The document discusses various lessons and experiences from being an entrepreneur and leader. It describes taking risks as a leader, dealing with loneliness from making unpopular decisions, and learning to communicate effectively with investors by focusing on financial reporting. It also discusses the importance of understanding customers' needs and being diligent and competent in one's role, rather than relying on ownership.

2. “As a leader you have to take
action—take risks when
necessary, and worry about the
repercussions later. You have to
be the guy with the courage to do
something about the problem.”

3. “The price I pay for success
as a leader is loneliness. To
correct deficiencies, I make
critical comments, harsh
judgments, and unpopular
decisions.”

4. “I approached fundraising as a
young salesman would — with
boundless and clumsy enthusiasm
and not much in the way of craft.
Despite myself, I got the job done.
We always ended up with the
money we needed, but much like
losing one's virginity, my
performance couldn't — in any
stretch of the imagination —
be described as excellent.”

5. “As a result, the relationship between
entrepreneurs and investors is strained
from the start. Entrepreneurs are
dreamers, who conceive of something
that must be made better in the world.
We are optimists. And despite the
popularity of the term ‘serial
entrepreneur,’ most entrepreneurs will
have one good idea in their life.”

6. One of my hobbies while
living in Russia was buying
and collecting artwork like
paintings and drawings. My
comrade Vasily Petrovich
(middle) and I are working
down prices while the
seller explains how artists
like to have money to eat.
All negotiating tactics are
fair in Russia.

7. “The other kind of setback is
more insidious and more
demoralizing: the offhand
comment from someone close
to you, or someone valuable to
the business. These subtle yet
hurtful comments test you
because they cause you to
question yourself and your
judgment, leaving you
wondering if you are on the
right course.”

8. “Prospective customers are
more like cats than dogs. They
are elusive. They don't sit and
roll over, and they certainly don't
come when called. If I got a long
awaited email from a prospect ...
if that email says ‘call me at
11:00 a.m.,’ that is now that
most important time of the day.
Everything—eating, drinking,
peeing—must conform to the
moment of time when the
prospect wants to talk about
his pain.”

9. Happy New Year at work
in Russia. 1993 was the
year of the Rooster. It
took a lot of scrubbing in
the bathtub to make my
shirt that white!

10. “After years of stumbling and bumbling, I
“No one could accuse me of getting
found the secrets needed to communicateof
lucky with the successful launch
with investors smoothly. I finally came to the
Shopatron. I carried the company on
understanding that financial controlstrade show
my back for six years, from and
reporting are the show, an investor relies upon
to trade tools talking to anyone who
to understand what is Relentless with the of
would listen. happening repetition
business.”
sales pitch. Exhausted legs, back,
my
and shoulders. I still have a strawberry
sized bone spur on the top of my left
shoulder where, day after day, a
leather strap held my fifteen-pound
computer-laden briefcase.”

11. “The truth is, though, you don't
have to control 100% of the
shares of a company to be in
control of the company. The pilot
of a 747 is in control of the
plane; he doesn't become the
captain through ownership. He
earns the privilege to command
through training and diligence.
He is in charge of the plane only
if he remains competent.”

12. My college girlfriend, Robin – now
my wife of 20 years and the
mother of my two children – was
crazy enough to move to Russia
with me after she graduated from
Stanford, and she has been by my
side ever since. People ask me
how I have been able to deal with
all of the financial risks that
accompany entrepreneurship. It’s
simple. I know my wife will love
me no matter what, so I have
nothing to lose—just money.

13. “I abhor nepotism and weird
favoritisms. I treat myself the
way an executive should expect
to be treated, no better or
worse. I fly coach because they
fly coach. Overall it makes the
business stronger and more
robust — more corporate in that
the company is not Ed. The
company is Shopatron and it will
continue on with or without Ed.”

14. “You want customers to think
you are wound a bit too tight,
so they feel comfortable
placing their business in the
hands of a responsible nerd.”

15. “After years of stumbling and bumbling, I and
“After years of stumbling
found the secrets needed to communicate
bumbling, I found the secrets
with investors smoothly. I communicate with
needed to finally came to the
understanding that financial controlsfinally
investors smoothly. I and
reporting are the tools an investor relies upon
came to the understanding that
to understand what is happening with reporting
financial controls and the
business.”
are the tools an investor relies
upon to understand what is
happening with the business.”

16. My years at the U.S.
Naval Academy were
brutal, but it was
there that I learned
what makes a truly
great leader: humility.

17. “The one thing we did have
going for us was pain. Not
our pain — our prospective
customers' pain. That's the
good kind of pain. You can't
have a startup without it.”

18. “At that point, though, it was kill
or be killed. I would rather be
evicted than lose the one prospect
this week who wants to talk to me
about his pain. Nothing was more
important than talking to my
prospect when she opened the
door for me to talk with her.”