9 ms·

Tony Hsieh Steps Down from Lead Role at Las Vegas Downtown Project

88 points by dkoch 12y ago

kuida0r3 12y ago
I've always been interested in the Downtown Project but haven't had a chance to visit. Can someone more familiar with it comment on the state of download Las Vegas now?
- abuteau 12y ago
  I've visited the Downtown Project this summer part of the 2014 UP Summit. It's really a great place to be, the vibe is really good and there's ton of awesome projects. I think the project is well balanced. You have small business incubator, startups incubator, a lot of community space and education project. But it was hard to see who really had the leadership. I thought it was Hsieh but he dismissed it. Maybe they also had too much project. Lack of focus, lack of leadership and maybe going to fast. I hope the project turn around and that someone step-up to take the leadership, because it's really a great place although I hate Vegas. Hmm maybe in this sense this project represent well Vegas... an orgy of fake.
- yournemesis 12y ago
  You wouldn't download a city.
- enraged_camel 12y ago
  I know a couple of people who live in Vegas who are familiar with the project. Based on what they have been saying, it is a prime example of why it is not possible to create a "startup hub" just by pouring money into some random city. You also need great educational institutions nearby as well as a healthy mix of angel investors and VCs. Attract enough smart, curious and self-driven people to create a "critical mass" and then have lots of money available to fund the ideas that emerge. That's what made SV what it is. I was actually asked if I'd be interested in moving to Vegas to join an accelerator to seriously pursue one of my ideas, but I declined. In my mind, Vegas is for weekend getaways. I could never live there. Besides that, the project seems to suffer from typical nepotism. When you're giving jobs to family and friends without paying any attention to whether they are qualified, you are shooting yourself in the foot and significantly decreasing your chances of success in a project that's already very ambitious. I hope things work out but it isn't looking good right now.
- kin 12y ago
  I just visited Container Park this past weekend. It certainly is a cool area with a lot of public space and I could tell locals were really enjoying themselves. It's kind of like Hayes Valley in SF (where Smitten is) if you know where that is. It's true what they say about Vegas though in that there's a slight cult vibe and the quality of the establishments are poor despite their looks.
rdl 12y ago
I'm really impressed that he set this up -- optimistic about it in the long run.
bronson 12y ago
His presentation at Long Now was inspiring: http://longnow.org/seminars/02014/apr/22/helping-revitalize-city/ http://longnow.org/seminars/02014/apr/22/helping-revitalize-... (I only listened to the podcast, didn't watch the video) It sounded like everything was coming up roses and money back then. Hoping to hear an update.
deleted 12y ago
[deleted]
w1ntermute 12y ago
Can someone explain why it makes sense to build a new community/ecosystem in Las Vegas? Not only is the climate terrible, there are problems with even having enough water: http://www.slate.com/blogs/future_tense/2014/06/05/lake_mead_which_supplies_most_of_las_vegas_water_is_at_record_low_levels.html http://www.slate.com/blogs/future_tense/2014/06/05/lake_mead... There must be plenty of cities across the Midwest without such problems that would be a better choice for such an initiative.
- spilk 12y ago
  Low taxes, cheap property. The climate is not bad depending on what you are looking for.
  - AJ007 12y ago
    Low taxes. Not just cheap property but quality property. Want to live in a new high rise condo? Plenty of options remain from the building bust. Very fast flight from LA, fast flight from SF. Massive amount of business travelers for conferences. Largely because of the proximity to California Vegas has a fairly good pool of employees. There are a lot of promising alternatives that just fall flat on their face in this regards (whether you have a tech startup or a factory, good luck in Miami.) There is plenty to not like about Las Vegas but it is one of those places things make more sense when closely examined. Water is a long term concern but depending on climate change, 200 years out a lot of major world cities will be gone, Las Vegas may very well still be around.
    - spilk 12y ago
      It's also fairly natural-disaster resistant. We get floods now and again, but that is managed fairly well. Otherwise, we aren't very susceptible to tornadoes, hurricanes, tsunamis, earthquakes, etc.
- falsestprophet 12y ago
  Because the guy who wrote the check wants it for his hometown. Why do I want Chicago to be successful? On one hand, it get's super cold so it isn't the most practical location and it's kind of a racial powder keg. On the other hand, it is my home.
ganeumann 12y ago
Wait, wasn't it just yesterday that Re/Code published its glowing profile of Hsieh's Downtown Las Vegas? Yes, yes it was. http://recode.net/2014/09/29/downtown-las-vegas-is-the-great-american-techtopia/ http://recode.net/2014/09/29/downtown-las-vegas-is-the-great... How did they miss this until today?
- confluence 12y ago
  PR pieces are usually released on a pre-agreed upon date. Something probably changed in the meantime.
- bronson 12y ago
  Saw "Connie Yeh, a former Citibank trader, nows runs an entrepreneurship preschool" and couldn't continue.
- pfooti 12y ago
  I'm glad I waited before selling off all my worldly goods to go live in the Holocratic Tech Utopia. The newest post about the collapse of factorli is also giving me whiplash. It is a good article, but overall I am left wondering: is this Downtown project and tech boom in las vegas a thing? Or is it just a flash in the pan? Because it seemed kind of neat on monday. http://recode.net/2014/09/30/factorli-an-early-casualty-of-the-las-vegas-downtown-project/ http://recode.net/2014/09/30/factorli-an-early-casualty-of-t...
discardorama 12y ago
More from the LVWeekly: http://lasvegasweekly.com/as-we-see-it/2014/sep/30/breaking-bloodletting-downtown-project-layoffs/ http://lasvegasweekly.com/as-we-see-it/2014/sep/30/breaking-...
AVTizzle 12y ago
If you read reviews from Zappos employees on GlassDoor starting a couple years back, you got the impression that Tony's heart wasn't in zappos anymore, it was in the Downtown Project. I wonder where his heart is now? It's sad to see, Tony's Vegas ambitions were so wild and unique. It was impossible not to root for him.
WoodenChair 12y ago
Editor, is there an editor around!? Or do we just have people. "Hsieh’s move comes as the project has laid off about 30 percent of its staff, or 30 people, which does not include the community of entrepreneurs funded by the project. or about 30 people, these people said."
UrsWeller 12y ago
I can't help but conclude that someone who is so obsessed with creating "Happiness" is actually not that happy. Otherwise why would he be chasing it with such desperation? One profile of Tony Hsieh said that he has literally read hundreds of books about how to create happiness, and of course he wrote one too. A person who is happy is not reading hundreds of books about happiness. And that person will also not become happy through doing that. Happiness is not something you can create externally. (Yes, if you're starving and homeless then having some money and material possessions would definitely make you happy. But we are talking about multimillionaires and billionaires here who are not in that situation.) I think the entire downtown project has much less to do with creating some sort of startup utopia than it has to do with something personal that Tony is seeking for himself. But he won't find it outside of himself.

88 points by dkoch 12y ago

I've always been interested in the Downtown Project but haven't had a chance to visit. Can someone more familiar with it comment on the state of download Las Vegas now?

abuteau 12y ago
I've visited the Downtown Project this summer part of the 2014 UP Summit. It's really a great place to be, the vibe is really good and there's ton of awesome projects. I think the project is well balanced. You have small business incubator, startups incubator, a lot of community space and education project. But it was hard to see who really had the leadership. I thought it was Hsieh but he dismissed it. Maybe they also had too much project. Lack of focus, lack of leadership and maybe going to fast. I hope the project turn around and that someone step-up to take the leadership, because it's really a great place although I hate Vegas. Hmm maybe in this sense this project represent well Vegas... an orgy of fake.
yournemesis 12y ago
You wouldn't download a city.
enraged_camel 12y ago
I know a couple of people who live in Vegas who are familiar with the project. Based on what they have been saying, it is a prime example of why it is not possible to create a "startup hub" just by pouring money into some random city. You also need great educational institutions nearby as well as a healthy mix of angel investors and VCs. Attract enough smart, curious and self-driven people to create a "critical mass" and then have lots of money available to fund the ideas that emerge. That's what made SV what it is. I was actually asked if I'd be interested in moving to Vegas to join an accelerator to seriously pursue one of my ideas, but I declined. In my mind, Vegas is for weekend getaways. I could never live there. Besides that, the project seems to suffer from typical nepotism. When you're giving jobs to family and friends without paying any attention to whether they are qualified, you are shooting yourself in the foot and significantly decreasing your chances of success in a project that's already very ambitious. I hope things work out but it isn't looking good right now.
kin 12y ago
I just visited Container Park this past weekend. It certainly is a cool area with a lot of public space and I could tell locals were really enjoying themselves. It's kind of like Hayes Valley in SF (where Smitten is) if you know where that is. It's true what they say about Vegas though in that there's a slight cult vibe and the quality of the establishments are poor despite their looks.

rdl 12y ago

I'm really impressed that he set this up -- optimistic about it in the long run.

bronson 12y ago

His presentation at Long Now was inspiring: http://longnow.org/seminars/02014/apr/22/helping-revitalize-city/ http://longnow.org/seminars/02014/apr/22/helping-revitalize-... (I only listened to the podcast, didn't watch the video) It sounded like everything was coming up roses and money back then. Hoping to hear an update.

deleted 12y ago

[deleted]

w1ntermute 12y ago

Can someone explain why it makes sense to build a new community/ecosystem in Las Vegas? Not only is the climate terrible, there are problems with even having enough water: http://www.slate.com/blogs/future_tense/2014/06/05/lake_mead_which_supplies_most_of_las_vegas_water_is_at_record_low_levels.html http://www.slate.com/blogs/future_tense/2014/06/05/lake_mead... There must be plenty of cities across the Midwest without such problems that would be a better choice for such an initiative.

spilk 12y ago
Low taxes, cheap property. The climate is not bad depending on what you are looking for.
- AJ007 12y ago
  Low taxes. Not just cheap property but quality property. Want to live in a new high rise condo? Plenty of options remain from the building bust. Very fast flight from LA, fast flight from SF. Massive amount of business travelers for conferences. Largely because of the proximity to California Vegas has a fairly good pool of employees. There are a lot of promising alternatives that just fall flat on their face in this regards (whether you have a tech startup or a factory, good luck in Miami.) There is plenty to not like about Las Vegas but it is one of those places things make more sense when closely examined. Water is a long term concern but depending on climate change, 200 years out a lot of major world cities will be gone, Las Vegas may very well still be around.
  - spilk 12y ago
    It's also fairly natural-disaster resistant. We get floods now and again, but that is managed fairly well. Otherwise, we aren't very susceptible to tornadoes, hurricanes, tsunamis, earthquakes, etc.
falsestprophet 12y ago
Because the guy who wrote the check wants it for his hometown. Why do I want Chicago to be successful? On one hand, it get's super cold so it isn't the most practical location and it's kind of a racial powder keg. On the other hand, it is my home.

ganeumann 12y ago

Wait, wasn't it just yesterday that Re/Code published its glowing profile of Hsieh's Downtown Las Vegas? Yes, yes it was. http://recode.net/2014/09/29/downtown-las-vegas-is-the-great-american-techtopia/ http://recode.net/2014/09/29/downtown-las-vegas-is-the-great... How did they miss this until today?

confluence 12y ago
PR pieces are usually released on a pre-agreed upon date. Something probably changed in the meantime.
bronson 12y ago
Saw "Connie Yeh, a former Citibank trader, nows runs an entrepreneurship preschool" and couldn't continue.
pfooti 12y ago
I'm glad I waited before selling off all my worldly goods to go live in the Holocratic Tech Utopia. The newest post about the collapse of factorli is also giving me whiplash. It is a good article, but overall I am left wondering: is this Downtown project and tech boom in las vegas a thing? Or is it just a flash in the pan? Because it seemed kind of neat on monday. http://recode.net/2014/09/30/factorli-an-early-casualty-of-the-las-vegas-downtown-project/ http://recode.net/2014/09/30/factorli-an-early-casualty-of-t...

discardorama 12y ago

More from the LVWeekly: http://lasvegasweekly.com/as-we-see-it/2014/sep/30/breaking-bloodletting-downtown-project-layoffs/ http://lasvegasweekly.com/as-we-see-it/2014/sep/30/breaking-...

AVTizzle 12y ago

If you read reviews from Zappos employees on GlassDoor starting a couple years back, you got the impression that Tony's heart wasn't in zappos anymore, it was in the Downtown Project. I wonder where his heart is now? It's sad to see, Tony's Vegas ambitions were so wild and unique. It was impossible not to root for him.

WoodenChair 12y ago

Editor, is there an editor around!? Or do we just have people. "Hsieh’s move comes as the project has laid off about 30 percent of its staff, or 30 people, which does not include the community of entrepreneurs funded by the project. or about 30 people, these people said."

UrsWeller 12y ago

I can't help but conclude that someone who is so obsessed with creating "Happiness" is actually not that happy. Otherwise why would he be chasing it with such desperation? One profile of Tony Hsieh said that he has literally read hundreds of books about how to create happiness, and of course he wrote one too. A person who is happy is not reading hundreds of books about happiness. And that person will also not become happy through doing that. Happiness is not something you can create externally. (Yes, if you're starving and homeless then having some money and material possessions would definitely make you happy. But we are talking about multimillionaires and billionaires here who are not in that situation.) I think the entire downtown project has much less to do with creating some sort of startup utopia than it has to do with something personal that Tony is seeking for himself. But he won't find it outside of himself.