The cult and culture of Zappos

High touch may seem out of place in the online space, but Lin says the company has found its sweet spot there. The company launched in 1999 with a low-cost business model -- "Even the founders thought of it as a flea market," Lin said, though that has changed.

Delivering 'WOW'

Doing more with less is one of the company's 10 "core values," though the company doesn't claim to be a discounter.

According to a report at Inc.com, the average hourly worker at the company makes about $23,000 a year, and the salaries "are often below market rates," though the company does cover 100 percent of health care costs.

"If you're going to be higher cost you have to be higher service and you have to ... demonstrate that the value is there," Lin said. "We aren't the low-cost place. We try to add value."

Among the other core values: "create fun and a little weirdness"; "deliver WOW through service"; "be passionate and determined"; and "embrace and drive change," to name a few.

Lin was not a company founder -- he joined in 2005 -- though he did help drive the company's early growth through a seed investment.

Early entrepreneurs

Lin's business partnership with Tony Hsieh, Zappos CEO, dates back to their college days at Harvard University. Hsieh purchased the rights to run the grill in the downstairs at Quincy House, one of the largest of the 12 residential houses for Harvard undergraduates.

Even in those days they shined in entrepreneurship -- Hsieh decided it would be more profitable to operate a pizza oven than flipping burgers, and Lin became a reseller of Hsieh's pizzas.

"Basically, I bought pizza from him and sold it by the slice," Lin said. "So that's how we met."

Lin later traversed the country for graduate studies at Stanford University, and Hsieh contacted him about the possibility of opening a Subway sandwich franchise on campus there.

That idea passed (campus policy prevented it in those days and there was already a franchise near campus), and Hsieh moved out to California -- and moved on from his food franchise ideas -- to a job at Oracle.

Hsieh would later co-found Link Exchange; Lin joined him a year later; and the company sold to Microsoft for $265 million in 1998.

With money in their pockets, Lin and Hsieh got into the venture capital sector, founding Venture Frogs. That company invested $27 million in about 27 companies -- $1 million apiece -- and Zappos was one of the beneficiaries.

Tellme Networks, another Venture Frogs-backed company, sold to Microsoft for an estimated $800 million.

"One company I always loved the most is Zappos," Lin said, as it represented a good market opportunity, had "very passionate employees," and "a great culture." Hsieh had joined Zappos full time in 2000.

Monkeying around

And even as the company has grown, Lin said managers have worked to promote a family vibe for the workplace. Managers refer to themselves as monkeys -- "We don't have offices; we sit in a row called monkey row," Lin said. ...CONTINUED

All rights reserved. This content may not be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever, in part or in whole, without written permission of Inman News. Use of this content without permission is a violation of federal copyright law.