Zappos

“We're hoping, 1020 years from now, people won't even realize we started selling shoes online. And I can imagine one day there could be a Zappos Airlines or Zappos Hotel that Is really just about the very best customer service and customer experience.”

“No, and also there were huge companies like pets.com that were e-commerce that were kind of imploding at the time, and so even if someone wanted to invest in an internet company, the last thing they wanted to do was invest in an online shoe company, because no…”

“So in order to test out the whole concept for real, Nick would actually just go down to the local shoe store, take pictures of all the shoes that were on the wall, and then put it on the website. And if someone bought something, then go down to the local shoe …”

“And so I ended up, one by one, selling off the apartments, and it's kind of like when in Monopoly, when you buy a hotel or houses, and then you have to sell them, but you lose money on the sale.”

“And so I think, you know, when you actually want your brand to stand for something or to have some sort of purpose, and in our case, it's about to be about the very best customer service and customer experience. You do things that are kind of nonsensical in so…”

“Right now I'm wearing black Asics, and then I have a pair of flip-flops that I wear, and those are the only two pairs. I'm actually not passionate about shoes at all. I'm passionate about customer service and company culture, so I can talk forever about those …”

“Amazon had actually approached us several years before 2009. They just wanted to acquire us, and then basically the company being acquired ends up joining the mothership, and kind of loses its original identity, and so we said, Know very quickly.”

“Happy to report seven years later, they've remained totally true to their word. And we've been able to continue doing our own thing and our culture is very different and distinct from Amazon's”

“One was that footwear at the time was a forty billion dollar a year industry in the US. Yeah. And I'm not into shoes at all, so that was News to me. And then the other interesting fact was that at the time, mail order catalogs, those paper catalogs, that was a…”

“I'm actually not passionate about shoes at all. I'm passionate about customer service and company culture, so I can talk forever about those two things, but I can't say anything about shoes.”

“They approached us again and said, okay, we will let you guys be your own separate subsidiary with your own separate culture and own separate way of doing business. And happy to report seven years later, they've remained totally true to their word. And we've b…”

“I'm probably different from a lot of typical CEOs where I like to use the analogy of imagine a greenhouse where maybe at a typical company, the CEO might be the strongest and tallest and Most charismatic plant that all the other plants strive to One day become…”

“And then the other interesting fact was that at the time, mail order catalogs, those paper catalogs, that was actually the fastest growing segment of the footwear industry in the U.S., and that represented five percent, so two billion dollars a year and growin…”

“And basically, as Zappos was growing, it was also losing more money, and we also need more money for inventory, and so I ended up, one by one, selling off the apartments, and it's kind of like when in Monopoly, when you buy a hotel or houses, and then you have…”

“Yeah, I mean, so, in order to test out the whole concept for real, Nick would actually just go down to the local shoe store, take pictures of all the shoes that were on the wall, and then put it on the website, and if someone bought something, then go down to …”

“Amazon had actually approached us several years before 2009. They just wanted to acquire us and then basically the company being acquired ends up joining the mothership and kind of loses its original identity. And so we said no very quickly.”

“No, and also there were huge companies like pets.com that were e-commerce that were kind of imploding at the time, and so even if someone wanted to invest in an internet company, the last thing they wanted to do was invest in an online shoe company, because no…”

“When you actually want your brand to stand for something or to have some sort of purpose, and in our case, it's about to be about the very best customer service and customer experience. You do things that are kind of nonsensical in some ways and that your comp…”

“Amazon was the only large company that I saw or felt When they bought companies truly like brought it to the next level. Like I, you know, with audible and IMDB and Zappos and I mean, you look at Twitch, like you look at all the, they've just kept founders and…”

“No, and also there were huge companies like pets.com that were e-commerce that were kind of imploding at the time, and so even if someone wanted to invest in an internet company, the last thing they wanted to do was invest in an online shoe company, because no…”

“You know, if we were just around trying to say maximize the profit margins, then we never would have gone down that path. And yes, we would have made more money in the short term during those days, but then we wouldn't have built our brand and reputation and s…”

“We're hoping, 1020 years from now, people won't even realize we started selling shoes online, and I can imagine one day there could be a Zappos Airlines or Zappos Hotel that, Is really just about the very best customer service and customer experience.”

“In order to test out the whole concept for real, Nick would actually just go down to the local shoe store, take pictures of all the shoes that were on the wall, and then put it on the website, and if someone bought something, then go down to the local shoe sto…”

“I'm actually not passionate about shoes at all. I'm passionate about customer service and company culture, so I can talk forever about those two things, but I can't say anything about shoes.”

“They approached us again and said, okay, we will let you guys be your own separate subsidiary with your own separate culture and own separate way of doing business. And happy to report seven years later, they've remained totally true to their word. And we've b…”

“Amazon had actually approached us several years before 2009. They just wanted to acquire us, and then basically the company being acquired ends up joining the mothership, and kind of loses its original identity, and so we said, Know very quickly. And then they…”

“And for me, I really think of my role as more about being the architect of the greenhouse, and then the, all the plants inside will flourish and thrive on their own.”

“Right now I'm wearing black Asics, and then I have a pair of flip-flops that I wear, and those are the only two pairs.”

“And basically as Zappos was growing, it was also losing more money and we also need more money for inventory. And so I ended up one by one selling off the apartments and it's kind of like when in Monopoly, when you buy a hotel or houses and then you have to se…”

“Amazon made it a little easy in that they told us they would want to run us as an independent subsidiary and an independent brand, just like they run Audible and IMDB and Zappos and now Twitch, and they have a long list of track record of doing this.”