ikanlabu's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
lighthearted
slow-paced
4.5
The journey of Tony Hsieh from child entrepreneur to Harvard graduate to one-time big entrepreneur and later his steps on building the best customer service company in the world while selling shoes
Tony's biography is interesting but very hard to relate to as an average Joe. How he makes decisions is risky as hell; I can't imagine an ordinary person following in his footsteps without huge family privileges. This is the story of extreme ups and downs over a 10-year period.
However, the way he thinks and decides on building Zappos is very applicable and inspiring.
You may find this book contradictory to the later life of Tony, but the lessons are there.
Tony's biography is interesting but very hard to relate to as an average Joe. How he makes decisions is risky as hell; I can't imagine an ordinary person following in his footsteps without huge family privileges. This is the story of extreme ups and downs over a 10-year period.
However, the way he thinks and decides on building Zappos is very applicable and inspiring.
You may find this book contradictory to the later life of Tony, but the lessons are there.
nakedsushi's review against another edition
3.0
As far as business-books go, this was was not bad. I enjoyed the first part about Hsieh's childhood and college years more than the middle or last parts. I've read the gist of the last parts through various other articles so it wasn't news to me and I have the admit that I skimmed through most of the *slow clap* feel-good sections. The writing isn't the best, which Hsieh is modest enough to admit, but it did let his voice come through, which I think was the point. I only wish he went into more detail of the technical problems he faced when expanding the site to accomodate more users.
docjh's review against another edition
3.0
Interesting life, some good lessons, writing is pretty terrible.
antireading's review against another edition
2.75
He's very bro-y, heavy emphasis on drinking culture. While he talks about how amazing his culture was at LinkExchange and at Zappos, I can't help but think of how women and minorities might feel about those same sentiments. The thing he was praising, of everyone being a family, kind of sounds like a nightmare. He's also just kind of a jerk/douche/dickwad.
After the epilogue, the audiobook has a recording of him and another writer having a discussion on a panel. Tony's answer to the first question is word for word what he wrote in the epilogue, so I stopped listening because it felt like a waste of time. Why include that interview if everything you said in it you JUST said?
After the epilogue, the audiobook has a recording of him and another writer having a discussion on a panel. Tony's answer to the first question is word for word what he wrote in the epilogue, so I stopped listening because it felt like a waste of time. Why include that interview if everything you said in it you JUST said?
razzle1dazzle2's review against another edition
I read about half of the book, could not finish. I don't really want to hear about how a billionaire thinks that they got to where they are by "delivering happiness" and not exploiting their workers. From the examples given, there was a lot of exploitation as well as uneven profit sharing.
jrobles76's review against another edition
5.0
A different type of business book but a necessary read. I'm about to become a Zappos customer.
fjordic's review against another edition
5.0
Very well written, interesting stories and fascinating insights. I'll be reviewing the final bit on learning about your own happiness again!
jmltgu's review against another edition
4.0
All right, so, the first half of this book was... not the most interesting. I was definitely going for a 2 or 3 star review until things took a turn for the better. I'd say if you want to read this book, know that the first half is biographic and the last half is actually about culture and happiness and all the different thoughts that Zappos brings to mind (other than shoes, of course). I ended up deciding that it was worth 4 stars, but if I went back I would probably skip most of the first few chapters.