Sorry, investing was pretty boring and I really missed being part of building something. I felt like I was always standing on the sidelines, so Zappos... really liked the people there and got involved full-time and I've been full-time ever since.

What’s the best way to build a brand for the long term? In a word: culture.

Our belief is that if you get the culture right, most of the other stuff, like great customer service, or building a great long-term brand or empowering passionate employees and customers, will happen on its own.

A great brand is a story that never stops unfolding.

Having a higher purpose is more than just about profits. You actually end up making more profits in the long run because employees really are a lot more engaged and customers see the higher purpose in the company.

Success is getting to a point where you'd be truly OK with losing everything you have and starting over.

If there are too many competitors, even if you're the best it's a lot harder to win.