“I think with the last venture I learned many things, and I hope I took these lessons with me in the future. The first thing is, don’t buy into your own PR. When I started my venture last time, I gained some success very quickly. In fact, I think I was in the black 5 months after opening — a rare feat in a brick-and-mortar business. But after that initial success growth became much more difficult and it was all an uphill battle. I definitely thought that my initial success was due to some level of brilliance on my part instead of mostly dumb luck. Over the next few years, I learned that business is just as much great timing as it is great ideas. I think I’m much more aware of my own shortcomings now.”