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The Sole of a New Machine
Guy Kawasaki of How to Change the World | December 2nd, 2008 - 12:49 AM
(124) found this useful. Do you? 
Zappos is a machine. Who would have thought that so many people would buy $1 billion worth of shoes from an online retailer? Not me. I would have said that women want to see, touch, and smell the shoes that they are buying. Certainly, they’d want to make sure they fit. This is lesson #1 of Zappos for small business owners: You never know until you try.
I recently visited Zappos and learned lesson #2: Make your company a fun and interesting place to work. To illustrate what I mean, check out these pictures from my visit to its Las Vegas offices.
Receptionists in the lobby.
Badges from past visitors.
Zappos provides books to its employees.
Including The Art of the Start!
There is a dance machine in the lobby.
A page out of the original Zappos pitch.
The shoe that Nick Swinmurn, the founder of Zappos, was trying to find. His frustration led to the create of Zappos.
The executive offices of Zappos.
Including Tony Hsieh’s (CEO) cube.
There’s office covered with snapshots of of guests sitting on a throne…
Like this guest.
Parking reserved for an outstanding employee.
The end of my tour in the parking lot. What a fun visit to a kick-ass company.
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Lori | December 2nd, 2008 at 1:07 am
This is so cool! I love Zappos and it is great to see such personal pictures of the company. They have made it so much easier for this size 10 woman to find shoes that fit and are great!
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Susanna (A Modern Mother) | December 2nd, 2008 at 1:08 am
Always thought their offices would be full of shoe boxes!
And “Master of Wow” is … head of customer service?
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David Damore | December 2nd, 2008 at 1:10 am
Have always thought Zappos was a kick a** company that really focused on service. They deleliver a WOW! experience every time for their customers.
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Cory | December 2nd, 2008 at 1:11 am
What a fantastic-looking place to work. So relaxed. I love it. Sadly, I read last week they were laying some people off. Not surprised in today’s economy.
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Rich...! | December 2nd, 2008 at 6:22 am
Like a great presentation, I love that this story was told in pictures. Pics let me add the editorial myself, without losing Guy’s take on things.
Rad company. Rad pics. Rad post…!
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Kristin Andrews | December 2nd, 2008 at 10:09 am
What a bad ass place to work.
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Ian Maffett | December 2nd, 2008 at 12:42 pm
This was a very cool post - thanks for sharing. I like the pictures and the amount that you posted. It really looks like an awesome place to work - a very ‘today’ company, unlike where I am currently.
I am proud to sport a Zappos.com sticker on my car.
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Rafael | December 2nd, 2008 at 12:58 pm
I love Zappos! They have great speedy service and I can almost always find my size shoe on the first try!
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Lauren Murley | December 2nd, 2008 at 1:09 pm
Zappos looks like such a fun place to work! How can I become the Master of Wow?! If you aren’t already doing so, you should follow Zappos’ CEO on twitter, @zappos. Thanks for posting all the pics, Guy!
Lauren Murley
@laurenmurley
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Jon at zhiing | December 2nd, 2008 at 2:13 pm
Awesome Company. Awesome Post. Awesome Shoes.
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Brooke | December 2nd, 2008 at 3:07 pm
I would love to work there! How fun. Enjoyed the pictures.
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Jess | December 6th, 2008 at 11:21 am
Their office looks like a horrifying (but FUN!) fire hazard. Places like that are good for morale, even the morale of people who do not work there!
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Maggie Holben | December 6th, 2008 at 3:29 pm
I love Zappos.com — the Saucony’s on my feet are testament to the Zappos team. Thank you for inspiring such awesome innovation in customer service!
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Jerell Kalver | December 6th, 2008 at 3:36 pm
..and as always Zappos lives up to its best of the best reputation!
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Jamie | December 6th, 2008 at 6:58 pm
I am so jealous, but so happy for those employees. Anyone know of a fun place like that in Silicon Valley?
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Gurneet Singh | December 7th, 2008 at 7:30 am
Awesome company…
Never before seen environment & culture in a company..
NO wonder zappos provides kick ass service to its customers as the employees seems so happy &enjoyin in their job…
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Margaret | December 7th, 2008 at 11:23 pm
I did some PR work for Zappos a couple of years ago. When I called the media they would cut me off mid-introduction to say I LOVE Zappos! I can honestly say that has never happened to me before.
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Teresa | December 8th, 2008 at 2:32 pm
Thanks for the fun photo tour! It inspired me to go to the Zappos website and buy a new pair of shoes!
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John LIOTTI | December 8th, 2008 at 4:36 pm
Zappo’s is wonderful. I’m wearing a Zappo’s pair of Dr. Martens right now! I want to work there. Great post!
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Dr. Jim Anderson | December 8th, 2008 at 8:28 pm
Guy: great pictures, and as everyone else has noted Zappos looks like a fun place to work. I did happen to notice an out-of-place poster of Darth Vader in by one of the doorways in a picture.
Does Luke know that his real dad is working there?
- Dr. Jim Anderson
The Accidental Communicator Blog
“Learn How To Calm Your Fears, Wow Your Audience, And Get Your Point Across”
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Yan | December 8th, 2008 at 11:40 pm
Wow! Great office. It looks so “stuff crowded” and so much fun at the same time. I wonder when the employees find the time to install all this stuff everywhere??!
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david | December 11th, 2008 at 7:47 am
one of the smart things they do is offer people $1000 to quit after their first week.
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Sharon | December 11th, 2008 at 6:01 pm
And I thought my office was fun!
Our owners, Rich Christiansen and Ron Porter, recently finished a book about bootstrapping a small business (how our office got started) and talk about a key element in building a business as choosing and creating a company culture – something Zappos has obviously done well at. I’m a little surprised that they’ve done so well because you would think that women would want to try on shoes before purchasing them. But hey, I’ve been fruitlessly looking for a pair of black shoes forever now, so might have to check them out.
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TheJennTaFur | December 13th, 2008 at 9:17 am
Wow..this reminds me of the google campus that I have read about -> http://www.google.com/corporate/tech.html
Pictures..
http://www.flickr.com/search/?q=google%20campus&w=all
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Gary | December 16th, 2008 at 7:24 pm
Man do I miss working in the western half of the USA.
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x | December 22nd, 2008 at 10:16 pm
The fire extinguisher’s covered in crap. Maybe I’m too east coast, but that seems like a bad idea.
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Lisa Nirell | December 23rd, 2008 at 5:32 pm
I wish I had thought about interviewing Tony for my upcoming book…a truly Energized and Wealthy company!
Lisa Nirell
http://www.energizegrowth.com
http://www.wiley.com/WileyCDA/WileyTitle/productCd-0470413921.html
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Pat | December 26th, 2008 at 12:41 pm
hmmm… only 1 employee per month is recognized. This is why i never bothered caring about “employee of the month” awards.
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Lucretia Pruitt | December 31st, 2008 at 3:17 am
I’m horrible at getting to blogs - but you know, I just have to say “hey! My nametag is on that big ball o’ nametags in the lobby!!”
Seriously, the tour Tony gave us of Zappos HQ during BWE this year made me want to move to Las Vegas and lobby him daily to let me work there in any capacity whatsoever!! Their company is amazing - from the front door to the ‘executive’ cubicle row… If every company had that kind of corporate culture? We couldn’t call it work.
Glad you got to see it too!!
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Serkan | January 6th, 2009 at 2:29 pm
This is a workplace where I can work and live forever. Even visiting this office for an hour would be amazing and inspiring. If I cannot work in this office one day, I will definitely work at a nearby Fedex or UPS shop so I can trespass on their office on a regular basis. Thanks Guy and Zappos!
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