Maelle Gavet

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

When a handful of tech giants are gatekeepers to the world's data, it's no surprise that the debate about balancing progress against privacy is framed as 'pro-data and, therefore, innovation' versus 'stuck in the Dark Ages'.

It simply isn't acceptable for the likes of Google, Facebook, Amazon and others, which amass data by the terabyte, to say, 'Don't worry, your information's safe with us, as all sorts of rules protect you' - when all evidence suggests otherwise.

The history of business has shown that companies usually only regulate themselves if they're forced to by legislation, or out of self-interest - often in the shape of a marketable message that will help sell more products.

Not only is self-regulation largely a fantasy, but repeated scandals across multiple industries have proved that companies are fundamentally incapable of self-regulating for the greater good.

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!

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.

The pickup points are a natural additional network for delivery. For me, the surprise is that Amazon didn't come up with that idea.

Consumers learn the value of being sure that what you want to buy is what you buy.

When online business first appeared, a lot of operations would take your order and then disappear.

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.

Investors have finally woken up to the fact that there is something called the 'Russian Internet' into which you can invest.

The general message would be to say to all these young people: If you have entrepreneurial aspirations, there is money, there are consumers, there is a huge market. The only thing you need to do is to go there and start doing things.

Russians are not a very friendly people. It's hard to get them to speak nicely to the customers. It's just not in their culture.

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.

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.

There's always a fine line between being too focused and missing opportunities, or being too wide and taking on too many.

The Russian customers don't feel very comfortable with online transactions.

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

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.

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.

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.

The Russians are not as addicted to coffee as the Americans. We should work on that!