The Braseltons

I was surprised when I was selected to receive an advance copy of Tony Hseih’s book, “Delivering Happiness”.  On a whim, I registered at the Delivering Happiness website.  I was accepted into the program and was sent two books.  One was to read and one was to give away.  In return, they asked for an honest review of the book.  These are my own opinions and I have been known to over analyze at times.
Overall, I feel the book was quite interesting and I found it difficult to put down.  I wanted to keep reading and find out how everything came to be at Zappos.  It is refreshing to see a company treat customers with such care.  This kind and respectful treatment is not only given to their customers but it is shared with their vendors as well.
Tony Hseih is certainly not an unknown on the Internet. His name is synonymous with Zappos and great company culture. One night, I was watching Diggnation with Alex Albrecht and Kevin Rose. Kevin said that he had read the book and it was very good. I was intrigued and started searching around a bit. I found the advance copy offer and hoped to be selected for a copy. I told them that even if I get the advance copy, I will still buy the book – I will still do so.
The book is divided into three (3) sections. I read the first section the first night. I could go on and tell you all of the key points about the book as other reviewers have but I will just keep to the points where I have strong opinions.
I was surprised to read how lazy Tony is throughout the book. While reading, I noticed that I would get pretty upset by some of the decisions that he made from being so lazy. These feelings pertain to his leaving Oracle, half-heartedly running a web design business and giving up 20% of his part of the LinkExchange deal. Once I read that he gave up the 20% because he didn’t like the culture, I almost flew through the roof. I would do almost anything for the money he just threw on the floor. If it was not an issue about money, suck it up and complete the year that Microsoft requested, then take the money you would have dismissed and donate it to a worthy cause. Don’t piss it away!
Some of the important corporate decisions were made on a whim with no forethought or planning afterwards. I can’t understand this at all. Every time there was a mistake made, more money was thrown into the fire. His success really stems from a great deal of luck and the good judgement didn’t come until Tony finally matured.
As the luck kicked in and Zappos was doing well as a company, Tony seemed to grow up. You could see his thought pattern and he started taking note of things that were making the company better. He realized that happy customers and happy employees would take his company to the next level. I also saw that he applied himself when he finally found the direction he wanted the company to turn. He studied about happiness and really focused on making their culture reflect the idea of happiness. His open policies and great working environment will convey to his customers and will only help their business.
There was a happy ending to the book. I am grateful for the opportunity to learn from the book and hope that others will enjoy it as much as I did.
 

Please visit their website: http://www.deliveringhappinessbook.com and get a copy too!