Consumer >> CEO Interviews >> November 5, 2004
TONY HSIEH is CEO of Zappos.com Graduating from Harvard University in
1995 with a BA in computer science Hsieh began his early dot com days
working as a Software Engineer at Oracle. Soon after, he co-founded and
started the cooperative advertising network, LinkExchange, where he
served on their board of directors and was responsible for architecting
some of the major technologies for the company. After selling
LinkExchange to Microsoft in 1998 for $265 million, Hsieh launched the
Venture Frogs Incubator, along with an investment fund. Venture Frogs is
situated inside the historical landmark Marquee building on San
Francisco's Van Ness Avenue. It not only houses the employees of
Zappos.com, the web's most popular shoe store, but also his Pan-Asian
Venture Frogs restaurant. The Venture Frogs Fund has invested in some
well-known internet start-ups, including Ask Jeeves and Tellme. Seeing
that Zappos could benefit from his expertise in building successful
online ventures, Tony decided to become more fully involved in the
company as CEO in 2000. Under his guidance, Zappos has grown from $1.6mm
in sales in 2000, to $70mm in 2003. The company is currently projecting
$140mm in sales for 2004. Hsieh's ability to combine technical expertise
with business savvy has been invaluable in helping the company innovate.
No opportunity to improve efficiency through technology is left
unexplored. Yet perhaps most important is Hsieh's dedication to the
customer experience, an ethic that the entire company has adopted. As
Hsieh points out, "I read every incoming customer email." Hsieh's
commitment to focusing on the customer has been the driving force behind
the company's success to date. Profile
sketch of the company and a picture of the things you're doing at the
present time.
Mr. Hsieh: The company was started in
