> Sorry, I was referring to how it was obvious to so many that Barnes & Noble and Borders would crush this fledgling website founded by the kook who set out in a van to compete with them.

I remember Amazon's launch quite well, and I don't remember any of that sentiment. The first time I used Amazon I remember thinking "Wow, books are the perfect thing to sell online." I feel like it's become part of a standard origin mythology to play up the founder as "some kook with a crazy dream" that everyone else thought was insane. I think that's rarely the case, and is instead played up in an effort of founder worship.