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Lesson #1: “To become really good, you need to live it and sleep it”

Article Overview: Hsieh started LinkExchange with his roommate back in 1996. It grew to upwards of 100 staff before Hsieh decided to sell it to Microsoft just two years later.

Lesson #1: “To become really good, you need to live it and sleep it”

Hsieh started LinkExchange with his roommate back in 1996. It grew to upwards of 100 staff before Hsieh decided to sell it to Microsoft just two years later. "From the outside, it looked like it was a great acquisition, $265 million," says Hsieh. "But most people don't know the real reason why we ended up selling the company."

The real reason, says Hsieh, is because he no longer loved what he was doing. "The company culture just went completely downhill. When it was starting out, when it was just 5 or 10 of us, it was like your typical dot-com," he says. "We were all really excited, working around the clock, sleeping under our desks, had no idea what day of the week it was. But we didn't know any better and didn't pay attention to company culture."

That mistake cost him his company. "By the time we got to 100 people, even though we hired people with the right skill sets and experiences, I just dreaded getting out of bed in the morning and was hitting that snooze button over and over again," says Hsieh.

He decided it was time to move on and try something new. But this time, he was going to pay more attention to creating a positive culture that would allow both him and his employees to look forward to going to work in the morning.

"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," he says.

To that end, Hsieh spent an entire year completely focused on getting the corporate culture at Zappos right. "I basically sent an email out to the entire company, asking them what our values should be, and got a whole bunch of different responses," he says. "The initial list was actually 37 long, and then we ended up condensing and combining them and went back and forth and came up with our list of 10."

The 10 values they came up with were: Deliver WOW Through Service; Embrace and Drive Change; Create Fun and A Little Weirdness; Be Adventurous, Creative, and Open-Minded; Pursue Growth and Learning; Build Open and Honest Relationships With Communication; Build a Positive Team and Family Spirit; Do More With Less; Be Passionate and Determined; Be Humble.

Hsieh has even issued an open invitation to the general public to tour his Las Vegas headquarters and witness this culture firsthand (if you need a ride, the Zappos bus might even come pick you up!).

"Some days we have 50 tours," Hsieh says. "A lot of people have heard of Zappos, but not until the tour do they see how our culture is so unique and different, and how that drives branding and customer service."

What will you see during your tour? Maybe a Valentine's Day singing gram, or a ‘random act of kindness' staff parade, or even a marshmallow eating contest.

After all, says Hsieh, "You've gotta love the game. To become really good, you need to live it and sleep it."

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Article Tags: microsoft, roommate, sleep, upwards



Related Forum Posts
Re: How does an entrepreneur stay energized? - [quote="bmueller47":27no8clf] There is so much that could be said. The cheapest form of energy is gained by a good sleep.[/quote:27no8clf] I second that, there is nothing like a good sleep. I try to work out at least 3 time a week, doing Yoga and just walking. When my car was stolen I had to star walking again, so now I keep doing it, waking up 30 minutes early and taking one of my dogs for a walk.
good rest tips - I generally can get good sleep most nights. As much as I don't like developing predictable routines, I have to say that getting to bed same time each night helps a bit. Insomnia seems to be affecting a lot of people these days. Plenty of exercise the day before does wonders for your sleep... If stress is the culprit, then I suggest listening to relaxing music before going to bed, learning meditation, and finding other ways to calm the busyness of the mind.
Sleep needs - [quote:2fxfspfi]Military does that to you it seems, and it sticks with you lol.[/quote:2fxfspfi] I wish I only needed to sleep 4-6 hours a day. Heck, I wish I didn't have to sleep at all. I could accomplish so much more that way. I know Winston Churchill is famous for not sleeping much, especiallly during WWII, but I believe he took catnaps during the day... Which would never work for me... For myself, though, I need 8 hours a day at least. If I deprive myself of that it catches up to me and makes me sick... Supposedly they've done studies that kids don't get enough sleep, and there's plans afoot to move school times to later so they don't have to get up so early.... (I may be out of touch on that development as I have no kids and don't know if it ever went into effect...)
Re: Howdy from Chicago! - Hi Mario, Welcome to the forum. I was intrigued by the title of your blog (as I live in Japan) so I checked it out. You have some interesting posts. I like the idea of playing games online for 21billion hours to help the world survive! Nice talk. I also like the idea of increasing sleep to increase productivity. Yep, sounds like my kind of blog!
Re: Getting up earlier - Hi Julie, Great post, now that I have to put this into words it will look a bit sad but even if I am not engaged in IM activities which is rare, I still don’t go to bed much before midnight because I know that most nights I’m wasting my time.. When I do go to bed I struggle to get to sleep and when the alarm goes off at 6.00 I would kill for another hours sleep and then get annoyed with myself for not going to bed sooner. I think the problem with me is that if I am really involved with an article or posting or whatever, my mind is so active that I can’t just go to bed and switch off. I guess I am an insomniac in denial, I need help,LOL, regards, Mal.


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