Why Zappos has a Chief Fungineer

I’d heard that Zappos is harder to get into than Harvard, so how was I of all people going to get in? I certainly had a unique set of skills, but not necessarily what they were looking for. So on the application I put down “Drummer,” wrote a song based on the 10 Zappos Values, filmed myself performing the song, and sent it in.

I had the “humor filled” pleasure to interview Tyler Williams, the Chief ‎”Fungineer “ at Zappos.

What is your backstory?

I’m originally from Alaska and before I came to Zappos I was actually a touring musician and had no experience in ecommerce or online retailing or anything even close to what Zappos does. For four years before I came to Zappos I was touring eight months out of the year, and I was getting pretty burned out. I was living in Las Vegas at the time and my wife had taken a tour of the Zappos headquarters — she was impressed by the company and suggested I hit them up for a job. She said, “if nothing else, it’ll be like an adult day care for you!” So I started diving into what Zappos is really about; I watched the company videos, listened to Tony Hsieh’s speeches, read customer…