Book review: Delivering Happiness by Zappos visionary Tony Hsieh

One of the most impactful business books of modern times is Delivering Happiness by Tony Hsieh (pronounced “shay”), former longtime CEO of Zappos. The book spent dozens of weeks on The New York Times Best Sellers list, turned the once-shy Hsieh into an internationally sought-after speaker, and propelled online retailer Zappos into one of the most admired companies in the world.

Hsieh’s retelling of the early years of Zappos paints a vivid picture of what startup life is like - it’s scary, chaotic, unpredictable, and like no other experience. It is vital for budding entrepreneurs to learn about the common startup journey because it helps them gain perspective, realize that they’re not alone, and learn that being on the brink of failure is far from actual failure.

Imagine how comforting and empowering it is for a newer entrepreneur to know that having to layoff their one and only salesperson in order to regroup from unexpectedly lackluster sales is nothing compared to Zappos-sized setbacks. One example is the desperate round of layoffs Hsieh and his team had to carry out in 2000 as the dot-com bubble was bursting and Zappos was running on fumes. Just a few years later Zappos sold to Amazon in a mega-deal worth $1.2 billion. Knowing this story may help that first-time entrepreneur realize that difficult times are just chapters in the life of a company and better days are ahead if they can hang in there.

Every single successful person has gone through the early nightmares. (In actuality, the nightmares never end no matter what stage of growth.) Despite how special an entrepreneur’s parents made them feel growing up or how well-educated and well-financed an entrepreneur may be, there are no exceptions. Every entrepreneur will fail and will fail a lot. It’s ok. As there’s no other path to success, failure should be embraced and the mentality should be getting damn good at handling change and setbacks.

This first big takeaway from Delivering Happiness is also great for everyday people to know. It helps consumers understand what it really takes to bring their favorite products and services to life and it helps employees appreciate how incredibly difficult it is to keep their paychecks coming. It would be beneficial if more employees could empathize with the crippling anxiety their companies’ owners experience as they wonder if tomorrow will be the day the doors close for good. Similarly, it would be good if more consumers could understand the literally hundreds of moving parts that need to come together in order to create, fund, develop, produce, market, sell, distribute, service, and deliver that delicious hamburger to their table or that exciting video game to their home. Maybe they’d be more willing to pat a great store manager on the back or hold off on denouncing an entire company if their package shows up a day late. “If They Only Knew” would be a great title for a book about entrepreneurship.

Another poignant takeaway from the book is the importance of having a clear and compelling mission. Zappos decided early on that they weren’t just going to deliver the best selection of products but, much more visionary than that, they would deliver the best customer experience the online world had ever known. Mission accomplished. Just a few years after founding, their customer service approach became legendary and is now a case study being taught in business schools everywhere.

Finally and perhaps most importantly, Delivering Happiness teaches us that company culture isn’t just essential, it’s everything. A company’s culture is the foundation upon which everything else is built. For that reason, it needs to be seriously considered and solidified at the outset of a venture. Of course it will evolve over time but the beginnings of a strong culture should be present on day one. Too many startup entrepreneurs neglect culture and focus instead on other crucial early tasks like developing product, building team, and designing brand. All things that are incredibly important but all for nothing without an environment that puts a premium on character, promotes positivity, rewards greatness, and helps people grow. What ends up happening in the right cultural environment is people fall in love with their jobs, extraordinary products get built, customers fall in love with your company, and the world around you gets inspired to be better. A strong company culture is nothing short of magical and has the ability to impact lives like nothing else.

There are other powerful takeaways from Delivering Happiness, the three most powerful of which are understanding the startup environment, choosing a clear and compelling mission, and building a great company culture. Bravo to Tony Hsieh for leading an inspiring life and for giving us a glimpse of what it takes to achieve greatness.

Delivering Happiness is a book that should be read by anyone in business, thinking about going into business, or just interested in a harrowing tale about one team’s dream to deliver happiness to the masses one shoe box at a time.

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