TED Books
In September 2010, I sent the CEO a small news item about Apple's plans to create a short-form books series. Naturally ; ) he immediately sent a personal email to Jeff Bezos to suggest that Amazon preempt the idea. No one's claiming credit – but Amazon announced the Kindle Singles concept a month later.
I solicited and edited the initial six titles, and TED Books launched less than four months later in conjunction with the launch of Kindle Singles. TED Books is now a major TED division.