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Jeff Bezos on the importance of intuition when building something new

October 08, 2025

When Jeff Bezos is trying to figure out where his company should spend its energy and resources, he always goes back to his customer’s needs.

“That’s the only way I can advise any founder or entrepreneur,” Jeff explains. “Deeply understand what the big ideas are that their customers want.”

One way to understand your customers’ needs is to ask them. But Jeff argues that’s not sufficient:

“You have to invent on their behalf. For the biggest breakthroughs and most important ideas, customers don’t know to ask for those things. You have to dream. You have to use your intuition, your gut, and your heart.”

This doesn’t mean you don’t look at your data, Jeff caveats:

“All of the data that gets used in business is essential. If you’re in business and you’re not looking at your data, trust me, your competitors are going to beat you. But if you’re only looking at your data, you also will not win — or at least not win big.”

He continues:

“The most important decisions that every person makes when they’re building something new is made with intuition. You cannot prove it, but you have an instinct and a hunch. Then you’ll pay attention — if that instinct turns out to be wrong, it won’t be a big deal. You’ll correct.”