Wonder Boy: Tony Hsieh, Zappos, and the Myth of Happiness in Silicon Valley
by Angel Au-Yeung and David Jeans · 25 Apr 2023 · 427pp · 134,098 words
pool equipment and camping chairs, unresponsive and without a pulse. The sight was an unrecognizable departure from the public image of Tony Hsieh. For years, Tony had been the face of Zappos, America’s most popular online shoe seller, and had become the shining example of an unconventional business leader who cared more
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time. “I’ve seen a lot of companies and I have never seen a company with a culture like Zappos.” But being a tech leader was merely his conduit. What made Tony Hsieh a rare icon was his stated desire to advance the human condition. Countless people from Silicon Valley to New York
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Unit 810. Tony and Alfred also sold all the domains that Venture Frogs had bought, including drugs.com, to fund Zappos. “That’s right, Venture Frogs, a startup incubator run by Tony Hsieh and Alfred Lin, is in the process of selling its domain name drugs.com to an undisclosed buyer,” Wired reported
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festival in Austin, Texas, that had earned a spot on the event calendars of the tech glitterati. “I’m outside South by Southwest with Tony Hsieh from Zappos, and he’s got a new book coming out in June,” said tech journalist Frank Gruber during a video interview in front of the Delivering
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plants hung from the ceiling. It was all a bit weird—just like Tyler. Upon Elissa’s urging, Tyler found himself Googling the search terms “Zappos” and “Tony Hsieh.” None of the web pages that he found had anything to do with selling shoes. What he found instead was that Tony and
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selling shoes online, but that seemed to be the last thing that came to mind when people thought of Zappos and Tony Hsieh. The news segments and talk show interviews—from Tony explaining Zappos’s core values of staying humble and embracing weirdness to B-roll of pranks being pulled in the office—mythologized
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was way bigger than just the campus,” recalled Chris Peake. “We felt like this could go down in history books as something that Tony Hsieh, Fred Mossler, and Zappos did to recharge cities.” Since Tony had so much of his personal money on the line, onlookers wondered what motivated him to do this
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source said. The Washington Post followed up with a piece that suggested Tony’s experiment was doomed—“Why Zappos’s CEO Couldn’t Save Downtown Las Vegas”—while Bloomberg opened its story with “Is Tony Hsieh giving up on Las Vegas?” The online publication Slate declared that “if there’s a dark side
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homeowners association inviting the neighbors for a night of cocktails and entertainment at the ranch. The message also revealed that their new neighbor was Tony Hsieh, the CEO of Zappos, a company that Amazon had bought for over $1 billion. Outside of a small group of people, no one even knew Tony was
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of brown hair and a bushy mustache that makes him immediately identifiable around town as the fire chief, Tom was vaguely aware of Tony Hsieh: his wife was a loyal Zappos customer and had been buying shoes from the website for years. She later bought him a copy of Delivering Happiness. “I couldn
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the company. He is creating an archive of Tony-related assets to present to the Hsieh family from Zappos. Michelle continued to do media work for the Hsieh family, including the launch of the Tony Hsieh Award, which recognizes individuals who have achieved “significant advancement and bold innovation.” Collaborators on this include TED
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whose lives he touched—from Canady Hall A in Harvard to those who followed him for two decades at Zappos, and all the strangers in between—they could agree on one thing: Tony Hsieh was more than enough. * * * Walking through Aspen Springs in the months after his death, one could see a
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sat. Tony’s Corner, it read. Dedicated to a true visionary and champion of Downtown Las Vegas, Tony Hsieh. This corner of the Parlour Bar was a favorite meeting spot for Tony and his Zappos and Downtown Project teams for many years. The power outlet below was installed to help power their smart
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journalists, including the Wall Street Journal reporters Kirsten Grind and Katherine Sayre, whose book Happy at Any Cost: The Revolutionary Vision and Fatal Quest of Zappos CEO Tony Hsieh provided an account of Tony’s life, and Aimee Groth, whose reporting in various publications and her book The Kingdom of Happiness: Inside
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first article: Au-Yeung, Angel, and Jeans, David, “Tony Hsieh’s American Tragedy: The Self-Destructive Last Months of the Zappos Visionary,” Forbes, December 4, 2020, https://www.forbes.com/sites/angelauyeung/2020/12/04/tony-hsiehs-american-tragedy-the-self-destructive-last-months-of-the-zappos-visionary/. started filming: Video footage provided by New London
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and High Pressure Kinetics of Polar Reactions in Solutions,” PhD diss., University of Illinois, 1991, 183. catching fireflies in jars: “Simon Sinek Talks Culture with Zappos CEO Tony Hsieh,” YouTube, posted by Simon Sinek, August 1, 2019, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uqUx4BJ1ENY. where the family moved: Hsieh, Delivering Happiness, 7. Among
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They invested $500,000 in seed capital: Eng, Dinah, “Nick Swinmurn: Zappos’ Silent Founder,” Fortune, September 5, 2012, https://fortune.com/2012/09/05/nick-swinmurn-zappos-silent-founder/. a $68.3 million exit: Lin, Alfred, “My Final Letter to Tony Hsieh,” Forbes, December 1, 2020, https://www.forbes.com/sites/alexkonrad/2020/12
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/01/my-final-letter-to-tony-hsieh-by-alfred-lin/?sh=533275f1239b. Zappos was days away from running out of cash: Hsieh, Delivering Happiness, 72. “I have my
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brush with the law after a drug-related incident: Grind, Kirsten, and Sayre, Katherine, Happy at Any Cost: The Revolutionary Vision and Fatal Quest of Zappos CEO Tony Hsieh (Simon & Schuster, 2022), 426. Joey Vanas: Interview with Joey Vanas, May 2021. “Just ask her to clean it up”: Interview with Holly McNamara,
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However, Holly recalled: Interview with Holly McNamara, March 10, 2021. Chapter 9: The New Project “When you have the little Z’s”: “From 2010: Zappos CEO Tony Hsieh,” YouTube, posted by CBS Sunday Morning, November 28, 2020, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wSHG3EU1EZ4. full-body Spider-Man suit: “The Mastermind of ‘Delivering
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February 1, 2012, https://lasvegassun.com/news/2012/feb/01/las-vegas-city-council-approves-final-deal-bringin/. “We need one of those”: “Zappos and Downtown Project: Tony Hsieh,” YouTube, posted by Wisdom 2.0, March 3, 2014, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1kaAVbf-17w. he also found the campuses incredibly insular
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: “Zappos and Downtown Project: Tony Hsieh.” “The more we thought about it”: “Tony Hsei The City as a Startup–H264 MOV 1280x720 GBG Water 1800,” YouTube, posted by GreenBiz,
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. He started at the call center: Garfinkel, “Engineering Happiness at Zappos.” he made a centaur costume: Bell, Jennie, “True Stories of How Tony Hsieh Taught His Zappos Team the Meaning of ‘Wow,’” Footwear News, December 21, 2020, https://footwearnews.com/2020/business/retail/tony-hsieh-zappos-employee-stories-1203085519/. “What are you doing tonight?”: Bell, “True
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“What Happens in Vegas Stays in Vegas, Unless You’re Tony Hsieh,” Entrepreneur, March 12, 2013, https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/226056. “the city as a startup”: “Zappos and Downtown Project: Tony Hsieh.” The $350 million would be distributed across four categories: “Zappos and Downtown Project: Tony Hsieh”; Semuels, Alana, “$350 Million Might Not Be Enough to Save
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com/portfolio_page/technology-startups/, accessed October 23, 2022. Underpinning the Downtown Project were three central goals: “Zappos and Downtown Project: Tony Hsieh.” return on community (ROC): “Zappos and Downtown Project: Tony Hsieh.” return on luck (ROL): “Zappos and Downtown Project: Tony Hsieh.” “This is part of the reason”: “Tony Hsei: The City as a Startup,” https://www.youtube
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.com/watch?v=lkQVPx5kAxc. “Some speculate it’s ego”: Schoenmann, Joe, “What’s Behind Tony Hsieh’s Unrelenting Drive
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sue-deposits-back-downtown-luxury-condos/. when Tony moved there in May 2011: Corbett, Sara, “How Zappos’ CEO Turned Las Vegas Into a Startup Fantasyland,” Wired, January 21, 2014, https://www.wired.com/2014/01/zappos-tony-hsieh-las-vegas/. When the Downtown Project was announced in January 2012: Downtown Project 2019 pitch deck
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joe-downtown-vegastechfunds-romotive-silicon-valle/. Keller said he chose downtown Las Vegas: Corbett, “How Zappos’ CEO.” “Downtown basically sells itself”: Pratt, “What Happens in Brooklyn.” “Even though there’s plenty of parking”: “Tony Hsieh Talks Downtown Las Vegas, Zappos, and More at Samsung SXSW 2013,” YouTube, posted by What’s Trending, March 10
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Happiness, 73. Tony had recently expanded his Delivering Happiness brand: Delivering Happiness website, https://www.deliveringhappiness.com/about. In one video interview: “Drinking Vodka with Tony Hsieh (Zappos) and Jenn Lim (Delivering Happiness),” YouTube, posted by mediatechsocial, May 17, 2012, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qBUfRf_VkmA (no longer available). Jon Greenman
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anonymous source. first-class flights and even private jets: Grind, Kirsten, and Sayre, Katherine, Happy at Any Cost: The Revolutionary Vision and Fatal Quest of Zappos CEO Tony Hsieh (Simon & Schuster, 2022), 147. its Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/LuxDelux/, accessed February 1, 2022. Chapter 14: Trouble in Paradise he hated
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-86b0-2d2ffe7ea26f%2F0fca9f01d630275220b4caea45a4bb41&title=Downtown%2BProject%253A%2BCollisions%252C%2BCo-Learning%252C%2BConnectness. “I view my role more as trying to set up”: “Zappos Milestone: Q&A with Tony Hsieh,” Footwear News, May 4, 2009. “Tony doesn’t really like conflict”: Interview with Maggie Hsu, February 21, 2021. “A Partner duly filling
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Tony’s: Interview with anonymous source. a chocolate-brown alpaca named Marley: “Inside Zappos CEO’s Wild, Wonderful Life.” a common “living room”: Video interview with Shira Lazar, Adventures in Curiosity, “Inside Ferguson’s Downtown Project Las Vegas With Tony Hsieh,” February 14, 2019. “With a net worth of $840 million”: Holley, Peter
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a Vision,” New York Times, July 17, 2015, https://www.nytimes.com/2015/07/19/business/at-zappos-selling-shoes-and-a-vision.html. “The media has kind of portrayed it”: “Tony Hsieh Explains Why He Sold Zappos and What He Thinks of Amazon (Full Interview),” YouTube, posted by Recode, May 24, 2016, https
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intense display of loyalty”: Komenda, Ed, “Is Tony Hsieh Downtown Las Vegas’ Savior or Conqueror?,” Las Vegas Sun, February 23, 2014, https://lasvegassun.com/news/2014/feb/23/tony-hsieh-downtown-las-vegas-savior-or-conqueror/. “‘can feel cultish’”: Walker, Alissa, “Zappos Isn’t a Cult? All Tony Hsieh’s Friends Got Matching Tattoos,” Gizmodo, February 24
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, 2014, https://gizmodo.com/zappos-isnt-a-cult-all-tony-hsiehs-friends-got-match-1529721696. The pressure was getting to
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Legacy Reminds Us All of the Importance of Community,” December 10, 2020, https://journal.burningman.org/2020/12/news/global-news/tony-hsieh-legacy/. Tony purchased a gutted Boeing 747: Johnson, Shea, “Zappos Will Use Burning Man 747 Jet for Downtown Project,” Las Vegas Review-Journal, February 17, 2020, https://www.reviewjournal.com
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Trial (n.d.). At one point Tony told them: Grind, Kirsten, and Sayre, Katherine, Happy at Any Cost: The Revolutionary Vision and Fatal Quest of Zappos CEO Tony Hsieh (Simon & Schuster, 2022), 212. Ten days later he returned: Baby Monster LLC v. PCVI LLC, Richard Hsieh and Andrew Hsieh, A-21-828090-C
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Management Act, Utah. Chapter 26: On the Edge of the Ether-World one of his first memories as a child: “Simon Sinek Talks Culture with Zappos CEO Tony Hsieh,” YouTube, posted by Simon Sinek, August 1, 2019, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uqUx4BJ1ENY. Tony bought a convoy of tour buses: Interviews with
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multiple anonymous sources. the company announced that Tony was stepping down from Zappos: Schulz, Bailey, and Velotta, Richard N., “Zappos CEO Tony Hsieh, Champion of Downtown Las Vegas, Retires,” Las Vegas Review-Journal, August 24, 2020, https://www.reviewjournal.com/business/zappos-ceo-tony-hsieh-champion-of-downtown-las-vegas-retires-2102935/. Michelle’s phone rang: Interview
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2022, https://www.reviewjournal.com/crime/courts/life-is-beautiful-ceo-withdraws-creditors-claim-in-tony-hsieh-case-2520681/. Only one statement: Au-Yeung, Angel, and Jeans, David, “Tony Hsieh’s American Tragedy: The Self-Destructive Last Months of the Zappos Visionary,” Forbes, December 4, 2020, https://www.forbes.com/sites/angelauyeung/2020/12/04
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/tony-hsiehs-american-tragedy-the-self-destructive-last-months-of-the-zappos-visionary/. Andy was secretly in constant contact: Interview with
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Bigfork, Montana, 2017, courtesy of an anonymous source. Fig. 17 Tony Hsieh with Justin Weniger, Ryan Doherty, and Tyler Williams, courtesy of an anonymous source. Fig. 18 Tony Hsieh with Fred Mossler and others at Zappos event. Denise Truscello/Getty Images Fig. 19 Tony Hsieh cooking at Park City home, 2020, courtesy of an anonymous source.
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-World 27: Blizzy 28: Thanksgiving 29: The Aftermath Epilogue Photographs Acknowledgments A Note on Sources Notes Image Credits Index About the Authors Copyright WONDER BOY: TONY HSIEH, ZAPPOS, AND THE MYTH OF HAPPINESS IN SILICON VALLEY. Copyright © 2023 by Angel Au-Yeung and David Jeans. All rights reserved. For information, address Henry
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photograph © Jake Chessum / Trunk Archive Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Names: Au-Yeung, Angel, 1991- author. | Jeans, David, 1992- author. Title: Wonder boy : Tony Hsieh, Zappos, and the myth of happiness in Silicon Valley / Angel Au-Yeung and David Jeans. Description: First edition. | New York : Henry Holt and Company, [2023] | Includes
Delivering Happiness: A Path to Profits, Passion, and Purpose
by Tony Hsieh · 6 Jun 2010 · 222pp · 75,778 words
Praise for DELIVERING Happiness “Tony Hsieh is a wise guy. Sincerely. He’s one of the wisest and most thoughtful business leaders of the modern age. This insightful book isn’t
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the same time.” —Chip Conley, founder and CEO of Joie de Vivre Hospitality and author of Peak: How Great Companies Get Their Mojo from Maslow “Tony Hsieh has done a huge amount of thinking about how to bring happiness to himself, to employees, and to customers, and in this fascinating (and often
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use in your business and in your life.” —Anthony Robbins, author of Unlimited Power and Awaken the Giant Within “This book could start a revolution! Tony Hsieh shows how you can dramatically increase your own happiness—and success—by increasing the happiness of those around you.” —Marshall Goldsmith, author of Mojo: How
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way, too. I loved it.” —Jonathan Haidt, professor of psychology, University of Virginia, and author of The Happiness Hypothesis: Finding Modern Truth in Ancient Wisdom “Tony Hsieh is the shining star of a new way of working. DELIVERING HAPPINESS is a book that tells an extraordinary business story—building a $1 billion
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at the Marshall School of Business/University of Southern California and coauthor of Tribal Leadership and The Three Laws of Performance Copyright Copyright © 2010 by Tony Hsieh All rights reserved. Except as permitted under the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976, no part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or
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we ran out of cash and cutting back on a lot of the things that we wanted to do. Date: October 19, 2000 From: Tony Hsieh To: Zappos Employees Subject: 9-Month Plan Zapponians: I just wanted to send out an email to everyone about our company priorities over the next 9 months
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$1 per paycheck (although that was before taxes). In November 2000, Nick sent me this e-mail: Date: November 26, 2000 From: Nick Swinmurn To: Tony Hsieh Subject: Stuff I don’t have any input on funding. Unfortunately seems like you are only option so I guess you need to decide what
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few of the ones that I really like.” Fred sent me an e-mail the next day. Date: February 17, 2003 From: Fred Mossler To: Tony Hsieh Subject: Books I was thinking about our book conversation. Maybe a cool way of encouraging people to read would be to create a board with
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real. But it was. I decided to write an e-mail to our employees, vendors, and friends of Zappos to spread the good news. Date: June 19, 2003 From: Tony Hsieh To: Friends of Zappos For the past 2 months, we’ve been working with Wells Fargo on getting a revolving line of credit
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be a lot of changes ahead as we grow, but one thing will always be constant: our focus on constantly improving the customer experience. Tony Hsieh CEO—Zappos.com We paid off all of our overdue invoices later that week and had a happy hour to celebrate. There was still a feeling of
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Zappos Culture Book was born, and it’s been a part of Zappos ever since. Every year, a new edition of the Zappos Culture Book is produced, which we give out to prospective employees, vendors, and even customers. I sent the following e-mail to all of our employees in August 2004: From: Tony Hsieh
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of our employees, which we also publicly posted on our blogs: Date: November 6, 2008 From: Tony Hsieh To: All Zappos Employees Subject: Update To all Zappos employees: Today has been a tough, emotional day for everyone at Zappos. We made the hard choice of laying off about 8% of our employees. The layoffs will
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I sent a follow up e-mail to our remaining employees, which we also publicly posted on our blogs: Date: November 11, 2008 From: Tony Hsieh To: All Zappos Employees Subject: Moving forward Last week was a tough week for everyone, as we went through the process of laying off 8% of the
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and come out as a team stronger than we’ve ever been in the history of the company. Let’s show the world what Zappos is capable of. —Tony Hsieh, CEO We received a lot of media attention because we had been so public and transparent with our layoffs instead of trying to
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he flew down, we let him know that we weren’t looking to sell the company. Date: August 16, 2005 From: Tony Hsieh To: Jeff Bezos Subject: Thursday’s Amazon/Zappos meeting Hi Jeff— I’m looking forward to meeting you in person on Thursday. I just wanted to set proper expectations before
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rocket to the moon. Finally, at the predetermined time, I sent the following e-mail to our employees: Date: July 22, 2009 From: Tony Hsieh To: All Zappos Employees Subject: Zappos and Amazon Please set aside 20 minutes to carefully read this entire email. (My apologies for the occasional use of formal-sounding language
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years were an incredible ride, and I’m excited about what we will accomplish together over the next 10 years as we continue to grow Zappos! —Tony Hsieh CEO—Zappos.com Q&A Q: Will we still continue to grow our headquarters out of Vegas? Yes! Just like before, we plan to continue to
Extreme Teams: Why Pixar, Netflix, AirBnB, and Other Cutting-Edge Companies Succeed Where Most Fail
by Robert Bruce Shaw, James Foster and Brilliance Audio · 14 Oct 2017 · 280pp · 82,355 words
People, Whole Planet.” • Year founded: 1980 • Revenue: $15 billion (2015) • Number of employees: 86,000 Zappos: Internet clothing company that is a division of Amazon. Focuses on shoes but also offers a range of attire. Tony Hsieh is cofounder and CEO. Motto: “Delivering Happiness.” • Year founded: 1999 • Revenue: $1.2 billion in 2009
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deadline). One person in the group suggested that they order out from a pizzeria. Zappos CEO Tony Hsieh suggested, half in jest, that they call the Zappos 800 number for ordering shoes. He said they should, without telling the Zappos call-center employee who they were, ask for help in finding a pizzeria that would
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made the call, with others in the group listening in on the speakerphone. The Zappos call-center employee was initially confused as to how to respond. But, as Hsieh predicted, she then helped locate the desired pizza. Tony Hsieh tells this story to illustrate that his firm’s first priority is not selling
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within these companies, particularly when they are led by a highly charismatic leader who engenders a strong sense of loyalty. Zappos, for example, is very much the creation of its founder Tony Hsieh. His personality is stamped on most of the company’s beliefs and practices. For example, he believes that the lines
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others to join his or her cause. A business leader’s ideas are proven over time to be productive or not. Tony Hsieh’s willingness to try new approaches in pushing Zappos forward is admirable. But implementing holacracy is not simply getting people to believe what he believes. His organizational model will be
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with their work; they want people who are consumed with creating relationships that are the foundation of a great company. Again, consider Tony Hsieh of Zappos. The firm he founded prior to Zappos was an Internet advertising group. It was eventually bought by Microsoft for $265 million. Hsieh says he sold his first firm
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use the day to check off something on their bucket lists. CEO Tony Hsieh spent the day officiating the wedding between two of his employees. The ceremony took place at the trailer park where Hsieh lives, with many members of the Zappos family, along with his two pet alpacas, in attendance. Sponsored a
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in 2015, with 6 percent citing holacracy as the reason they were leaving. See Gregory Ferenstein, “The Zappos Exodus Wasn’t About Holacracy, Says Tony Hsieh,” Fast Company, January 19, 2016. Also see David Gelles, “The Zappos Exodus Continues After a Radical Management Experiment,” New York Times, January 13, 2016. 19See Joseph B. Lassiter
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, whatever the form, is obsessive pedantry—the will to get things right, whatever the cost may be.” 29“Lessons on Culture and Customer Service from Zappos CEO, Tony Hsieh,” New York Times. January 9, 2010. 30Brian Cheskey, “Don’t Fuck up the Culture,” Medium, April 20, 2014, medium.com/@bchesky/dont-fuck-
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wrote, “Without adventure, civilization is in full decay.” 2Ed Catmull at Pixar. Brian Chesky at Airbnb. Yvon Chouinard at Patagonia. Reed Hastings at Netflix. Tony Hsieh at Zappos. Jack Ma at Alibaba. John Mackey at Whole Foods. Note that these founders had at least one partner in the creation of their companies. 3In
The Thank You Economy
by Gary Vaynerchuk · 1 Jan 2010 · 197pp · 59,946 words
is that.” He also makes the point that he believes Amazon and Zappos are compatible because they both obsess over customer service (though as Tony Hsieh points out in the letter he wrote to Zappos employees to announce the deal, they do it in different ways). Specifically, what he says is, “When given the
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the customer to try some other options on the menu, free of charge. I read this letter, and the one written by Tony Hsieh to announce the Zappos/Amazon deal to Zappos employees,* and I wonder why so many business leaders have such a hard time being real. Imagine how a customer would feel
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fix it quickly. That’s what capitalism understands and communism doesn’t. Tony Hsieh’s Letter to His Employees When Amazon acquired Zappos, even the way the acquisition was announced was culturally significant. Tony Hsieh, CEO of Zappos, wrote an incredibly personal letter to Zappos employees explaining the details of the transaction, what it meant for the
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company, and how it would affect their jobs. Date: Wed, 22 Jul 2009 From: Tony Hsieh (CEO—Zappos.com) To: All Zappos Employees Subject: Zappos and Amazon Please set aside 20 minutes to carefully read this entire email. (My apologies for the occasional use of formal-sounding
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years were an incredible ride, and I’m excited about what we will accomplish together over the next 10 years as we continue to grow Zappos! —Tony Hsieh CEO—Zappos.com Compare this letter to some of the stiff, jargon-filled letters most CEOs send out to their companies when they make big announcements
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Hallmark ran a TV commercial for Mother’s Day and featured a bunch of popular online characters and their moms, like Kevin Rose, iJustine, and Tony Hsieh—or if these Web celebrities did a “Got Milk” print campaign—I’m sure the ads would go crazy viral. Seeing those personalities on television
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: SB10001424052748704804204575069562743700340.html. “Most Brands Still Irrelevant on Twitter”: http://adage.com/digital/article?article_id=145107. Date: Wed, 22 Jul 2009: Tony Hsieh, “CEO Letter,” Zappos.com, July 22, 2009. http://blogs.zappos.com/ceoletter. The 2010 Grammys experienced a 35 percent hike: http://www.variety.com/article/VR1118014540.html?categoryid=14&cs=1
The Connected Company
by Dave Gray and Thomas Vander Wal · 2 Dec 2014 · 372pp · 89,876 words
part of their follow up. Good customers are profitable customers. Zappos treats frequent customers well, with surprises like upgrades from standard ground shipping to next-day air. Making customers happy, says CEO Tony Hsieh, leads to cost savings elsewhere, like marketing. “We let our customers do our marketing
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the most winning strategy of all. Make people feel good. Happiness is contagious. Happy employees create happy customers. Happy customers create happy shareholders. As Tony Hsieh of Zappos has said clearly and often: happiness is a business model. Principles Trump Processes Every connected company stands for something. It has opinions. Its people are
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, “Early Amazon: Similarities,” Geeking with Greg, blog, March 22, 2006, http://glinden.blogspot.com/2006/03/early-amazon-similarities.html. “IN A 2012 FORTUNE ARTICLE…” “Tony Hsieh’s new $350 million startup,” by Leigh Gallagher, Fortune, January 23, 2012. Part Five. How do you get there from here? Any enterprise involves risk
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– and How to Successfully Transform Them By Richard Foster and Sarah Kaplan, Broadway Business, 2001. Delivering Happiness: A Path to Profits, Passion and Purpose By Tony Hsieh, Business Plus, 2010. Drive: The Surprising Truth about What Motivates Us By Daniel H. Pink, Riverhead Trade, 2011. Effectuation: Elements of Entrepreneurial Expertise By Saras
One Click: Jeff Bezos and the Rise of Amazon.com
by Richard L. Brandt · 27 Oct 2011 · 222pp · 54,506 words
also paid 100 percent of employees’ health care premiums. How could Bezos resist a company with such ideals and ambitions ? In 2005, he visited CEO Tony Hsieh at Zappos headquarters in Henderson, Nevada, to discuss buying the company. Hsieh turned him down, worried that being absorbed into Amazon would destroy the unique
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Roush, “Amazon: Giving Away the Store,” Technology Review, January 2005. 184. Hsieh turned him down: Tony Hsieh, “Why I Sold Zappos,” Inc., June 1, 2010. 185. But Bezos was so excited: Video from Jeff Bezos about Amazon and Zappos, July 27, 2009, www.youtube.com/watch?v=-hxX_Q5CnaA. Chapter 17: Step by Step
Exponential Organizations: Why New Organizations Are Ten Times Better, Faster, and Cheaper Than Yours (And What to Do About It)
by Salim Ismail and Yuri van Geest · 17 Oct 2014 · 292pp · 85,151 words
, saw 731 million unique visitors cast 6.7 billion votes on 41 million stories. Talk about a platform…(More on this later.) Tony Hsieh, CEO of Las Vegas-based Zappos, was inspired by the Burning Man community to combine both physical and trait-based communities within his Las Vegas Downtown Project. The project
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by employees Experimentation We define Experimentation as the implementation of the Lean Startup methodology of testing assumptions and constantly experimenting with controlled risks. According to Zappos CEO Tony Hsieh, “A great brand or company is a story that never stops unfolding.” That is, it is imperative to continuously evolve and experiment. Bill Gates
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of cultural and organizational courage, but Google has found that the openness it engenders is worth any discomfort. Tony Hsieh built Zappos into a billion dollar company using this very same philosophy. Everything at Zappos is about customer service and openness. Its publicly available and annually updated 500-page Culture Book defines who and
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business also prevents the release of 700,000 tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere each year, offering a clear social and ecological benefit. Like Tony Hsieh of Zappos, Mazzella wants BlaBlaCar to be considered among the best companies to work for. To keep morale high, he initiated the BlaBlaSwap program, which offers
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, most relating to company data and APIs. In 2011 Zappos opened its competitions to the external developer community as well (the API Developer Challenge and the Winter Hackathon), and awarded money and gift certificates to the winners [Engagement]. In December 2013, CEO Tony Hsieh adopted the Holacracy approach and shook up the 1
Amazon Unbound: Jeff Bezos and the Invention of a Global Empire
by Brad Stone · 10 May 2021 · 569pp · 156,139 words
to fire John Mackey. But Bezos often allowed acquired companies and their eccentric CEOs to operate autonomously, as he had years before with the late Tony Hsieh and Zappos. He preferred to learn from their experience and harvest the data and business lessons that emerged. Now Bezos had to find alignment among Amazon
Rework
by Jason Fried and David Heinemeier Hansson · 9 Mar 2010 · 102pp · 27,769 words
, straightforward, and proven … Read this book multiple times to help give you the courage you need to get out there and make something great.” —Tony Hsieh, CEO, Zappos.com “The brilliance of Rework is that it inspires you to rethink everything you thought you knew about strategy, customers, and getting things done.” —William
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it something no one else can offer. Look at Zappos.com, a billion-dollar online shoe retailer. A pair of sneakers from Zappos is the same as a pair from Foot Locker or any other retailer. But Zappos sets itself apart by injecting CEO Tony Hsieh’s obsession with customer service into everything it does
The Education of Millionaires: It's Not What You Think and It's Not Too Late
by Michael Ellsberg · 15 Jan 2011 · 362pp · 99,063 words
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