The first thing I look at is, 'Is the entrepreneur going after really big problems, to the extent that it feels scary when they talk about it?' You wonder if the idea is possible. I have seen that a lot of times, people go after small problems, and that's a sign that they are not confident.

At Amazon, we were not working with the e-commerce division but with the Web services team. We started Flipkart completely from scrap. Moreover, the whole shopping behaviour and infrastructure challenges in the Indian market were different from that in the U.S. and European markets.

When e-commerce companies build scale, cost comes down. Companies that can handle scale and reduce costs over time will win. Margins will come from reducing costs over time and not by increasing prices. Technology is the answer at large scale.

I believe that the capacity that any organisation needs is for leadership to appear anywhere it is needed, when it is needed.

I wanted total control and leadership. I wanted to buy the horses and choose the players.

In Britain, you do your job. When you do an American TV show, there is a sense of being one with the crew, and there is a leadership element, which was a learning curve for me because it is very different culturally. In Britain, you just do it, leave and say, 'Thanks.'

Power should be reserved for weightlifting and boats, and leadership really involves responsibility.