Happy Presidents Day

Quote of the Day

You cannot escape the responsibility of tomorrow by evading it today.”

Abraham Lincoln. He makes a great point, but we’ll still take the day off.



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Amazon Is Becoming the King of Capitol Hill

Like most Americans, U.S. companies have a complicated relationship with Washington D.C.

On the one hand, they—companies, not people—wouldn’t exist without government services, incentives, contracts, and infrastructure (how many Fortune 500 companies were founded in war-torn countries?). On the other…they wish D.C. would tone it down with the red tape, viewed as harmful to innovation and growth.

So, if you’re a business, you’ve got to ask yourself this: “How do I maximize the benefits of government while making sure it stays out of my way?”

Easy. You make like Amazon.

Unleash a charm offensive on Washington D.C.
That’s a nice way of putting it. In reality, Amazon is practically invading our nation’s capital with a hyper-aggressive lobbying push, laid out in a recent Bloomberg piece.

You could say the assault unofficially began in 2013, when Jeff Bezos bought The Washington Post for $250 million. And Amazon has steadily ramped up its influence from there.

The blueprint of a D.C. takeover:

* Amazon signed a $600 million cloud computing contract with the CIA in 2013. The CIO of the agency recently called the partnership “the most innovative thing we’ve ever done.”
* Amazon expanded the number of federal entities it lobbied from eight in 2012 to 39 in 2017, including NASA and the postal service.
* In 2015, Amazon tapped former White House Press Secretary, Jay Carney, to lead its D.C. policy office.
* Over the past two years, it doubled its number of registered lobbyists to 27.

Bottom line: Over the last five years, no other large tech company has done as much to increase its influence on Capitol Hill.

Granted, Amazon isn’t like most other companies

It’s trying to become your one-stop shop for…everything.

What was once a book e-tailer has dipped its toe into dozens of industries, including e-commerce, grocery, brick-and-mortar retail, cloud computing, AI, music and video streaming, audiobooks, advertising…and it’s suiting up for full swims in logistics, pharmacy, and health care.

If you’re nervous that one company has that much market power, you’re not alone. Scott Galloway, a professor of marketing at NYU and head cheerleader of the “break up Big Tech” movement, notes that Amazon is worth more than Walmart, Costco, T. J. Maxx, Target, Ross, Best Buy, Ulta, Kohl’s, Nordstrom, Macy’s, Bed Bath & Beyond, Saks/Lord & Taylor, Dillard’s, JCPenney, and Sears…wait for it…combined.

With that kind of scale, the government is going to take notice

And Amazon has drawn plenty of scrutiny from the only guy who really matters: the president.

In 2015, then-candidate Trump took aim at Bezos with what else? A tweet.

Picture

Bezos fired back.
Picture

But that was 2015. Recently, Bezos seems to be singing a different tune.
Picture

Amazon is deliberately shifting resources to Capitol Hill and filling the calendar with policymaker playdates. That’s not surprising. Bezos hears the “Break up Amazon” chorus getting louder. He sees the writing on the wall—and is trying to add allies to his cart.

Forget the list of 20 finalists. Washington D.C. is effectively Amazon’s HQ2.

From the Morning Brew Archive

Presidents’ Day is traditionally a time to celebrate George Washington’s birthday. And starting this year, a day to celebrate the best of the Brew. Check out our favorite articles of the past year.

* The backstory behind our new logo.
* Our interview with Tom Bilyeu, the co-founder of Quest Nutrition and a walking TED Talk.
* If you’ve ever considered investing in less mainstream cryptocurrencies, read this detailed guide to buying altcoins.
* Why you shouldn’t trust the Dow.
* A look at the stunning rise of the tech manufacturing capital of the world: Shenzhen, China.
* The most digestible overview of the Federal Reserve out there.
* The case against Bitcoin (but first, understanding what the heck it is).
* We spoke with Linda Kozlowski, the COO of Etsy, about how she helps empower female entrepreneurs.

The Breakroom

Question of the Day

Two boys, McKinley and Taft, were sent by their mothers to sell an equal amount of cupcakes each, worth one dollar per cupcake.

They were told not to eat the cupcakes they are selling, and that they should sell all of the cupcakes.

At the end of the day, all cupcakes were sold, yet neither boy gained nor lost a dollar.

What happened?

(Answer located at the bottom of newsletter)

Business Trivia

Who is the only president to earn an MBA?

(Answer located at the bottom of newsletter)

Stat of the Day

$3700—The average expected incentive for buying a car during many dealers’ Presidents’ Day weekend sales. Honk if you love a discount!

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Breakroom Answers

Question of the Day: Each boy became hungry after a while. McKinley decided to buy a cupcake from Taft, paying him one dollar. Taft also decided to buy a cupcake from McKinley, paying him one dollar, too. And so it continued until all the cupcakes were sold, and both boys came home full and happy. (We can't say the same for the moms, though.)

Business Trivia: George W. Bush—Harvard Business School (‘75)

 

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