How Weird Are You? (And Other Zappos Interview Questions)

Complete video at: http://fora.tv/2010/05/26/Zappos_CEO_Tony_Hsieh_Delivering_Happiness

On a scale of one to ten, how weird are you? Believe it or not, this is a standard interview question at online shoe and clothing retailer Zappos.com. CEO Tony Hsieh explains the company's 10 "committable core values," which aim to foster a strong corporate culture.

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As the CEO of Zappos.com, Tony Hsieh has achieved phenomenal company growth through revolutionary approaches to marketing, human resources, and customer service. Under his leadership, in 2009, Amazon acquired Zappos with shares valued at $1.2 billion.

Hsieh believes in the science of happiness as a way to run a business. With the right vision and core values he learned from his personal and business experiences, he shares insights to move away from conventional wisdom and encourages entrepreneurs to create their own paths to passion and profits in business and in life. - Asia Society

Tony Hsieh originally got involved with Zappos.com as an advisor and investor in 1999, about 2 months after the company was founded. Over time, Hsieh ended up spending more and more time with the company because it was both the most fun and the most promising out of all the companies that he was involved with.

Hsieh eventually joined Zappos.com full time in 2000. Under his leadership, Zappos.com has grown gross merchandise sales from $1.6M in 2000 to $840M in 2007 by focusing relentlessly on customer service.

Hsieh focuses on continuing to grow the business at a rapid pace while maintaining the culture and feel of a small company. Prior to joining Zappos.com, Hsieh co-founded Venture Frogs with Alfred Lin. Venture Frogs is an incubator and investment firm that invested in Internet startups, including Ask Jeeves, Tellme Networks, and of course, Zappos.com. Prior to Venture Frogs, Hsieh co-founded LinkExchange, an advertising network that was successfully sold to Microsoft for $265M in 1998.

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[ndyt]

total bs. Companies expect the moon out of new hires then they show them their cube and give them mind-numbing busywork and expect them to work over-time for free.

[ollieflying2]

Haters! I guess it's a fluke Zappos makes it to Fortunes' 100 best places to work list, year after year.

[Gluluman]

Zappos was a friendly nice place to work, until they were bought by the Asshole psychopath Jeff Besoz of Amazon, now employees are unhappy, workers moral is low the good spirit is gone. Some employees are sabotaging customers credit info and password. Jeff Besoz is the biggest son of bitch he is bully and oppressor. SALVE WAGES

[mainewomanful]

I recently had the opportunity to attend the Great Places to Work Conference in Denver, CO.

I found Tony to be an engaging and humble speaker.

Everyone is entitled to their opinion. WOW ;.)

[mainewomanful]

I recently had the opportunity to attend the Great Places to Work Conference in Denver, CO.

I found Tony to be an engaging and humble speaker.

Everyone is entitled to their opinion. WOW ;.)

[mainewomanful]

I recently had the opportunity to attend the Great Places to Work Conference in Denver, CO.

I found Tony to be an engaging and humble speaker.

Everyone is entitled to their opinion. WOW ;.)

[hiyacynthia]

Humility (and frugality) is a core value for Wal-mart too. The difference is, Wal-mart doesn't talk about itself as much as Zappos does! So who is humbler? :)

[Th3Wab3]

@JonnyBoyFF17 that is also a good point however, to add, some tasks are less social an require a level of focus which may prevent one from having a friendly disposition.. it's important to make a clear distinction between work and play.. sometimes the accomplishment of a challenging task may bring the greatest rewards...

[wakesk8ter911]

I dont understand why everyone is talking shit. Zappos is a billion dollar company and has come a very long way since 1999 when it was founded. Is their philosophy different from the norm, yes 100% fucking percent. But, everyone that works for zappos loves their job. no1 goes home to their families bitching about how boring work was. why dont u fucking idiots out there who are talkin shit, try to run a billion dollar company with the ease that Tony Hsieh runs Zappos with.

[JonnyBoyFF17]

@Th3Wab3 Why can't it be one in the same? If you have the option, why wouldn't you want to meet people and have fun while getting paid?

[greigglover]

This is a top-notch example of how to build culture. Tony Hseih "gets it".  I wish more companies lived the values they post on the wall.