Keynote Speaker: Tony Hsieh • Presented By • Speakers.com • Advice for Entrepreneurs

Summary

The speaker shares their journey, starting from college entrepreneurship with a pizza business to founding Zappos, a major online retailer. They highlight the company's unique focus on customer experience, culture, and happiness as key drivers of success. The speaker discusses Zappos’ strong values and their impact on business growth, emphasizing the importance of company culture and having a vision beyond profit. The story also includes anecdotes, like a customer discovering their spouse’s $62,000 lifetime spending on Zappos, underscoring the company’s dedication to customer service and culture.

Takeaways

• 🛒 Many men haven't personally shopped from Zappos, but their wives often do, leading to amusing discoveries about large spending habits.
• 🏢 Zappos' headquarters is in Henderson, near Las Vegas, but the company is preparing to move to downtown Las Vegas.
• 📞 Zappos emphasizes customer loyalty and service, with detailed metrics displayed in their call center to track customer interactions and performance.
• 🍕 The speaker’s journey with Zappos began in college, where they ran a pizza business, which led to meeting future Zappos CFO Alfred, who became a close partner.
• 💼 Before Zappos, the speaker co-founded LinkExchange, which they sold to Microsoft, but left due to the deteriorating company culture.
• 📈 Zappos focuses on company culture as its top priority, believing that a strong culture naturally leads to excellent customer service and business success.
• 💬 Zappos' growth is driven largely by word of mouth and repeat customers, with a strategy of investing in customer experience rather than paid advertising.
• 📚 The speaker references key books like *Good to Great* and *Tribal Leadership* to explain the importance of strong culture and vision in a company’s long-term success.
• 🌟 Zappos' brand philosophy centers around the 'three Cs': clothing, customer service, and company culture, all tied together by the goal of delivering happiness.
• 🔑 Great companies, according to research, share two traits: strong cultures and a vision that goes beyond just profits, which ultimately leads to greater financial success.

Q & A

What was the ratio of women to men in the audience during the Zappos survey?

The ratio was about two to one, with more women than men.

Where is Zappos currently based, and where are they moving to?

Zappos is currently based in Henderson, a suburb of Las Vegas, and they are moving to downtown Las Vegas to the former city hall.

What is the significance of the white boxes mentioned in the story about the executive from a major record label?

The white boxes are Zappos packaging, and the executive noticed them appearing and disappearing from his doorstep, indicating his wife's shopping activity without his knowledge.

How much money did the executive's wife spend with Zappos over her lifetime?

The executive's wife had spent over $62,000 with Zappos in her lifetime.

What business did the speaker and his roommate, Sanji, start during their college years?

The speaker and his roommate started a pizza business in their college dormitory.

What was the role of Alfred in the pizza business during college?

Alfred was a regular customer who would order large pepperoni pizzas, and later it was discovered that he was reselling the slices to other students.

What was the name of the internet advertising company that the speaker and Sanji formed?

The internet advertising company they formed was called Link Exchange.

Why did the speaker and Sanji decide to sell Link Exchange?

They decided to sell Link Exchange because the company culture had deteriorated and it was no longer a fun place to work.

What was the primary reason for the decline in company culture at Link Exchange?

The decline in company culture was due to the company growing and hiring based on interviews and resumes rather than the 'friends and friends of friends' strategy, which did not preserve the original culture.

How did the speaker end up joining Zappos full-time?

The speaker initially invested in Zappos and other internet companies, but found investing boring and missed building something. So, he joined Zappos full-time.

What is the number one priority for Zappos according to the speaker?

The number one priority for Zappos is company culture, which they believe will naturally lead to great customer service and a strong brand.

What are the 'three C's that Zappos focuses on?

The 'three C's that Zappos focuses on are clothing, customer service, and company culture.

What does the speaker suggest entrepreneurs focus on rather than money when starting a business?

The speaker suggests that entrepreneurs should focus on what they are passionate about, even if they don't make any money from it for 10 years.