Posted: May 21st, 2010 | 2 Comments »
3 days back I signed up for the advanced copy of Delivering Happiness by Tony Hsieh. Who? What?
Tony Hsieh is the CEO of Zappos.com. This is an online shoe company that has set new standards on customer service. They were recently acquired by Amazon.com for 1.2 Billion dollars.
My interest piqued in them when I read about about Tony attending Ted India and giving a speech. I watched the speech intently and took notes. Becoming a CEO someday is part of the plan, but more importantly building a company that has great culture is the goal.
When I walked in today at work, I saw a copy of Delivering Happiness [Amazon Link] on the table. I was astounded. We have celebrity bloggers at work and while the main chief had left I asked around and found out that no one saw it or knew who had gotten it.
Carpe Diem.
I HAD to read it and I spent a day sifting through it. I think the last time I did it this religiously was a game guide to Starcraft. Not even my exams had seen such dedication. Noted here are my thoughts on the book.
The Review.
High average prices. High selling margins.
This was the first lesson Tony learns when he starts to sell newspapers and buttons. Tony’s book is a semi autobiographical account of his life. From the time he’s a toddler he has had interesting experiences to share. A good early part of the book devotes its time to Profits. The middle half is Passion and Profits and the finale is Profits, Passion and Purpose.
College years are next and this part had it going on really well, it reminded me of all the reasonswe bunked college classes when in IIT. He was at Harvard, the equivalent in the States. Here’s a quote on his logic,
“On class days, my 8 am alarm was the most unwelcome sound in the world. I would hit the snooze button repeatedly. I would tell my self I could skip the first class of teh day and get the notes from someone else later. Then an hour later, I would convince myself that since that logic worked so well for the first class I could apply it to the second class, so I missed that class as well. By the time I was getting ready to go to my third class, I reasoned that I missed 2 classes so missing one more wasn’t that big a deal. And finally by the time I was supposed to be headed for my last class, I figured there was no point attending only one class when I skipped all others”.
Oh how I relate to this. The only difference, he had classes three days a week between 9 am and 1 pm.
It’s here that Tony’s life gets really interesting. It’s almost a mirror reflection of mine in the start. Which means I have an exciting future to look forward to. He starts in a deadbeat technical job (hi) and then goes on to web design (hi again) but finds out that he’s not really passionate about it even if the money trickles in.
He mentions an important point that I have been wrestling with, “We didn’t know what we wanted to do. We did however know what we didn’t want to do”. That’s not where the comparison stops. He’s a fan of RedBull! For 10 years!
It almost seems like he’s an Asian alter ego of mine. Sans the size probably. Oh and he plays poker. Score three.
The first half is an entertaining read. The second half talks about setting the company up, going almost broke, being a party playa and climbing Mount Kilimanjaro. All fun stuff.
The real meat of the book lies in the third part where he talks about Passion, Purpose and what you want your life to mean and how to “find happiness”. He’s no Dalai Lama in this, but this book has more practical advice than most self help books out there. It is, however, nothing ground breaking if you have seen his talks (or 4 of his talks like I have).
Since this was a read only unedited copy, there’s weird formatting and indentation. There’s a nice chipping in by various employees and co founders on their view of things. This is a format that Sam Walton had made famous where people would talk about him in their own words. Here people talk about the company and it’s values. This book was an easy read and an enjoyable one. If you want to pick up tips on how to go about setting up a company and it’s culture and focusing on the most important thing: People and growth, then grab your copy when it comes out in June.
It will give you a good light hearted introduction into the world of business, culture, entrepreneurship and building up of a billion dollar company. It is however, not a cook book or not one that would have many reads (or dog tags) to understand.
Who should read this book?
Anyone who wants to know about Zappos, Tony and one of the greatest companies to work for.
Who should not read this book?
Anyone who wants to miss out on Zappos, Tony and one of the greatest companies to work for.
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Posted: November 26th, 2009 | No Comments »
Remember how a favourite productivity guru of mine, Steve Rubel, had previously shared his thoughts on how to be more productive with tools like Twitter and the iPhone? Well here’s another awesome interview from one of my favourite authors of all time at Techcrunch, MG Siegler. For reference sake i’ll call him MG. MG’s been writing at Techcrunch for quite some time and most of his works are sharp, witty and opinionated. He started with timely posts on technology and quickly became one of the productivity experts that caught the attention of TechCrunch. The rest they say is history.
Pic courtesy: Flickr
It tickles my pickles (just saying..) to have his thoughts on how he works throughout the day and give insights into his tech-journalism gig at Techcrunch. I haven’t kept this too long and he was gracious enough to be super fast in his responses too, but knowing about stuff like Yammer at Techcrunch and how to follow up on leads is indeed a cool thing. Everyone know whats to know what Batman’s gadgets are. Without further ado.
What is a typical day for you like?
The first thing I do when I wake up is check my iPhone at my bedside. I usually scan Twitter and Techmeme first to see what, if any, news is going on. I also check my email. If there is something I need to respond to right away, I’ll go over to my computer to do that. Otherwise I try to take a shower and get some coffee.
How do you compose a blog posts.
I typically find something to write about in the new in the mornings and afternoons and work on thought pieces later at night. For the news items I usually compose them in WordPress. For longest pieces I may use a word processor.
Do you write and link simultaneously? Do you write something first and insert link later?
I usually write first and then link later.
How much of your stuff is split between reporting and ideation?
Depends on the story. If it’s a breaking news item I’ll usually reach out to the company to try and get confirmation/comment. If it’s a story from a source, I’ll work on that with the source and the company. If it’s a thought piece, I’ll usually just sit quietly or go for a walk and think about what I want to write before I write it.
How do you track conversations and what is being said about you (or something interesting)
FriendFeed used to be one of my best sources, but since usage has been declining on it, I find it less useful. I stick with Twitter and Google Reader now for most items. And check Techmeme to see if there is something interesting I’m missing. In terms of what is being said about me, that’s almost all Twitter.
How important is twitter to you and your business? What tools do you use?
It’s pretty important from both an information gathering and sending perspective. I typically use both Twitter.com and Brizzly. Sometimes I use Tweetie for Mac. On the iPhone I use Tweetie and Birdfeed.
If not twitter what is your most important social “outpost”?
Mainly Twitter, but I use Facebook a bit too. And have my own personal blog to post things on.
Do you maintain a To Do device? What is it?
The iPhone.
How do you keep track of your duties and things you need to finish?
Usually in my head, but also Google Tasks.
Do you have any tips/advice you can give based on what you think are best practices to stay on top of everything?
I wish I did! I try to tell people to attempt to get in touch with me different ways. I get too many emails to be able to respond to them all.
When you delegate something to someone? How often do you followup? How/What tool do you follow up?
We usually do that over Yammer, internally within TechCrunch. I also follow-up on Yammer or Skype.
When you started blogging (and now lifestreaming!), what was your intent?
I suppose just to get my thoughts on topics out there.
You break a lot of news, do you have someone writing a particular topic and assign tracking to them? or do you keep track of the topics and developments?
Writers tend to have their own things that they follow, but if something is breaking, anyone who is around can jump on it.
Do you get news from other websites? Personal contacts in companies you write to? or readership submission?
Usually contacts and tips sent to TechCrunch. Sometimes we write on bigger issues that are already being talked about too.
How do you cherry pick from the stuff you have to write?
Whatever I find most interesting or most important.
What do you think good writing includes? Any tips on what you should focus on as a writer?
I’m a big fan of good headlines. But in terms of the writing itself, it’s important to have a strong opening, and not bury the lede. I tend to have a more personal style of writing which some people like, but some people hate.
How did you grow your readership?
TechCrunch was big long before me. I think we continue to grow by breaking news, and being fast on news items.
Your lesson to yourself 5 years back on things to focus on?
I’d like to be better at getting back to some emails, but I can be overwhelming.
Top people you recommend reading up on?
All the big blogs are good. VentureBeat, SiliconAlleyInsider, ReadWriteWeb, etc. Some of my favorite blogging though is done on more personal sites like Fake Steve and Daring Fireball.
If you had one line (or 140 characters) to describe yourself, what would it be?
Sleep is a huge waste of time. It gets in the way of blogging.– I’d like to be better at getting back to some emails, but I can be overwhelming.
