it goes without saying that such powerful companies will not be stopped by regulations and stuff, their influence is enormous and grows day by day.

[@gautamhans1]

Smooth Dollar Shave intro transition 👌

[@jcgriffin4572]

Dude? Are just 1person?Ifso you are the smartest most well spoken person ever! I truly believe you are some sort of AI bot.I always learn a ton of info from every video you have. Thanks for the great work!

[@99carrera]

smooth transition to the dollar shave club advert at the end haha

[@KazutoKirigaya-je1vb]

I found your channel yesterday, and I’m really glad I did. The stuff you talk about is pretty interesting. PS: What the hell that segue was so clean

[@danielnaranjo6321]

Damn the sponsorship was even about delivery

[@uhx]

You realize the arrow in the Amazon logo mean A > Z, you can't just throw the arrow on a chair. Lmao

[@samsharma8621]

Man your hard work shows off

[@nicodepazburneracct8764]

Jesus Christ I instantly had to subscribe for that smooth ass Sponsorship transition

[@govols2214]

More grand theory videos!!

[@electrojag1]

Seriously, the way your videos transition into the ad at the end is flawless.

[@fassifern]

"This morning, I got up at night."

[@darwintruong4161]

The ad transition was so smooth I didn’t thought there wasn’t an ad

[@johnespino886]

Hi, I enjoyed this video! And your background music really is soothing enough to make a fidgety soul sit down and watch. Keep it up 👍 Some suggestions for your consideration: - I hope you summarized the main points at the end of the video again, if just to tie them up nicely. - Note the main points in the show notes. I know these suggestions might make it seem like it's going to dissuade viewers to watch through the video, I think it could help a lot with comprehension and further research and exploration. PS I read a lot of Ben Thompson, and this is a nice companion to his pieces (which really are quite of a read).

[@Escapos]

That was the smoothest fucking transition into a sponsor ad I've ever seen. 10/10 shaving with 10 of their razors as I type this comment.

[@tomtomwarwar9101]

“Apple is comfortable charging more for the very best experience” yes... a $999 stand....must give a much better experience than a $20 one.

[@CrisTechCuts]

I’ve been watching your channel for a while now, and can honestly say that you’re the one that should have millions of subscribers. Such an amazing way of showing and explaining topics. Very high quality. 💯

[@awesometech7686]

This makes me hate amazon

[@Patchuchan]

I already hated them for doing stuff like selling facial recognition software to law enforcement something even Google decided not to do as it was too evil. www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-switch/wp/2018/05/22/amazon-is-selling-facial-recognition-to-law-enforcement-for-a-fistful-of-dollars/

[@Depreciated10]

What about Microsoft selling windows to the government? Should we can them too?

[@pokadott5852]

Patchuchan isn't the Washington Post owned by Amazon?