Delivering Happiness is the first book by Tony Hsieh, the CEO of Zappos. I’ve heard some awesome things about them that mainly revolved around caring for their customers and until I went to Tony’s book event in DC, I never bothered to look into what it’s all about.
Gist
Delivering Happiness begins with Tony Hsieh’s story and transforms into a story about Zappos. After college, he starts LinkExchange with a friend, which quickly grows and is sold to Microsoft 2 years later for $265mm. After that, they start a seed fund for startups. Zappos is one of the companies they invest in, except that it doesn’t stop with seed funding. Tony proceeds to invest more and more of his fund’s money, and later his own money into the new company even though its future is very uncertain. For years, Zappos struggles financially, but finally becomes profitable. The vision of the company evolves from selling shoes to ‘delivering happiness.’
I got this book during Tony Hsieh’s (the author) book event in Washington, DC. They were giving the books away for free and you could get yours signed for a $20 donation to the Lance Armstrong Foundation. Happiness has been delivered: I got a gift that I was inclined to reciprocate by making the donation, and in return for that I got a signature and a chance to meet the author. Tony effectively promoted his book. Together, we helped to “fight to improve the lives of people affected by cancer.” This embodies the culture of Zappos, where they try to create a win-win for everyone, including customers, employees, investors and suppliers.
Why you should read it
You should read it because it’s a damn good story. Good stories are fun to share and most importantly, fun to read. You should read it because we can learn a lot from Zappos and the way they treat their stakeholders. Every company where customer service sucks can. You should read it because it’s about happiness, and that is the most important thing in life.
The best part is the ending:
I hope reading this book has inspired you to…
…make your customers happier (through better customer service), or…
…make your employees happier (by focusing more on company culture), or…
…make yourself happier (by learning more about the science of happiness).
This book has inspired me to do all three. There’s nothing else I can ask for.
Here’s the link: Delivering Happiness: A Path to Profits, Passion, and Purpose [Hardcover]. I’d love to hear what you think.
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