David McShea was quoted in the CNBC article, "Even During Amazon's IPO Process 20 Years Ago, Jeff Bezos Was Obsessed With Details," recalling that the time from organizational meeting to filing the IPO registration statement with the SEC was just 12 days.

That process normally takes six weeks, said David McShea, a partner at Perkins Coie, the firm that represented Amazon.

"Even at the time, they were intent on moving very quickly," said McShea. "You could feel the energy, excitement and intensity. That was part of the culture."

McShea recalled a day during the drafting process when he was chatting with Bezos, who was very involved in every detail. They were at the financial printer's office, and the TV on the wall was airing a commercial for the server company Digital. The entire 30-second clip featured Bezos talking about the growth of the internet.

"I thought, wow, they haven't even filed to go public yet and the CEO is shown in TV ads for another technology company," McShea said.