As We See It

Zappos vs. HBO’s ‘Silicon Valley’

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Silicon Valley‘s Gavin Belson: If you’re lucky, you’ll get to talk to him for 10 minutes—the best 10 minutes of your life.

Mike Judge’s experiences as a Silicon Valley engineer in the ’80s might have been the fodder for his HBO sitcom named after the tech hub, but we couldn’t help noticing the similarities between our own Zappos and the show’s faux tech company, Hooli. Here are five ways they compare:

1. Hooli has a “spiritual adviser.” Zappos has a “culture evangelist.”

2. Hooli employees party at swanky Silicon Valley mansions. Zappos employees party in Tony Hsieh’s plant room at the Ogden.

3. Hooli has CEO Gavin Belson. If you’re lucky, you’ll get to talk to him for 10 minutes—the best 10 minutes of your life. Zappos has CEO Tony Hsieh. If you’re Downtown on the weekend, you’ll probably see him—but you won’t talk to him because you don’t want to be that guy.

4. Hooli has motivational posters all over the building that say, “Happy is as happy does.” Zappos uses phrases like, “Delivering Happiness” and “Put a little Zappos in your day.”

5. Everyone puts up with Erlich Bachman—even though he’s a jerk—because they live at his house for cheap (and he’s a true friend at heart). You put up with your Zappos friends—even though they drag you to company events—so you can use their discount (and because they’re true friends at heart).

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