Jeff Bezos has been reminding people that it is Day 1 for a couple of decades.

True: documented uses by Bezos of the 'Day 1' concept go back about two decades before April 2017 (to about 1997 or earlier, e.g., the 1997 shareholder letter saying 'it's still Day 1'), and he repeated it over the intervening years. Mostly true: the earliest documented use is 15–19 years before 2017 (about 1998–2002) and it was repeated over that span. Mixed: the earliest use was 10–14 years before. Mostly false: it was used for less than 10 years, or only once long ago with no repetition. False: the evidence shows Bezos first used the concept within the last few years before 2017.

Set before the research began.

1. E1 Amazon's original 1997 letter to shareholders Amazon (aboutamazon.com) · 21 March 1998 Own record

   “But this is Day 1 for the Internet and, if we execute well, for Amazon.com. Today, online commerce saves customers money and precious time.”

2. E2 In Competition with Oneself: A Qualitative Inquiry into Amazon’s Entrepreneurial Culture Technology & Innovation Management Review (timreview.ca) · June 2018

   “The reference to Day 1 was first made in the company’s 1997 LTS.”

3. E3 In Competition with Oneself: A Qualitative Inquiry into Amazon’s Entrepreneurial Culture Technology & Innovation Management Review (timreview.ca) · June 2018

   “The immediate next year (1998) drew a reference to this when Bezos stated in the LTS: “It’s truly Day 1 for the Internet and, if we execute our business plan well, it remains Day 1 for Amazon.com.””

Amazon's 1997 shareholder letter, issued in March 1998, says "this is Day 1 for the Internet and... for Amazon.com" (E1). An independent academic review confirms that the first reference to Day 1 was in the 1997 letter (E3), so the concept goes back about two decades before April 2017. The same source shows Bezos used it again in the 1998 letter (E4). However, the evidence documents no uses between 1999 and 2016, so the criterion that he repeated it over the intervening years is only partly met.