confessions of a serial entrepreneur

Entrepreneur Stuart Skorman—the founder of Elephant Pharmacy, Hungryminds.com, Reel.com, and Empire Video—grew up in a retailing family in Ohio. He worked every kind of job, from cab driver to professional poker player to CEO. In this entertaining, personal account of his coming-of- age in the business world, Skorman gives an insider’s view of what it takes to start a business from the ground up.
Stuart Skorman offers his hard-won lessons in business for any entrepreneur or small businessperson who wants to create a company that has a heart and soul. He reveals what he learned about marketing while working a stint as a rock band manager and bares his soul about his failure during the dot-com bubble. He describes in vivid terms the roller coaster ride of the entrepreneur in good times and bad and explains how to survive in today’s uncertain business environment.

Stuart Skorman founded and is former CEO of four innovative, trendsetting companies: Empire Video, Reel.com, HungryMinds.com, and Elephant Pharmacy. Skorman has been featured in numerous publications, including Business 2.0, Fortune Small Business, Forbes, BusinessWeek, and USA Today.Please visit Stuart at: www.stuartskorman.com
Catherine Guthrie is an award-winning journalist whose work has appeared in dozens of national magazines.

Introduction.
1 My Jewish Merchant Family.
My home town was never home. Thank heaven for Life magazine.
2 Sex, Drugs, and the Business of Rock-and-Roll.
Some went to business school; I managed a rock band. (Guess who had more fun?)
3 Bankruptcy at Home.
How I tried and failed to save my father’s business.
4 Helping to Invent Whole Foods.
Battles with my mentor made me wiser, confident, and determined never to work for anybody again.
5 Bike-Touring Adventures.
By the end of my cross-country journey, I’d decided to become an entrepreneur.
6 Building a Video Empire.
My perfect start-up: a hole-in-the-wall video store.
7 Millionaire Without a Mission.
I struck a deal with Blockbuster, headed for Silicon Valley, and left small-town retail behind forever.
8 My Professional Poker Career.
After two years of high-stakes poker, I was ready for anything.
9 Easy Dot Come: The Making of an Internet Pioneer.
How I founded and sold a company for $100 million in less than three years.
10 Easy Dot Go: Getting Carried Away with the Internet.
Good intentions but a lousy business plan is a great way to lose millions.
11 Adventures in the Wild.
The sharks of the South Pacific are as dangerous as the ones in Silicon Valley.
12 Taming a Wild Elephant.
I thought I was ready for the biggest project of my life; now I’m not so sure.
13 What It Takes (and Doesn’t Take) to Be an Entrepreneur.
Know yourself, keep learning, and hang on for the ride!
Acknowledgments.
About the Authors.
Index.