Tony Hsieh

“Businesses often forget about the culture, and ultimately, they suffer for it because you can't deliver good service from unhappy employees.”

“For me, the most fun is change or growth. There are definitely elements of both that I like. Launching a business is kind of like a motorboat: You can go very quickly and turn fast.”

“I view my role more as trying to set up an environment where the personalities, creativity and individuality of all the different employees come out and can shine.”

“We asked ourselves what we wanted this company to stand for. We didn't want to just sell shoes. I wasn't even into shoes - but I was passionate about customer service.”

“For me, my role is about unleashing what people already have inside them that is maybe suppressed in most work environments.”

“A bigger business is like a cruise ship: There are lots of amenities and you can go a lot further, but it's harder to turn quickly.”

“I had decided to stop chasing the money, and start chasing the passion.”

“Our customers call and e-mail us to say that's how it feels when a Zappos box arrives. And that's how we view this company.”

“The typical industry approach is [retailers] to treat vendors like the enemy... If vendors can't make a profit then they don't have money to invest in research and development, which in turn means that the products they bring to the market will be less inspiring to customers, which in turn detriments the retailer's business because customers aren't inspired to buy. People want to cut costs and negotiate aggressively because there's a limited amount of profit to be shared by both sides. As a result of this "death spiral", most retailers fail.”