---
title: Why CEO Tony Hsieh Thinks Zappos Should Disrupt Porta-Potties
description: E-retailer Zappos, one of the most radical companies on earth, has its sights on disrupting industries such as airlines and porta-potties.
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published: '2015-12-01T17:52:18.000Z'
modified: '2015-12-01T17:52:18.000Z'
section: Lifestyle
tags:
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  - Retail
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  - Zappos
word_count: 226
canonical: https://money.com/zappos-disrupt-porta-potties/
type: Article
source: structured-blocks
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![US-TECHNOLOGY-WSJD LIVE](https://img.money.com/2015/12/493428142.jpg)
*Tony Hsieh, CEO of Zappos, responds to questions from interviewer Dennis Berman at 2015 WSJD Live on October 20, 2015 in Laguna Beach, California.*

The Amazon-owned e-commerce shoe-seller Zappos has a reputation for top-notch customer service and an unusual boss-free work environment. Now CEO Tony Hsieh wants to use the Zappos brand to disrupt industries well beyond retail. He started by completely destroying Zappos’ organizational hierarchy.

About a year ago, Hsieh turned Zappos into what he calls a “holacracy,” eliminating all supervisor positions, so the company’s 1,500 employees now work with no managers. Instead, employees manage themselves as autonomous individuals within discrete decision-making groups. The goal, Hsieh told [*The Washington Post*](https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/on-leadership/wp/2015/12/01/tony-hsieh-got-rid-of-bosses-at-zappos-and-thats-not-even-his-biggest-idea/), is to make Zappos work more like a startup incubator than a traditional company so entrepreneurial employees can pursue great ideas without feeling stifled in the corporate bureaucracy.

“I would hope that in the future employees see Zappos as really a less risky way than just the pure entrepreneurial route to follow their passions,” Hsieh said.

Hsieh sees Zappos hallmark—stellar customer service—as a foundation from which to disrupt any number of industries, from airlines to hotels to port-potties.

“It’s not a great experience anywhere, but imagine if you went to a festival or something and you saw a Zappos porta-potty,” Hsieh told the *Post*. “I mean, we’ve talked about how it could be as simple as there’s a DJ out front so it’s a port-party while you’re waiting. Or it’s just a really amazing, clean experience.”

\[[The Washington Post](https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/on-leadership/wp/2015/12/01/tony-hsieh-got-rid-of-bosses-at-zappos-and-thats-not-even-his-biggest-idea/)\]

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