In business school, they teach you about fundamentals for creating a successful and profitable business.  But as most of us know, the fundamentals are different than they were even 5 years ago. This is hard for a lot of seasoned, experienced business owners to swallow. It’s been hard for me to swallow.

But what do I mean when I say the fundamentals have changed? I think Seth Godin summed it up in his blog post on July 22, 2009 when he asked the question, ‘What do you buy when you buy Zappos?’

We all know that Amazon already sells shoes, has technology and well-established relationships with Fedex & UPS. So why would Amazon want to acquire Zappos for such a staggering amount of money?

Godin implies that what makes Zappos so desirable, is that it exemplifies the new fundamentals for success and profitability, which are:

• A corporate culture that’s not the same (and where great people choose to work)
• A tight relationship with customers that give you permission to talk with them
• A business model that’s remarkable and worth talking about
• A story that spreads
• Leadership

Good leadership is one of the original fundamentals that is non-negotiable, even in this new economy.  The items on the list above, characterize ‘remarkable’ companies like Zappos in the new economy……companies that get acquired for $800 MM Dollars.

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