Not bad, not perfect
I will second the other reviewer who said it is a little unbalanced. They really spend a lot of time with people who have an axe to grind against Tony Hsieh. The most notable example was the episode about the young man, an employee, who took his own life. It was a tragedy, but there isn’t much to connect it to Zappos or the Downtown Project. The podcast spends a full hour on his death, interviewing his family— and of course his family needs someone to blame. Apparently Hsieh gave a lot of financial support to the family (paying to have all of the deceased’s items shipped home, and for the family to travel), and also brought in a trauma counselor for the employees. But the podcast briefly mentions those facts, and then focuses instead on the reality that at the funeral, Tony seemed a little out of his depth, didn’t really cry, didn’t have the perfect words of support. I’m sorry, but that is not a reasonable expectation for a CEO. How well would I measure up if I were expected to somehow guide dozens of people through the grief of a suicide? I enjoyed the podcast but it has an agenda. I would like to have heard more from Tony’s friends and family, who must have been devastated by his death and might have been able to give more insight into his life and his motivations.
Lifeintokyo via Apple Podcasts · United States of America · 01/17/23
More reviews of The Cost of Happiness
This was a riveting series that managed to capture the multiple facets of a brilliant mind. The Bonus Q&A was great, too, allowing a higher level analysis of what the Zappo’s work culture was a part of. Well done.
Frenchista via Apple Podcasts · United States of America · 08/16/23
The story is fascinating but the narrator does a terrible job of pronouncing words correctly. It becomes very distracting to listen to the story as she continues to mispronounce words.
jamjjmtjm via Apple Podcasts · United States of America · 12/26/22
Thank you and well done. Fascinating.
Samwise Gee via Apple Podcasts · New Zealand · 08/24/23
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