Tony Hsieh

CEO of Zappos, and #1 NY Times Best Seller, "Deliverying Happiness" 

In 1999, at the age of 24, Tony Hsieh (pronounced Shay) sold LinkExchange, the company he co-founded, to Microsoft for $265 million.

He then joined Zappos as an advisor and investor, and eventually became CEO, where he helped Zappos grow from almost no sales to over $1 billion in gross merchandise sales annually, while simultaneously making Fortune Magazine’s annual “Best Companies to Work For” list. In November 2009, Zappos was acquired by Amazon.com in a deal valued at $1.2 billion on the day of closing.

Tony’s first book, "Delivering Happiness", was published on June 7, 2010, and outlines his path from starting a worm farm to life at Zappos. Tony shows how a very different kind of corporate culture is a powerful model for achieving success and happiness. “Delivering Happiness”, debuted at #1 on the New York Times Bestseller list.

Most recently in October 2011, Tony was interviewed by Barbara Walters when she interviewed self-made entrepreneurs.  The piece included a visit to the headquarters of Zappos.com that was dubbed what “might just be the wackiest workplace in America.”

In addition to his responsibilities as CEO of Zappos.com, Tony is leading the “Downtown Project,” a group committed to transforming downtown Las Vegas into the most community-focused large city in the world.  This transformation includes the relocation of the Zappos.com offices from Henderson, Nevada to what was the old City Hall in downtown Las Vegas.   

Jason Mendenhall

Executive Vice President of Switch

Jason Mendenhall currently serves as the Executive Vice President of Cloud for Switch.   He oversees the United States InterCloud Exchange (I.C.E.) and is responsible for the development and market introduction of new products and services into the Switch Ecosystem.  Previously, he was the co-founder of Verde Communications where he built the company from the ground up to its eventual sale to Sparkplug, Inc. For over 15 years, Jason has served as an executive for global-enterprise level companies in the telecommunications, software, and technology consulting industries.  His depth and breadth of experience in working where technology and business intersect give him a unique perspective on the issues impacting entrepreneurs, enterprise executives, and technology practitioners.   He holds a B.S. in chemical and fuels engineering from the University of Utah, is member of the UNLV College of Engineering Advisory Board, serves on the board of the Technology Business Alliance of Nevada and is member of the Open Data Center Alliance.

Christine Auten

SXSW and SXSW V2V Festival Producer

Christine Auten is a Festival Producer for SXSW, and also the Festival Producer for SXSW V2V. This four day event brings the startup and venture capital communities together with the creative industries that have helped to make SXSW so special. V2V serves innovators and entrepreneurs from across all the industries at the core of the SXSW Family of events - technology, music, film, fashion, health, education, sustainability, and more - as they learn the skills, make the connections, and find the inspiration to take their ideas and talents to the next level.