It is about time we start recognizing the exceptional Asian-American entrepreneurs, regardless of whether there has been media coverage or not. The first on our list? Tony Hsieh (pronounced as shay).
Who is Tony Hsieh? Hsieh is a Taiwanese-American CEO and primary investor of Zappos, which made him a remarkable billionaire (you probably didn't even know that one of the men behind Zappos was an Asian).
It only becomes more apparent why we should begin acknowledging success stories such as this.
Image Courtesy of Silicon Prairie News via Flickr
His Journey in a Nut Shell
Hsieh graduated from Harvard University in 1995 with a degree in Computer Science. From there, he worked for Oracle as a brilliant fresh graduate; but not even a half-year in, he became highly unsatisfied with the corporate environment.
So what did he do? He quit. Hsieh then started a few projects of his own namely LinkExchange, Venture Frogs, and then the notably famous, Zappos.
Moving forward in 2009, Zappos made revenues reaching $1 billion. Hsieh then went on to sell the company to Amazon, making about $400 million on the sale.
An Unstoppable Spirit to Follow
What's so particular with Hsieh is his spirit; he was—in essence—unstoppable.
After selling Zappos, what can Hsieh possibly be doing now? Perhaps a coup d'état over Las Vegas? Sounds crazy, right? Actually, it is his current project. He is working on his personal "SimCity," as he described it.
Michael Cornthwaite, a Las Vegas restaurateur and one of Hsieh's friends said, "One of the best things about Tony is that he doesn't live by or within the same limitations that you're used to dealing with. He has never—maybe never in his whole life—thought within the same constraints as us."
Focusing on downtown Las Vegas, Hsieh has named his newest venture: the Downtown Project. He has been gathering local business owners, creating new development plans, and giving tours to entrepreneurs to help them see the potential regrowth of the Sin City.
Embracing 'Weirdness' and Driving Change
Planning his "New City" where all amenities are a walking distance from the living space, Hsieh's blueprint models a campus-like lifestyle for downtown Las Vegas residents.
When asked if this new venture was geared towards re-creating his college life, Hsieh responded, "It's less about trying to re-create that period of my life. It's just that college is the only example I can think of where you have that social connection and where someone can just come up with an idea—to start a club or whatever—and just do it. People lose that sense of anything is possible when they grow up."
A lethal combination of entrepreneur extraordinaire with a college-style mentality has resulted in a human being such as Tony Hsieh—a service-oriented person who carry out corporate plans which seem to be almost impossible, passionately striving to get and see them done.
Looking at Hsieh's journey (whether you are settled into a career or still venturing into one), his journey alone stands as a testimony that you can do it, too. Envision the dream. Don't be afraid. Get it done.
