We had the privilege of heading to Las Vegas earlier this week to meet with Tony Hsieh, CEO of Zappos.com, and his team Fred Mossler, Zachary Ware, Arun Rajan, Connie Yeh, and Don Welch. As one of the many people who have read Tonys book Delivering Happiness, I had been looking forward to the meeting for some time.
After seeing them in action, its impossible not to be blown away both by what Tony and his team have accomplished and what they are now undertaking. Zapposs almost 2,000 employees are scheduled to move downtown into the old City Hall next year, but thats just the beginning. Don and Zach are looking to incubate and launch more than 100 small businesses in downtown Las Vegas in the next several years to help build a thriving residential and business community. Theyve already occupied a floor of a beautiful downtown apartment building, the Ogden, with Tony and the team moving in. Tony has put out the word to everyone at Zappos that if someone is passionate about a business they would like to start downtown, let him and Fred know. The Zappos employee who picked us up at the hotel discussed meeting with colleagues and brainstorming in his spare time.
Perhaps the most impressive thing about the vision is its comprehensiveness and scope. Connie Yeh is tasked with building a new school downtown that re-envisions what a school would look like if you were to design one from scratch today (Hint: they admire the Khan Academy). Tony recently bought First Fridays, a non-profit arts festival that takes place downtown because they wanted to see it continue and take it to the next level to enliven the area. They are considering buying the local minor league baseball team its stadium could soon accommodate Zappos employees on a regular basis. Its all part of the Downtown Development project that has been christened Sin City to Sim City with good reason.
If virtually anyone were to tackle such a wide-ranging set of initiatives simultaneously, youd have a hard time envisioning it. But having visited Zappos, you begin to see what is possible. Tony and his team have built a billion-dollar company by embracing peoples individual capacities and empowering them to express themselves. Tony, Fred, Zach, Connie and Don are clearly motivated and committed in the best of ways and bring a wealth of resources to the table. Its hard to imagine a more fertile environment for breaking past molds and building a community from the ground-up.
Tony and Zach define their roles as gathering passionate people together and supporting them. Theres going to be a transformation in downtown Las Vegas in the next several years. And its open to anyone who wants to join in.