Tony Hsieh
Delivering Happiness: A Path to Profits, Passion, and Purpose
ISBN: 978-0-446-57622-2
As an entrepreneur, ecosystem builder, and now coach of other entrepreneurs, I’m fascinated with the stories of the biggest names in the field. How did they become interested in entrepreneurship? What was it like as they got their biggest achievements off the ground, and how many failures did it take before they had their “overnight success?” Once they have that “overnight success” after 10-15 years, what happens after the exit? I have a number of entrepreneur biographies on my reading list, but I thought I’d start with the story of Tony Hsieh, founder of Zappos – at least the story of this life up until the sale of Zappos to Amazon – in his autobiography, Delivering Happiness: A Path to Profits, Passion, and Purpose.
Hsieh starts at the very beginning, guiding the reader through a story of self-discovery – what it takes to be an entrepreneur – and, at times, self-sacrifice. He truly checked most all of the boxes that go into the question of what makes a successful entrepreneur. He started by trying to solve problems for himself and others he knew and looked for profitable niches that the big players in the space weren’t playing. He had a tendency to overextend himself and his businesses at times, and had to scale back in order to survive. He bucked established norms set by larger competitors, especially when he was starting and scaling Zappos. He found out the hard way that partnerships and outsourcing can be incredibly difficult, and finding the right partners for your growing business is just as important as hiring the right people inside the business. Most importantly, he learned the people are the most important part of a business, and the wrong people and partners can sink the ship.
In the end, Hsieh sold Zappos to Amazon as a way to continue to deliver happiness on a significantly larger scale. The story ends at this point in late 2009/early 2010, as the book was published in 2010. However, Hsieh stayed with the company for ten more years, as the Zappos unit had some level of independence in the Amazon family. His passing shortly after he left Amazon was shocking but not surprising given his story in this book. He worked hard and partied even harder, and sometimes struggled to surround himself with the right people for his own health. I really believe that the sale to Amazon, while great for the company’s mission, was the beginning of the end for Hsieh. He had delivered happiness – now what? It seems like an exit on this scale would lead to some level of purposelessness. What could possibly top a billion dollar exit?
This book was an incredibly quick read – I powered through it on a couple of short flights across the country a few months ago. Even though it’s pretty short – less than 250 pages – it’s full of great information and insights into Hsieh’s mind and though processes as he was building his empire. You get a lot more insight into his lifestyle and personal struggles than you ever will reading articles written by others after he passed in 2020. Even though some setbacks were discussed, I would wager that there were other times Hsieh was having trouble and didn’t want to disclose his problems.
Overall, 8/10, would recommend for anyone looking to dig into the myth of the “overnight success.” As I continue to read biographies and autobiographies of entrepreneurs, it will be interested to see how each of them struggled and overcame obstacles on the way to building something amazing. As I’ve said in other book reviews and blog posts, we only tend to see the high points in entrepreneurships – we don’t tend to see the low points, because there’s still a stigma in disclosing when you or your company isn’t doing well. It’s my hope that entrepreneurs who are struggling begin to have the courage to discuss their issues with others before we end up with another entrepreneur’s tragic ending. Use this book as a tale of caution and potentially inspiration to confront your issues before you have the time and money to fuel them instead.