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Zappos CEO Tony Hsieh is stepping down after 21 years

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Re: Zappos CEO Tony Hsieh is stepping down after 21 years

#81

Post by gowld »

betocmn wrote: post #44

I grew up in Brazil, where customer service was bad-to-terrible in 90% of the companies I had to deal with. When I moved to Australia, I thought it would be a lot better. It wasn't much different. When I joined a wine subscription startup in 2016 as the technical co-founder, I wasn't just building the recommendation engine. I was also helping to pack the boxes at the warehouse. We all got fascinated with Tony's book…

> Just pretend you're messaging a co-worker in plain-friendly-English. And be genuinely interested in solving my issues

This is what caused service reps to waste everyone's time with elaborate fake displays of empathy and forced unwanted small talk. I'd prefer an efficient robot.

Re: Zappos CEO Tony Hsieh is stepping down after 21 years

#82

Post by dvt »

I want to also counter-balance the negativity towards Hsieh with my own experience. From 2015-2017, I worked at Edmunds.com which was (to put it lightly) a bit obsessed with "Delivering Happiness" and Zappos' culture. So much so, that the leadership team visited Vegas to get a tour of the Zappos HQ (this was before I joined). But Edmunds based their entire cultural approach, including hiring, interviewing, and onboarding on Zappos.

The Edmunds onboarding experience has been by far the best out of any company I worked at. Sure, it was silly games and scavenger hunts that didn't really have anything to do with "work," but I look back at the entire experience with a lot of nostalgia. I loved the onboarding so much, I've been contemplating doing a startup that literally just focuses on improving cultural onborading at companies. It made my first few months at Edmunds not only incredibly productive, but also intellectually and socially stimulating.

And they were doing something right. Over there, I had the honor of working with one of the best managers I ever had (he's now at Amazon), and with one of the best software architects I've ever worked with (he's now at Facebook). My team was made up of motivated, smart, folks from all walks of life (recent grads to data science PhD's in their 50s). I still keep in touch with my old team even though we're spread all over these days: doing our own startups, at Facebook, Uber, Amazon, and beyond.

I have the utmost respect for the cultural revolution that entrepreneurs like Tony Hsieh brought to the fore. People that call it a "cult" are missing the point. It's no more a cult than cheering for your school mascot or being in a club. We seem to forget that people are inherently social and need a sense of belonging.

Re: Zappos CEO Tony Hsieh is stepping down after 21 years

#83

Post by gowld »

chiefalchemist wrote: post #70
jerlam wrote: post #21

A few years back, I went to their office tour in Vegas, and I've read Hsieh's book, which doesn't cover much of the post-Amazon years. It seemed pretty clear to me that Zappos was in decline as an independent entity. Fulfillment was already gone. They were in the middle of removing their product photography team. A section of their office was being used as a community co-working space. There were fun quirky office ar…

> It wasn't clear if Zappos did anything beyond customer service. But ultimately, isn't that what Zappos is? Their bread & butter? Footware is a commodity. Ecomm stores more or less a commodity. Fulfillment? The same. The key point to being unique? Service. A lesson more ebusinesses wpuld be wise to learn.

Zappos was free returns.

Re: Zappos CEO Tony Hsieh is stepping down after 21 years

#84

Post by gowld »

1024core wrote: post #66
marcinzm wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Nevada lacks the three laws/regulations which make California, imho, popular for entrepreneurs: * Limited non-competes * Limited IP assignment clauses * Limited anti-moonlighting clauses It's hard to start a business when your current employer can block you from doing so.

For a long time, it's been quite obvious that these 3 laws are a cornerstone of why California had the tech boom. And yet almost no other state has managed to put these on the books! I'd be willing to bet that if Nevada implements these (properly), they'll attract a lot more tech startups.

California's tech boom was created by semiconductor companies pourit toxic waste into the ground and rivers.

Re: Zappos CEO Tony Hsieh is stepping down after 21 years

#85

Post by prawn »

blnqr wrote: post #72
reaperducer wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

According to the newspapers, poorly. Very little to show for it.

That's exactly right. The best bookstore in town shut down. The best coffee shop is still there, a wonderful place, but not much else, sadly. (Disclosure: I am a 24-year local in tech who really wanted it to work.)

Did he or others invest as much as was originally implied? I remember it being spoken of as a long-term project. If it was a little shipping container mall, that's a bit of a meagre attempt. You'd need to loss-lead dramatically to attract people across from The Strip to visit.

Re: Zappos CEO Tony Hsieh is stepping down after 21 years

#86

Post by bredren »

willio58 wrote: post #2

I've always heard mixed feelings about Tony. I wonder if there are any HNers who have a perspective they'd like to share.

I spoke with Hsieh briefly after his talk at Draper University in 2015.[1] I was in Boost Accelerator for Gliph and our group got to sit in on some but not all of the guest lectures that season. (Elon also spoke, but we did not get to attend that one)

Before Tony gave the above speech, Tim introduced Hsieh and his relationship in investing in Zappos.

I may not have this quite right but I believe Tim talked about a time where either Hsieh needed bridge money and either Tim's fund or DFJ had to make a call on whether to bail out Zappos.

IIRC, Tim or the fund he was managing chose not to bail out Hsieh.

It may have been because of the 2000 crash, I can not remember. But Tim was very open about this decision and I believe the choice Tim made was not good for Tony at the time. I can’t say for sure, but I recall Tim saying it hurt their relationship.

He told this story standing right next to Hsieh.

I'm not sure exactly how but they worked it out, not only because Hsieh pulled through and raised capital elsewhere, but because he was there to give that talk in person. The relationship was clearly in good shape.

Wish I could remember more details. I'll try to get them if the opportunity presents itself.

[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NJP_EbqQ-XA

Re: Zappos CEO Tony Hsieh is stepping down after 21 years

#88

Post by untog »

gowld wrote: post #81
betocmn wrote: post #44

I grew up in Brazil, where customer service was bad-to-terrible in 90% of the companies I had to deal with. When I moved to Australia, I thought it would be a lot better. It wasn't much different. When I joined a wine subscription startup in 2016 as the technical co-founder, I wasn't just building the recommendation engine. I was also helping to pack the boxes at the warehouse. We all got fascinated with Tony's book…

> Just pretend you're messaging a co-worker in plain-friendly-English. And be genuinely interested in solving my issues This is what caused service reps to waste everyone's time with elaborate fake displays of empathy and forced unwanted small talk. I'd prefer an efficient robot.

Everyone is different. What you’d prefer is not what others would prefer. Hopefully a customer service agent is going to be able to pick up on someone who dislikes small talk and just get the job done.

Re: Zappos CEO Tony Hsieh is stepping down after 21 years

#89

Post by chiefalchemist »

gowld wrote: post #83
chiefalchemist wrote: post #70

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> It wasn't clear if Zappos did anything beyond customer service. But ultimately, isn't that what Zappos is? Their bread & butter? Footware is a commodity. Ecomm stores more or less a commodity. Fulfillment? The same. The key point to being unique? Service. A lesson more ebusinesses wpuld be wise to learn.

Zappos was free returns.

The irony? Ppl then order more and are likely to keep more. Free returns is a means, not an ends.

Re: Zappos CEO Tony Hsieh is stepping down after 21 years

#90

Post by jrowley »

all_blue_chucks wrote: post #79
betocmn wrote: post #44

I grew up in Brazil, where customer service was bad-to-terrible in 90% of the companies I had to deal with. When I moved to Australia, I thought it would be a lot better. It wasn't much different. When I joined a wine subscription startup in 2016 as the technical co-founder, I wasn't just building the recommendation engine. I was also helping to pack the boxes at the warehouse. We all got fascinated with Tony's book…

How do you measure your customer support staff performance? Many companies fire employees for having "low numbers" but since they can't measure tone, they end up driving their reps to optimize for other factors.

Some companies actively solicit feedback after interactions with customer support, about the interaction. Those surveys link back directly to the agent. More generally there's also NPS.
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