Tony Hsieh

Delivering Happiness

1. IDEA 1

   An entrepreneur from childhood

   Hsieh describes his childhood business experiments, from worm farms to selling buttons, and his early success co-founding LinkExchange, which he sold. Despite the money, he felt unfulfilled because the company culture had turned sour.

2. IDEA 2

   He bet on Zappos

   Hsieh invested in and later led Zappos, an online shoe store. The company struggled financially in its early years. Hsieh describes how the company kept going through hard times, even though it was not clear at first that the bet would pay off.

3. IDEA 3

   Service became the brand

   Hsieh made outstanding customer service central to Zappos, offering free shipping and returns and long phone calls. Service became the company's brand. In Hsieh's account, the company spent on service, instead of advertising, and hoped that happy customers would tell others.

All 8 ideas from Delivering Happiness →