Tony Hsieh

Businesses often forget about the culture, and ultimately, they suffer for it because you can't deliver good service from unhappy employees.

Our customers call and e-mail us to say that's how it feels when a Zappos box arrives. And that's how we view this company.

I view my role more as trying to set up an environment where the personalities, creativity and individuality of all the different employees come out and can shine.

For me, my role is about unleashing what people already have inside them that is maybe suppressed in most work environments.

For me, the most fun is change or growth. There are definitely elements of both that I like. Launching a business is kind of like a motorboat: You can go very quickly and turn fast.

A bigger business is like a cruise ship: There are lots of amenities and you can go a lot further, but it's harder to turn quickly.

We asked ourselves what we wanted this company to stand for. We didn't want to just sell shoes. I wasn't even into shoes - but I was passionate about customer service.