NOTE: This series is based on the growth principles of unicorn-entrepreneurs from my books, Nothing Ventured Everything Gained and Finance Secrets of Billion-Dollar Entrepreneurs.

When the Internet revolution started, Jeff Bezos was working on Wall Street. As he saw the Internet emerge, and display its potential, he moved to Seattle and started Amazon.com. On the way to Seattle, he decided to focus his startup on books. Here’s are 4 innovation tactics Bezos used to boost his unicorn.

Enter the high-potential trend when it is emerging. In the summer of 1994, Bezos saw that Internet usage was growing at an annual rate of 2,300 percent. He decided to leave his Wall Street job and seek growth opportunities on the emerging trend. (amazing person.com, Time 1999 Person of the year, Time, 12/27/1999).

Focus on the key unmet need that can be satisfied by the new trend. Bezos focused on finding the right product and on the segment that was very likely to switch to the new trend (Jeff Bezos: The Ultimate Disrupter, Fortune, December 3, 2012, Pg. 102). He picked books because even the largest bookstore only carried a fraction of the books in print. Online he was able to offer nearly every book available. First week’s sales were $12,000.

Move fast and better on the trend to beat slow and perfect. Bezos moved fast to build his website and Yahoo added it to the “What’s Cool page?” three days after launch. But early on, customers could enter a negative number of books in the order page and their credit cards would be credited. (Birth of a salesman, Wall Street Journal, 10/15/2011, pg. C1).

Seek a platform on the trend for long-term growth potential. Just as Apple and Walmart built platforms, Amazon.com did the same to dominate its industry (Fortune, December 3, 2012, pg. 109). When customers told Bezos they would buy other products, he added them to his platform. Using data about customers’ likes, Bezos helped vendors sell on his site and simultaneously sold web services. He expanded to e-readers and Kindle so consumers could download e-books and an ecosystem of products such as apps, music, video, etc.