A leader of the online retailer Zappos.com will make a pair of public appearances in Corvallis Thursday.

Alfred Lin, chief operating officer, chief financial officer and chairman of Zappos, will discuss the importance of building a brand culture in a free public lecture at Oregon State University a 7 p.m. in Milam Auditorium, 2520 S.W. Campus Way in Corvallis. The title of Lin's speech will be "Building a Brand That Matters."

The event is sponsored by OSU's College of Business as part of the Dean's Distinguished Lecture Series.

"We are privileged to have Mr. Lin share his firsthand knowledge of innovative management practices and platforms for successful ventures," said Ilene Kleinsorge, the dean of the business college. "His discussion will be an excellent opportunity for the community to learn from a leading e-commerce entrepreneur."

Earlier in the day, Lin will talk at SpeakerLunch, a monthly gathering of mid-valley entrepreneurs. That session begins at noon at Iovino's on the Waterfront, 134 S.W. Washington Ave. Lunch costs $8 and includes soup, salad, bread and drink. At SpeakerLunch, Lin is scheduled to talk about the Zappos story.

Lin is responsible for all the company's financial, administrative and warehouse operations.

In fewer than 10 years, Zappos.com has gone from an upstart company to the top Internet shoe seller and is forecasted to generate $1 billion in gross merchandise sales in 2008.

Before joining Zappos.com, Lin served as vice president of finance and business development at Tellme Networks, helping grow that business to more than $120 million in annual revenue.

Lin also co-founded Venture Frogs, an incubator and investment firm that invested in Internet startups, including Ask Jeeves, Tellme Networks and Zappos.com. Before his time at Venture Frogs, Lin served as vice president of finance and administration for LinkExchange, where he managed the sale of the company to Microsoft for $265 million.

Corvallis Gazette-Times