RE3EL STANCE

Tony Hsieh has made some money…lots and lots of it in fact. He has built Zappos.com into a powerhouse with over $1 Billion in sales. He sold his first company for $265 million to Microsoft (at age 24). He was an investor in Ask Jeeves, Mongo Music and others that had very nice acquisitions. And, he works in a cubicle.

Yep, Hsieh works in a cubicle rather than a fancy corner office. He drives a Mazda rather than a Maserati. He wears jeans rather than Armani. And, he keeps his focus on business rather than flashing his wealth.

That’s all fine and good but what do we that aren’t worth a few hundred million dollars learn from him?? a lot…

Zappos.com will do a billion dollars in revenue this year. That’s a lot of shoes. The company has been around since 2000 and had a simple idea to sell shoes online. Some of the challenges to this model include:

• A couple years later people were slinging drinks reminiscing of the days of the internet…lots of companies folded
• In 2000 the company was only doing about $1.6 in revenues so there was little pointing to think that it would become an empire and would survive any kind of a crash
• “It’s tough to buy shoes online because you can’t try them on”…isn’t it??
• There have been multiple opportunities to sell out
• There have been even more temptations to sell everything under the sun and go after the Amazon model

But, Hsieh has made this all look like silly putty. The company grew through the downturn of the web. The company grew through the upturn of the web. The company will continue to grow through our current downturn in the economy. This is all because Hsieh has discipline and there are some juicy tidbits we can learn from that:

• Live within your means…as a company and as a person: Okay, so Hsieh takes that a bit to the extreme, but live within your means and you will be able to survive some of the rough patches.
• Understand your value and then have the discipline to focus on that: Zappos.com is a “customer service” company rather than a “shoe store”. You can send as many shoes back as you want with free return shipping - that’s insane but if you are trying to deliver a great customer experience, it’s necessary.
• Don’t get too big for your britches: Have the discipline to never forget that your team is the most important path to success…have the disciplines in place to make sure that you spend time with them, grow them and help them to succeed.
• Be organized: yes, we all think that an entrepreneur is a crazy misfit with a piled up desk and wrinkled clothes that is moving so fast that he/she can’t bother with the little things. But, great creativity takes creates discipline and organization. Just ask Hsieh.
• Stick to goals: Set goals and stick to them. Don’t let them waver or let people slide…it’s good for the company and it’s good for those individuals within it.

Tony Hsieh leaves big footprints wherever he goes but he has the discipline to make sure that every step is a good one.