Jeff Bezos used a mental model called the 'Regret Minimization Framework' to decide to quit his job and start Amazon.

In 1994, Jeff Bezos was a Senior Vice President at the hedge fund D.E. Shaw & Co. in New York City. While researching the rapid growth of the World Wide Web, he discovered that internet usage was growing at a staggering rate of 2,300% per year. This statistic convinced him that he needed to find a way to participate in the digital revolution before it was too late.To make the difficult choice to leave his high-paying role, Bezos developed the Regret Minimization Framework. He projected his life forward to age 80 and looked back on his decisions from that perspective. He concluded that he would not regret missing out on a large annual bonus, but he would certainly regret not being part of the internet boom that he knew would change the world.Psychologically, this approach leverages the concept of 'anticipated regret,' which is a powerful motivator in behavioral economics. Studies by researchers like Thomas Gilovich from Cornell University suggest that people are more likely to regret things they didn't do (omissions) rather than things they did (commissions) when looking back over a lifetime. By focusing on his future self, Bezos bypassed the fear of short-term failure.Bezos officially founded Amazon in his garage in Bellevue, Washington, on July 5, 1994. He started with an initial investment of roughly $250,000 from his parents' life savings. Today, this decision-making framework is widely cited in business schools as a masterclass in strategic risk-taking and long-term vision.