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In 1999, Nick Swinmurn founded ShoeSite.com (soon renamed Zappos after the Spanish word zapatos ). The early days were a classic "fake it till you make it" mirage. Without inventory or warehouse space, Swinmurn would walk into local shoe stores, take pictures of shoes, upload them to the website, and if someone bought them, he would run back to the store, buy them at full price, and mail them out.

The deep story of Zappos is ultimately inseparable from the tragedy of Tony Hsieh. The man who dedicated his entire life to architecting the happiness of thousands of employees and millions of customers struggled to secure his own.

By 2009, Zappos had grown so massive and culturally significant that Amazon purchased the company for a staggering $1.2 billion. Amazon's Jeff Bezos recognized the magic and left Zappos to operate as an independent subsidiary, allowing Hsieh to continue his grand social experiments.

To ensure only the most dedicated stayed, Zappos famously offered new hires thousands of dollars to quit after their training period.

It was an unsustainable illusion, but it proved something vital: people craved the convenience of digital retail, but they feared buying things that required a physical feel. 💡 The Soul: Tony Hsieh and "Delivering Happiness"

Customer service reps were encouraged to stay on the phone with customers for as long as needed. One legendary call lasted over 10 hours.

But Hsieh didn't want to stop at selling shoes. In 2013, he moved Zappos headquarters to downtown Las Vegas, attempting to revitalize the entire city grid. Internally, he implemented —a radical self-management system that completely eliminated bosses and traditional corporate hierarchies.