Entrepreneur Pick of the Week: Tony Hsieh

Tony Hsieh helps deliver new shoes to your doorstep the day after an order is placed, for no extra cost. How many times have you gone to the mall with a specific shoe in mind, and after visiting multiple stores been unable to find it in the right size and color? After one such experience in 1999, Nick Swinmurn decided to launch Zappos.com, and online store for men’s, women’s and children’s shoes. He approached Hsieh for financial backing, and together, they launched the site. Hsieh, the current Zappos.com CEO had made millions by selling the Internet advertising network LinkExchange to Microsoft. Nine years after Zappos.com’s rocky start in 1999, a year in which the company had barely sold anything, the company reported more than $1 billion in gross merchandise sales. Zappos has expanded to carry clothing, accessories and house wears. A large part of its sales come from repeat customers who are impressed by the company’s well-known customer service. In an interview with Entrepreneur Magazine, Hsieh said: “Our philosophy is to take most of the money we would have spent on paid advertising and marketing, and put that into the customer experience instead, including things like free shipping both ways, our 365-day return policy, and staffing our call center 24/7.”