> I suggested to him that if the answer wasn’t ‘hell yes,’ then it had to be ‘no.’

This is a concerning statement. It's the kind which is made by those who believe they are being generous and fair while they aren't. This is how people surround themselves with "yes men". I fear that is connected to the predicament we are in, and this infection exists in many corporations. It's hard to fight. We want validation while many "yes men" are just trying to survive (but some are manipulative). But this always results in the death of a business. Too big to fail just means a slow death because the environment discourages competition. Ironically the environment Bezos is creating while claiming to be encouraging. It might even be sincere. As adults we still feel young, is this also true for businesses?