Show Notes
Billionaire Zappos founder and tech CEO Tony Hsieh was obsessed with happiness and helping people achieve it. After running “the world’s happiest company” for two decades, Hsieh created his experimental community — The Downtown Project — dedicated to pursuing happiness. But what do Tony's life and death reveal about Silicon Valley’s obsession with re-imagining how society functions?
Series premieres December 5. Subscribe and follow now! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
More from The Cost of Happiness: Tony Hsieh
Nastaran chats with Dan Lyons, best-selling author and screenwriter for HBO's Silicon Valley, about the Tony Hsieh story and the highs and lows of tech company culture. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
What remains of Tony’s utopian, llama-shaped vision for a neighbourhood? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Once again, Tony finds himself at the center of a toxic culture characterized by suspicion and silence. Except this time, there’s no escape. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
The feverish excitement around The Downtown Project begins to give way to frustration, confusion, and disappointment. Tony's utopian vision is concealing something toxic. And it isn’t just businesses and investors at stake. All of a sudden, so are people’s lives. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
When you talk about investing millions in a neglected city, buying up old buildings, funding small businesses and startups, and creating the happiest community on earth, people listen. So it’s no surprise that word quickly spreads about Tony Hsieh’s grand plans and the pilgrimages to Vegas begin. But will Tony’s utopia prevail? Or will the qualities that once made him beloved come back to bite him? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices