Tony Hsieh Quotes

A bigger business is like a cruise ship: There are lots of amenities and you can go a lot further, but it's harder to turn quickly.

There's a big difference between motivation and inspiration: Inspire through values and motivation takes care of itself.

...the best leaders are servant leaders - they serve those they lead.

Stop chasing the money and start chasing the passion.

The biggest (and hardest) lesson I've learned in life is that the external world is just a reflection of the world within.

Customer service shouldn't just be A department, it should be the entire company.

A great brand is a story that never stops unfolding.

Your culture is your brand.

Chase the vision, not the money, the money will end up following you.

Whatever you're thinking, think bigger.

Most companies are very quick to hire and slow to fire, when really it should be the other way around.

The best businesses are really ones that can combine passion, profits, and purpose.

Don't play games that you don't understand, even if you see lots of other people making money from them.

Envision, create, and believe in your own universe, and the universe will form around you.

For me, my role is about unleashing what people already have inside them that is maybe suppressed in most work environments.

I'd rather spend money on things that improve the customer experience than on marketing.

Learn by doing. Theory is nice, but nothing replaces actual experience.

Be true to yourself. If you follow that principle, a lot of decisions are actually pretty easy.

Studies find top 3 most stressful moments in people's lives: death, divorce, and properly pronouncing "Worcestershire sauce."

Launching a business is kind of like a motorboat: You can go very quickly and turn fast.

Whatever you are thinking, think bigger.

To never forget that the most important thing in life is the quality of life we lead.

Never accept or be too comfortable with the status quo, because the companies that get into trouble are historically the ones that aren't able to adapt to change and respond quickly enough.

I think the most important thing is just if you hire people whose personal values match the corporate core values - and not just the stated ones.

I view my role more as trying to set up an environment where the personalities, creativity and individuality of all the different employees come out and can shine.

Without conscious and deliberate effort, inertia always wins

Don't be cocky. Don't be flashy. There's always someone better than you.

SEO expertise is a core need for today's online businesses.

Instead of getting an iPad, I now use my iPhone with a giant magnifying glass attached to my face.

Businesses often forget about the culture, and ultimately, they suffer for it because you can't deliver good service from unhappy employees.

The ultimate definition of success is: you could lose everything that you have and truly be okay with it. Your happiness isn't based on external factors.

Twitter is like hugging. Just because it's hard to measure the return on investment doesn't mean there isn't value there.

Our customers call and e-mail us to say that's how it feels when a Zappos box arrives. And that's how we view this company.

Money alone isn't enough to bring happiness... happiness is when you're actually truly ok with losing everything you have.

For individuals, character is destiny. For organizations, culture is destiny.

Ask yourself: would you be comfortable printing everything your employees, customers & partners have to say about your culture?

I believe that there's something interesting about anyone and everyone - you just have to figure out what that something is.

Get the culture right, and everything else just falls into place.

Success is getting to a point where you'd be truly OK with losing everything you have and starting over.

Every employee can affect your company's brand, not just the front-line employees that are paid to talk to your customers.

Have fun. The game is a lot more enjoyable when you're trying to do more than just make money.

Your brand is your culture.

Problems are just mile markers. Each one we pass means we've gotten better.

We decided that if we get the culture right, most of the stuff, like building a brand around delivering the very best customer service, will just take care of itself.

Zappos is a customer service company that just happens to sell shoes.

I made a list of the happiest periods of my life & I realized that none of them involve money.

Hopefully 10 years from now people won't even realize we started out selling shoes. They will just think about Zappos as a place to get the best customer service.

Good businesses generate missions to drive their profits. Great businesses generate profits to drive their missions.

The brand is just a lagging indicator of a company's culture.

Help inspire people to realize they are capable of changing the world.