Zappos CEO Tony Hsieh is devoted to helping upstarts in the city of Las Vegas. Hsieh, 41, is involved in a revitalization effort to turn the city’s downtown into a startup hub. That's in addition to leading the ecommerce giant, where he's been CEO since 2000. He’s helped to grow the company’s sales to over $1 billion, which he detailed in his bestseller Delivering Happiness. He’s also an investor in young companies, including wireless power startup uBeam, one of CNNMoney’s Upstart 30.
What do you actually do all day in your job?
I'd say the vast majority of my time is on my laptop responding to emails. The good part of that is that I can do my work from anywhere. The bad part of that is that I can do my work from anywhere.
1
How many hours do you sleep?
Probably around 4-5 hours a night on average.
2
What do you eat for breakfast?
Unless it's a breakfast meeting, I usually skip breakfast and just have coffee.
3
If you could be pitched to by one person, who would it be?
Anna Kendrick. I have no doubt that her pitch would be perfect.
4
What’s on your home screen?
On my iPhone, I currently have the dancetronauts at Burning Man.
5
How often do you exercise?
I try to get in 10,000 steps of walking a day. If I'm training for a marathon, then I'll run 3-4 times a week. If I'm not training for a marathon (which is most of the time), then I'll think about running 3-4 times a week, which my doctor says doesn't really count.
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What app can’t you live without?
TripIt
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What's your favorite city?
Downtown Las Vegas
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What’s the most important company we’ve never heard of?
It hasn't been created yet.
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Are there any social platforms you refuse to participate in?
Almost all of them -- not enough time...
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What are you reading right now?
Getting Things Done by David Allen. He recently spoke at our Zappos all-hands meeting and gave me a signed copy of his book.
11
Do you think there’s a tech bubble?
No idea, I don't really pay much attention to it.
12
Best piece of advice you've been given?
Original version: Be true to yourself.
New version: Be unapologetically true to yourself in business and in life. Broadcast that to the world and the right people will find you.
13
What keeps you up at night?
My alpaca. (See my recent Instagram post)
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If you could tell your 18-year-old self one thing, what would it be?
What I wrote in #13.
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