I have a few friends that work or have worked at Unity. This is purely anecdotal but from what I've heard it sounds like the place is fairly dysfunctional at this point. A lot of the dysfunction that exists now wasn't there even 3-4 years ago.
> Who cares what he did to some diaper companies. Are consumers paying more or less because of amazon? Much less.
They are probably generally paying less but Amazon isn't the surefire low-cost provider on the internet the way they used to be. I don't expect the trend of them raising prices to reverse as they gain market power.
> How much would you have to charge for same day delivery for that many products? Could you get close to Amazon? You would have to rip off you customers so badly just to stay alive.
It's not "ripping off" it's just charging customers the actual cost of the service they are getting.
And don't forget Amazon. They aren't venture backed but they have access to capital at cheaper rates than most countries due to their position as a stock market darling. They use ultra-cheap money and a willingness to run negative margins which they refer to "reinvesting in the business" to bleed competitors dry. Few other companies on the planet have the ability to run negative or break-even margins the way Amazon does.
Diapers.com example: "When Bezos’s lieutenants learned of Wal-Mart’s counterbid, they ratcheted up the pressure, telling the Quidsi founders that [Bezos] was such a furious competitor that he would drive diaper prices to zero if they sold to Bentonville. The Quidsi board convened to discuss the possibility of letting the Amazon deal expire and then resuming negotiations with Wal-Mart. But by then, Bezos’s Khrushchev-like willingness to use the thermonuclear option had had its intended effect. The Quidsi executives stuck with Amazon, largely out of fear. The deal was announced Nov. 8, 2010."