Maelle Gavet

“Russia is an amazing country to be an entrepreneur.”

“Money, while clearly helpful in solving myriad problems, can often conceal a business's real flaws. It can also risk rigidifying a company's business model at the very moment it should be in 'customer discovery' mode or iterating around market opportunities.”

“I tell my colleagues that it is actually all right to make mistakes, and I am worried when they do not make them, because it means that they either hide them from me or are not trying hard enough.”

“Within Internet users, you have a big chunk of people who can convert to online shopping.”

“All the big online retailers are looking at how to enter the Russian market.”

“The problem is Silicon Valley, which is an amazing ecosystem, also ends up being an amazing bubble, with white guys talking to white guys about white-guy problems. So it's great, but you kind of miss a lot of things around you.”

“Once in a while, I still witness occasionally sexist behavior and comments from men (which experience has taught me you should always deflect with humour rather than anger). Old habits die hard, after all, and it's unrealistic to expect dinosaurs to fall silent overnight.”

“The goal wasn't to create a billion-dollar company. The goal was to create something useful where I could learn things.”

“My advice to anyone would be to focus on your current job and be the best at it. The rest will take care of itself.”

“That's the mantra I use when the team tells me something is too complicated. People keep saying, 'We need more prioritization.' I say, 'Guys, what you want is less work. And that is not going to happen.'”

“I have learned that I must take a holiday at least once each year if I want to survive!”

“From the consumer perspective, what happened in the U.S. 10 years ago and Europe five years ago is now happening in Russia. People are beginning to understand that e-commerce is easy and safe.”

“The fundamental vision hasn't changed. What does change is how you get there, because there are still problems you have to figure out.”

“I think Russia is a difficult country, and it's very difficult for people to adapt here, especially if they don't speak the language well.”

“Everyone in the United States asks me about being a woman CEO. To be honest, it has had no impact on my career. While I was at BCG, it didn't matter whether you were a man or a woman. The only thing that mattered was that you were good at your job.”

“While I accept that large investment rounds will always garner headlines, it's almost as if the magic number of how much cash you've managed to raise has become both a stamp of approval and the main metric for gauging a business's true worth.”

“Competition is good because we need to educate customers, and Ozon.ru itself will not be able to do it.”

“A great deal of energy is spent daily on pushing the Russian e-commerce boom along while managing all aspects of growth and development along the way.”

“There is very little room for relaxation, but as long as I capitalize on those brief moments of peace, I'm okay with that.”

“I can tell you that when you're counting every penny, knowing that you are a single bad decision away from bankruptcy, you inevitably lose focus on what really matters for your business.”