Zappos sounds pretty good to me. I work in a similar environment and I love it. There is so much joy in going to work and being your own boss and sharing in the company success. Yes, I have a manager, but my manager doesn't (can't?) tell me what to do or what to work on. My manager acts as a coach/facilitator/personal-agent instead of manager-as-god. It sounds unworkable until you work at a place that executes it well and now I can't imagine going back to a traditional corporate structure.
I'm not sure what the pre-reqs to executing it well are. Probably benevolent-ruler CEOs who own enough of the company to keep anarchy from developing (e.g., Gabe @ Valve). Or at least investors who are willing to get on board.
I'm not sure what the pre-reqs to executing it well are. Probably benevolent-ruler CEOs who own enough of the company to keep anarchy from developing (e.g., Gabe @ Valve). Or at least investors who are willing to get on board.