Entrepreneurs are, as a rule, an ambitious group of people. These business founders and owners are people who saw a need, a demand, or a problem, and rose to the challenge of meeting or solving it on their own. In building a business, these entrepreneurs are taking on the responsibilities of leadership and accountability in exchange for the freedom that successful businesses can provide. It’s therefore no surprise that many entrepreneurs do not—or can not—stop at starting and running only one business.
Such so-called “serial entrepreneurs” are individuals who have found consistent, repeated success across multiple distinct businesses (and sometimes even across industries). Whether those businesses are run simultaneously, or whether one business is sold off before the next one is founded, serial entrepreneurs take pleasure in the process of business ownership itself, as much or more than any specific vertical. Every new business venture is an opportunity to learn, grow, and find novel success.
David Pisor is one such serial entrepreneur. A seasoned executive known for his successes in the hospitality and real estate development industries, David Pisor’s business ventures include co-founding What If Syndicate, driving the success of renowned dining concepts like Etta Collective and Maple & Ash, and developing the award-winning Elysian Hotel in Chicago, among others. With a passion and a talent for creating high-end hospitality experiences, and a penchant for partnering with existing organizations in the luxury market, Pisor’s projects consistently showcase his skill working with world-class properties.
From Inspiration, to Startup, to Success
David Pisor’s entrepreneurship and interest in business was instilled in him from an early age, as he watched his grandfather serve as a respected consultant to a number of Fortune 500 CEOs. David Pisor would sit and listen to his grandfather’s stories about working with leaders to develop their emotional intelligence, and then helping to fix companies by encouraging the best effort from their employees. These conversations would play a pivotal role in the development of Pisor’s personal values and professional leadership philosophy later in life.
When the time came to embark on his own journey of entrepreneurship, David Pisor’s leading inspiration was the legendary Steve Jobs. As a businessman of incredible foresight and leadership that leveraged creative solutions to existing and future problems, Pisor could think of nobody else to try and emulate philosophically in his own business ventures. While in, in his own words, Pisor wasn’t a genius on the same level, he was confident in his ability to work harder, and longer, to make up the difference with drive and inspiration.
“I love how he built things that he knew people wanted—but they didn’t know they wanted them,” Pisor says. “He regularly went against the grain and won.”
David Pisor would make his name at the intersection of luxury hospitality and real estate development. From dining concepts like Etta Collective (a neighborhood italian dining chain) and Maple & Ash (a refined steakhouse experience) with What If Syndicate, to luxury property development including the award-winning Elysian Hotel in Chicago or collaboration on the Raleigh Hotel in Miami, David Pisor has made a name in building sustainable brands that operate at the highest standards of excellence.
The Elysian Hotel & Residences development was a particular high point that would come to define David Pisor’s career. Within the first year of its operation, the premier restaurant won two Michelin stars and the hotel itself was named #1 in the United States by Conde Nast.
Values Both Personal and Professional
Drawing on the lessons passed down from his grandfather, and paired with his own experiences gained over decades of entrepreneurship, David Pisor’s personal and professional values are in alignment. He has four tenets that dictate his decisions and judgements on a daily basis:
- Honor your commitments.
- Say what you are going to do, and get it done.
- Treat everyone as you would treat yourself.
- Be genuine.
A good leader is one that makes effective decisions quickly, but it’s just as, if not more important for that leader to be someone members of the team can trust and rely upon. Even the keenest decision making in the industry will be let down by poor emotional intelligence or a lack of care for others. David Pisor seeks to inspire his employees and partners through his dedication to excellence and the relentless pursuit of quality, but that doesn’t have to come at the cost of employee or company well-being.
Leveraging Success In The Community
Since beginning his entrepreneurship journey, David Pisor has started four companies from scratch and taken each one of them to a successful exit—three of which sold for more than $100 million. To many, this would be the definition of success, but that’s not quite right for Pisor. At 60 years old, success no longer takes the form of financial metrics and dollar signs. Nowadays, Pisor judges his success by his freedom—his ability to enjoy life and spend time with his family and loved ones.
Success also looks like helping others, whether it’s going above and beyond for employees or giving back to the community. It’s not an irregular occurrence for him; during the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic, when the hospitality industry as a whole was struggling and restaurants were running skeleton crews, one of Pisor’s employees was having their first child, while being scared for his family overseas in Poland. David Pisor paid for the employee’s elderly mother to travel to the US to visit and stay with her growing family, bringing them together during a trying time.
Pisor has also worked with a number of charitable organizations over the years as a way of lending his resources and his expertise toward various aid efforts. He spent 10 years as a board member with Steppenwolf Theatre, a Chicago-based theatre company, to help fund and protect local cultural activities. He also spent time on the board of Lurie Children’s Hospital. Currently, his efforts are focused on improving the quality and healthiness of the United States’ food supply.
By Chris Bates
