Delivering Happiness

The Phone Call by Fred
As we were packing up our things that afternoon, we got a call that
we didn’t expect. It was Tony. He had decided to invest another three
to four months’ worth with a couple of conditions:
“You have to move into my loft in San Francisco, and I’m going
to be much more involved in the company.”
Up until that time, we had just been sending Tony a sales report
once a week, and had seen him visit the office once with Alfred. We

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were busy running around, doing our thing. But with his call, it was
obvious he could see Zappos’ potential.
It was an easy decision to make.
We packed up and moved from Emeryville into his loft, and for
the next twelve months, Tony would invest four months at a time.
Imagine never knowing if you were going to have a job at the end of
four months. It would come down to the very last day, when he’d
decide whether he thought it was worthwhile. Fortunately for us, he
did. So we just kept plugging away to make progress for those four-
month cycles, wait to see if we’ve been given another four months of
oxygen, and get right back to digging in to make things happen.
For that entire year, that’s all we did. We hustled.
My Red Bull Relationship by Tony
I have friends from all different walks of life. Some friends I enjoy
hanging out with at bars. Some friends I enjoy watching movies with.
Some friends I enjoy working with. Some friends I enjoy hiking
with. And some friends I enjoy writing with, occasionally discussing
what preposition not to end a sentence with.
One of the longest relationships I’ve been able to maintain in my
life has been with Red Bull. We recently celebrated our ten-year
anniversary together. We had originally met at a nightclub in
downtown San Francisco (a mutual friend introduced us), and had a
great time dancing the night away. Over time, our activities together
expanded beyond the nightclub scene and became more and more
varied. I think the reason why Red Bull has become such an integral