Interview With Zappos CEO Tony Hsieh via Twitter

Posted on September 4, 2008
Filed Under Chief Blogging Officer

Our CEO was recently quoted in the Wall Street Journal concerning his use of Twitter as a way to connect with our customers on a more personal level. San Francisco based Twitter is the popular micro-blogging platform that was founded by Evan Williams (creator of Blogger) and Biz Stone in 2006, and it is growing rapidly; it doubled in size early this spring. Twitter asks users one simple question: “What are you doing?” Your answers to that question are typed into a field, you publish it, and people see it on a public timeline. You can “follow” people on Twitter, and when you do, their “Tweets,” as Twitter posts are called, appear on your home page, so you are constantly being updated about the goings on in the lives of the people you are following. You can post on Twitter over the web or through text or instant messaging.

The rub is that your Tweets have to be 140 characters or less. In a time when many of us are sifting through hundreds of emails a day while we are in and out of the office, at airports, meetings, etc., the use of Twitter to efficiently communicate “on the real” is very appealing, and its value to the progressive business is clear. It is also a phenomenal networking tool, and it provides access that would otherwise be unavailable. In fact, Twitter co-founder Stone and CEO Jack Dorsey publish their business addresses and phone numbers on Twitter’s “Contact” page. That is executive transparency, and ET is another thing that Twitter use provides, and that is one of the reasons that our own CEO, Luke Burgis, is so fond of Twitter.

Fit Fuel is a Las Vegas based e-retailer, and we are very friendly with another established Vegas based online store: Zappos. Zappos is “a service company that just happens to sell shoes.” They feel as though great customer service is the foundation of their success, and if their consistent and impressive growth is any indication, they seem to have gotten it right.

Zappos was founded in 1998 when a young entrepreneur named Nick Swinmurn convinced venture capitalist Tony Hsieh (pronounced Shay) that selling shoes online was a good idea. (Hsieh had sold his Internet advertising company LinkExchange to Microsoft for $265 million when he was just 24 years old.) He almost deleted Swinmurn’s cold call message, thinking people wouldn’t buy shoes sight unseen, but he was intrigued when he heard the figures: the retail shoe biz was a $40 billion a year industry, and 5% of that business was being done through mail order. So he got involved, and the rest, as they say, is history. Nick has since moved on to start Stagr.com, a custom street gear company, and Tony has settled in and presided over Zappos’ phenomenal growth along with his partner at LinkExchange, Alfred Lin, who joined Zappos in 2005 as COO, CFO, and Chairman.

Zappos is the company you wished you worked for. In an era when CEO salaries are soaring while the wages of the rank and file often stay stagnant while many of their jobs are being downsized or outsourced out of existence, Tony Hsieh sets a different example. Zappos shares the wealth with their employees. When they exceeded their sales goals in 2007, Tony called a meeting and informed his fellow Zapposians that everyone was going to be receiving a bonus equal to 10% of their annual earnings.

And when you work at Zappos, forget about lunch. Do they make you work through your break? Nope…on the the contrary, they buy you your lunch, every day, usually catered from local eateries. And there are vending machines at Zappos with snacks and drinks, but the funny thing about them is…they’re free. No coins necessary, just push the buttons. Zappos endeavors to build the ideal culture, one that values its employees and tries to keep everyone happy. Happy people provide good customer service, right? Plus, we spend a majority of our time at our jobs, and Zappos realizes this and tries to make it fun to come to work.

So, as fans and friends of Zappos and Twitter, we had an idea. We asked Tony if he would grant us an interview for the Fit Fuel Blog…from an innovative angle…and he agreed. We Twittered Tony the questions in one Tweet of 140 characters or less, and he responded in one Tweet. The interview, perhaps “The World’s Most Efficient Interview,” is published below.

Fit Fuel: Age?
Tony Hsieh: 34

Fit Fuel: # of Z’o’sians?
Tony Hsieh: 1600+

Fit Fuel: Your salary?
Tony Hsieh: 36k

Fit Fuel:Best LV steak?
Tony Hsieh:Ruth’s Chris

Fit Fuel: IPO for Z’os?
Tony Hsieh: no immediate plans

Fit Fuel: Z’os in a word?
Tony Hsieh: culture/service

Fit Fuel: 1B sales in 08?
Tony Hsieh: hopefully

Fit Fuel: Avg hrs sleep?
Tony Hsieh: 3-6 weekdays + 10 weekends

Fit Fuel: Goals?
Tony Hsieh: be happy/change the world

Many thanks to Tony for giving us the interview, and below is a piece that ABC’s Nightline did on the wonderful world of Zappos: