At Zappos, we really view culture as our No. 1 priority. We decided that if we get the culture right, most of the stuff, like building a brand around delivering the very best customer service, will just take care of itself.

Simple, public recognition is one of the most effective and most underutilized management tools... Allowing people to reward one another facilitates a culture of recognition and service and is a way to show employees that they should be thinking like owners not serfs.

After we closed our Series C with Peter Thiel in 2012, we invited him to our office... Midway through the conversation, I asked him what was the single most important piece of advice he had for us. He replied, 'Don't [email protected] up the culture.'