“Ask yourself: would you be comfortable printing everything your employees, customers & partners have to say about your culture?”

Success is getting to a point where you’d be truly OK with losing everything you have and starting over.

Happiness is really just about four things: perceived control, perceived progress, connectedness (number and depth of your relationships), and vision/meaning (being part of something bigger than yourself).

I thought about how easily we are all brainwashed by our society and culture to stop thinking and just assume by default that more money equals more success and more happiness, when ultimately happiness is really just about enjoying life.

Chase the vision, not the money, the money will end up following you.

Help shape the stories that people are telling about you.

If there are too many competitors, even if you’re the best it’s a lot harder to win.

Businesses often forget about the culture, and ultimately, they suffer for it because you can’t deliver good service from unhappy employees.

I’d rather spend money on things that improve the customer experience than on marketing.

Whatever you’re thinking, think bigger.

For individuals, character is destiny. For organizations, culture is destiny.

We asked ourselves what we wanted this company to stand for. We didn’t want to just sell shoes. I wasn’t even into shoes – but I was passionate about customer service.

Launching a business is kind of like a motorboat: You can go very quickly and turn fast.

Learn by doing. Theory is nice, but nothing replaces actual experience.

Most innovation comes from outside your industry applied to your own

Having a higher purpose is more than just about profits. You actually end up making more profits in the long run because employees really are a lot more engaged and customers see the higher purpose in the company.

Stop chasing the money and start chasing the passion.

If Alibaba cannot become a Microsoft or Walmart, I will regret it for the rest of my life.

I am convinced that companies should put staff first, customers second and shareholders third – ultimately that’s in the best interest of customers and shareholders.

My job as a leader is to make sure everybody in the company has great opportunities, and that they feel they’re having a meaningful impact.

A brand for a company is like a reputation for a person. You earn reputation by trying to do hard things well.

Government isn’t that good at rapid advancement of technology. It tends to be better at funding basic research. To have things take off, you’ve got to have commercial companies do it.

A company’s employees are its greatest asset and your people are your product.

A company shouldn’t get addicted to being shiny, because shiny doesn’t last.

If you want to grow, find a good opportunity. Today, if you want to be a great company, think about what social problem you could solve.