Second Hand Hsieh

I met Tony Hsieh in 2005 or 2006. I was dating a woman that worked at Zappos. She was part of the group that had moved out from San Francisco with the company. I met him in his house at a party he was throwing for Zappos people. He was already pretty drunk when I met him, and I was not far behind. He was quiet and seemed socially awkward but extremely welcoming. The party itself was nothing extraordinary. There was none of the startup culture ironic silliness. It was just a nice party with some good people. When I left later, I said to the woman I came there with that Tony was “weird”. The only word I could come up with. He was just a weird guy throwing a nice party.

That was my first impression.

Everything else I know about him, even though I would see him and nod politely at Zappos gatherings, was secondhand from my then girlfriend and her friends that had moved out from San Francisco with the company.

I asked how he started the company. I was told some vague story about how he bought the company with money his dad had given him. The story went that he and his brother or brothers were given seed money to start their lives, and Tony parlayed that into Zappos. This was the story I was told. I have never cared to investigate the veracity of the story.

My ex-girlfriend and her Zappos friends all seemed to hate Las Vegas. They missed San Francisco. Every gathering seemed a sad attempt at recreating San Francisco in a mass produced adobe home in a gated community with new cars in the driveway.

This was when Zappos was still headquartered in Henderson. I would chat with her online only to have her tell me she had to go, not to work, but because there was a water gun fight, nerf battles, beat-boxing contests, whatever stupid thing I can’t remember. She complained about her position like any red blooded American. She was growing disillusioned with the company. Tony was more and more distant, less interactive. She told me once that she felt the documents she was producing were unethical. That didn’t phase me because I long ago reconciled the conflict in my mind that all businesses lie in order to gain capital. In retrospect I am pretty sure these were the preliminaries to the Amazon buyout.

Everyone of those people I met that came out to Las Vegas left the company before or around the time they moved Downtown. The company just wasn’t the same. Growing pains.

I was never a supporter of the DTP. From the beginning all I saw was another attempt to recreate San Francisco in Las Vegas, and I resented that. Though, truth be told I hated and still hate that city and never missed an opportunity to complain about it. There was one thing I learned from the people I met that grew up there, the real Las Vegas Natives with their hyper-defensiveness about their city, and that is that any development had to be Las Vegan in nature. Outsiders were ruining the city. There is a great pride in Las Vegas. There are people who adore that city and what it once was and what it could be. They are often desperate people, desperate to create a viable culture in Las Vegas. It is that desperation that the DTP preyed upon. The willingness to cling to any shred of hope that Las Vegas could be just as ‘cool’ as any other major city, and it doesn’t need external help. And as much as I hate that city, I absolutely agree with that sentiment. Las Vegas is unique and should be proud of itself. Any development should come from within, not from transplants wishing only to enact the idealism of another city and profit.

So from day one I said “Fuck the Downtown Project” even as I drank beers at the Griffin. Steadily, I watched stores and shops open that at best were 5 years behind every other city, but new to Vegas. It was depressing to watch the same Natives that waxed nostaglic about Cafe Roma, latch on to anything in the name of being supportive. It felt desperate.

Las Vegas is a young city with a rich history. It’s there where development should begin, not elsewhere. All things in Las Vegas should be uniquely Las Vegan.

I do not think Tony Hsieh is single handedly responsible for the DTP, but I do think he got the ball rolling when he moved Zappos downtown and began buying out properties. And credit where credit is due, he has done a great job of protecting his assets from risk, as any great businessperson will do.

But, the truth for me is that he is a boy in a bubble. He just wants to be the guy that throws the best party, and he has surrounded himself with people that love his parties.

The DTP is no longer the best party.

First impressions.