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Founder Nick Swinwurn comes up with the idea to start an online shoe destination called ShoeSite.com
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Swinmurn meets Tony Hseih, a young entrepreneur who invests $500,000 in the company.
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Name is changed from ShoeSite.com to Zappos.com. Zapatos is Spanish for "shoes." Gross sales are minimal.
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Hsieh , then running a venture capital firm called Venture Frogs, comes on board as co-CEO with Swinmurn. $1.6 million in gross sales.
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Zappos takes on its own inventory, opening a fulfillment center in Kentucky. $32 million in gross sales.
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Zappos moves from San Francisco to its current location, Henderson, Nevada. Sequoia Capital invests in the site.
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The first Zappos outlet store opens in Kentucky.
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The company publishes its first "Culture Book" filled with employee contributions about the corporate culture.
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Hsieh hires Venture Frogs co-founder Alfred Lin to be the e-tailer's CFO full-time.
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Sequoia provides a second round of investment, totaling $35 million altogether.
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Zappos offers its first quit-now bonuses ($100 at the time) to new hires who want to leave after training. It is now $2,000.
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New categories are added, including handbags, eyewear, clothing, kids merchandise and watches.
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Zappos debuts first TV ad campaign, "Put a Little Zappos in Your Day."
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The fulfillment center in Sheperdsville installs a new system using Kiva robots to help fill orders.
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Company launches ZapposInsights.com, a subscription service ($40) per month, where other businesses learn from its success and pose questions to current employees.
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Fortune Magazine ranks Zappos as No. 23 on its "100 Best Companies to Work For" list.
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Zappos announced that its computer system had been hacked compromising the personal information of 24 million customers. In response, the company required all customers to change their passwords.
