Review: "Delivering Happiness: A Path to Profits, Passion, and Purpose" - Tony Hsieh

When the publisher of "Delivering Happiness: A Path to Profits, Passion, and Purpose" by Tony Hsieh sent me a review copy of the book, I had no idea what it was about. I thought it would be another one of those self-help business books teaching you how grow your business idea and turn it into a successful business like Zappos.com. However, it was clear once I started reading the preface that this might be a book that is different.

"Delivering Happiness" is written by Tony Hsieh not so much as an autobiography but rather as a collection of recollections in short story form. Each short story chronicles experiences in his life which have lead him to where he is now, CEO of Zappos.com. The stories themselves often times focus on the mistakes made and how those mistakes often turned into opportunities for success. Lest you think this book defines success as a financial goal, by the end of the book, you'll find that success is determined by the level of happiness achieved.

Little did I know that my own life path had crossed with Tony Hsieh's. I discovered that he was one of the principles behind Venture Frogs Restaurant and actually had his headquarters at the same location, mere blocks away from where I've worked. The stories related in the book gave me a whole new perspective of what was going on at 1000 Van Ness Avenue in San Francisco. I had no idea something so great was being created there.

Broken into three parts, the book first focuses on profits. More specifically, the focus is on how Hsieh's pursuit of profits at a young age shaped his passion for business ideas. He did not feel challenged or fulfilled by his full time Oracle QA job and as a result he and friend Sanjay created LinkExchange, later sold to Microsoft for $265 million. This allowed Hsieh to create Venture Frogs to help incubate new business ideas for others.

The second part focuses on profits and passion. This is where Hsieh really discovers his desire for Zappos.com to succeed and his willingness to part with his own money to help it succeed. Ultimately, he shares his stories about how much of the finances were less important than the overall culture and branding of the business. This way of looking at the business turned out to be exactly what Zappos.com needed to succeed and evolve. Sure, mistakes were made along the way but they were met as challenges and often made into a positive. Those interested in creating their own business should find plenty to take away in this section.

The last part of the book focuses on the profiles, passion and purpose. Hsieh's stories really do show that he is thinking outside the box. His goal is to make the world a better place not only for the customers but also for the vendors and the employees. It certainly looks like that has worked as Zappos.com has managed to continue its growth for over 10 years and in the end married into a partnership with Amazon for over $1 billion.

The book itself is not a complete tale - it is merely a snapshot of moments in time. It is clear by the end of the book that Hsieh is still passionate about an ever changing and evolving culture at Zappos.com and focusing on happiness, not only for himself but for others to achieve. He leaves the reader truly inspired to bigger and better things not just in business but in life as a whole.