Tony Hsieh founded Zappos, an online shoe company that Amazon eventually bought for over a billion dollars. Before that, he co-founded Link Exchange, an ad network Microsoft bought outright. Somewhere between these two exits, Hsieh arrived at a counterintuitive conclusion: happiness before success mattered more to him than anything else.
Delivering Happiness is deceptively simple and quite radical. A few lessons from the book stuck with me: a growth mindset, money as freedom, and the idea that happiness is actually about enjoying life. Taken together, those ideas create leverage: a learning machine with real freedom who enjoys life. Let’s start with having a growth mindset, or as Charlie Munger says, go to bed wiser than when you woke up.
“Most folks are as happy as they make up their minds to be.” – Abraham Lincoln
Love of Reading and a Growth Mindset
I didn’t fully appreciate Hsieh’s points about happiness before success until I looked at my own path. For a long time, I treated success at something to endure first, and then success would come later.
I optimized for progress—career, projects, forward motion—without asking whether I actually enjoyed the days themselves.
What I eventually noticed was that the periods where I felt most energized weren’t tied to money or success. Instead, they were connected to learning, autonomy, and building things that mattered to me.
That realization changed how I think about work: money isn’t the goal but the tool to buy freedom. In turn, freedom lets you design a life you enjoy.
Reading Delivering Happiness felt less like learning something new and more like having an instinct confirmed. Hsieh simply built an entire company around that instinct.
Tony Hsieh has always been an avid reader. He took that to the next level by creating a company library at Zappos. The goal was to foster an environment of continuous learning within the company.
This reflected his deep belief in a growth mindset. The library was a manifestation of how he wanted employees to grow.
Reading exposes people to different perspectives. Employees could adapt what they read into Zappos’ culture, one that stood apart from its competitors.
A growth mindset was a core value at Zappos. It was embedded into its operations. Hsieh wanted continuous growth and learning to be a daily practice.
He also wanted employees to embrace change—something they could use to their advantage. Hsieh encouraged adventure, creativity, and open-mindedness. He told his colleagues to view mistakes as opportunities to learn, much the same way Jeff Bezos did at Amazon.
Hsieh used a growth mindset and love of reading to build Zappos into a valuable company that was acquired by Amazon. The proceeds from the sale gave Hsieh the money he used to buy his freedom.
Money as Freedom
Continuous learning allowed Hsieh to build Zappos. The money he earned while building the company—and later selling it to Amazon—gave him freedom.
Hsieh fantasized about making money early in life. Having money later in life meant he’d have the freedom to do whatever he wanted to do. He wouldn’t be beholden to someone else telling him how to spend his time.
Having the freedom to run his own company meant Hsieh could be creative. He could live life on his own terms, build the company he wanted, not one designed by someone else.
His parents wanted him to become a doctor or PhD—a lifestyle he felt was too regimented, too restrictive. Running his own company was what he wanted.
Hsieh’s philosophy on money as freedom evolved. He eventually chased vision over money. He became a proponent of focusing on passion and purpose rather than profits. A strong vision and culture will lead to success in the long run.
Happiness was about four things: control, progress, connectedness, and being part of something larger than yourself. Having money is great, but it can’t solve these psychological needs that Hsieh prioritized.
Culture was something else he prioritized at Zappos. He wanted to build a unique culture—one focused on customers and employees over short-term profits. He believed this approach to culture would deliver happiness to customers and employees, ultimately leading to success.
Another unique aspect of the Zappos culture was Hsieh offering new employees money to quit if they didn’t feel a strong cultural fit. The idea was that genuine alignment with the company’s mission was more valuable than a large number of employees.
A strong culture meant everyone enjoyed being around one another. It required focus to build this culture. The result led to happiness not only for customers but also for employees. Happiness to Hsieh meant enjoying his life.
Happiness is About Enjoying Life
Hsieh found that none of the happiest periods of his life involved money. Instead, building things, creativity, connecting with friends, and contributing to something bigger than himself made him happy.
This happiness realization led him to prioritize purpose, passion, and culture at Zappos. He believed that by making others happy, it ultimately led to self-happiness and business success.
A strong culture created happiness at Zappos. A tribal feeling of openness and shared values fostered meaningful work. Hsieh wanted culture to be the foundation that supported everything they did.
Culture was flanked by passion and purpose. He wanted Zappos to make a difference. Everyone should have felt they were building something bigger than themselves.
Hsieh stressed integrating work with your life. He tried to create a sense of belonging. Work-life balance wasn’t part of the strategy. If you liked the work you did, it became intertwined with your life.
Hsieh tells the story of making a list of the happiest periods of his life—none involved money. Instead, they involved building and creating, and connecting with friends.
Connecting with a friend and talking through the night until the sun rose, trick-or-treating in middle school, eating a baked potato after a swim, even pickles—these moments made him happy.
Hsieh thought that we’re all brainwashed by society and culture to stop thinking, to just assume that success and money will make you happy. Ultimately, happiness is about enjoying life.
Essentially, happiness means creation, connection, and contribution. It means creating interesting things, building strong relationships, and contributing to something larger than yourself.
Happiness Before Success: Key Takeaways
Hsieh realized early that money would buy his freedom. Zappos was created as a result. While building the company, he pushed everyone to have a growth mindset. That shift in thinking was paired with finding happiness. Freedom, a growth mindset, and finding happiness allowed him to have an enjoyable life.
To me, earning money to buy your freedom means you get to do exactly what you want to do. Add in a growth mindset, and you have the freedom to pursue what makes you happy. Freedom, a growth mindset, and finding happiness add up to a rewarding life.
