July 23rd, 2009 Talk About Shoe Money!

Man, did I make a bad choice in starting a design business. I should have gone the route that Nick Swinmurn did and start an online shoe store instead.

Zappos.com was acquired by Amazon.com today for a deal worth around $850 million (actually, with the bump in Amazon stock, the deal is now worth closer to $900M).

Zappos is a great example of creating a brand and redefining an industry. According to their website, Swinmurn started the company after a frustrating search for shoes. One store would have the style, but not in his size. Another would have the right size, but in a different color. And searching online was not much better.

The idea was simple…sell lots of shoes. How do you get people to start buying shoes online? You carry lots of styles and product lines and you carry them in all sizes and colors. And to get over the hurdle of shipping costs, you ship the shoes for free. And from there an internet giant was born.

Congratulations, Zappos.