Aug 31, 2020
Although Nick Swinmurn was born in England, he grew up in the Bay Area of California with his supportive engineer father and teacher mother. He has a degree in Film Studies from the University of California and has always been an innovator at heart, starting his entrepreneurial career in college. Nick's most well-known venture is Zappos, the online shoe retailer which he sold to Amazon in 2006, and he has subsequently started several businesses, including Basecamp Fitness, Dunk Contest, and Dethrone Royalty. Nick is also a part-owner of basketball team Golden State Warriors.
Nick joins us today to share his experience of being a serial entrepreneur and keeping his family happy at the same time. He discusses what inspires him to keep moving forward and trying new ideas, and when he knew the time was right to sell Zappos. Nick also shares his perspective on being a working dad and how to foster and protect your relationship with your child when you are so busy professionally, as well as the lessons that he learns from his 10-year-old son.
"Your family are the stability, they give you the foundation, and you can be fearless in business because you know that at the end of the day you can fall back on the family and that stability and the stuff that does matter." - Nick Swinmurn
This Week on Pretty and Punk:
- How Nick tested his entrepreneurial chops
- The dangers of going too fast without considering all the angles
- How Nick lost $10,000 of his parents money and what lessons he learned for the future
- How Nick got his first investors for Zappos on board
- Why Nick started a company the very next day after selling Zappos and what he did when it didn’t work out
- The attributes that help and hurt him in new businesses
- How Nick met his wife at Zappos and the effect the relationship had on her career
- Nick's experience of meeting with Jeff Bezos and why they initially turned his offer down
- The effect of Nick's businesses on his family
- How and why he tries to model positive behavior to his son
- How he and his son enjoy spending time together and bonding
- Why it’s so important to have a healthy lifestyle
- Nick’s upcoming book and why he’s writing it
Nick's Parting Wisdom: Everything happens for a reason you, although you might not see the reason straight away. Avoid getting into a negative mindset and remember that you can’t control everything, but you can control how you react to things.
Resources Mentioned:
- Zen and the Art of Happiness by Chris Prentiss
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