Beyond the bottom line

Jesse Eisner (BABA '01) founded a successful energy company, then discovered that his greatest contribution isn't building businesses – it's building up others through board service and mentorship.

Growing up as a sports fan in Long Island, New York, Jesse Eisner (BABA ’01) already owned a lot of orange and blue jerseys. While choosing the University of Florida as his college destination was mainly because it was the best economic decision, the color scheme fit nicely with his collection of Mets, Knicks and Islanders gear.

Despite not knowing exactly what he wanted to do in his career, Eisner was able to build his educational foundation in business, preparing him for any opportunity that came his way.

“[My UF degree] prepared me extraordinarily well,” he reflected. “My degree was critical for soft skill development: time management, working with peers, being responsible to someone else’s instructions, even when you didn’t agree with them. It was all basic training that I’ve learned to appreciate now.”

Complementing his business education at the University of Florida, Eisner took advantage of internships and part-time jobs that helped him discover his career path. Despite being a sports lover, an internship with the Tampa Bay Rays showed him that he didn’t want to work with a professional sports team. Time as a stand-up comedian and AM radio station host helped him hone his speaking and presentation skills. An interview with a multilevel marketing company highlighted his rejection in unethical sales practices.

It wasn’t until Eisner interviewed for a part-time sales job with a local energy company that he found his niche. In addition to his education, Eisner credits the soft skills he learned at UF with securing the role that would launch his career.

“I interviewed with [now Cade Museum director and UF alumnus] Brad Gamble, and when I asked him later why he decided to hire me for the job, he said it was because I was the only applicant to wear a tie,” he recalled. “Shoutout to the basic training skills!”

Eisner would later meet Infinite Energy (now part of Gas South) co-founder Darin Cook during his senior year of college. With his previous energy experience and a personal interest in solving logistical challenges, a role on the company’s physical gas trading floor was the perfect fit.

“I like to say that I never really had a passion for the molecules,” he joked. “I’m not an oil and gas person in the traditional sense, but I love the logistical challenge. The role is really about finding efficiency in a marketplace, and that was a puzzle I enjoyed solving.”

After almost 14 years with Infinite Energy, Eisner struck out to build his own company, Spotlight Energy. Partnering with fellow UF alumnus Jake Field (BABA ’02, MIB ’03) in 2015, the two grew Spotlight Energy over the next decade. The decision to build his own business wasn’t an easy one, but looking back, Eisner is glad he took the risk.

“[A few years before I started Spotlight,] I was talking with someone at BP who was lamenting that the irony of the energy industry paying so well that it’s almost a trap to entrepreneurship,” Eisner said. “Leaving to start your own business meant leaving behind a good career, but I realized that I was at the point of ‘it’s now or never.’ If I didn’t do it now and see if I could accomplish it on my own, I might be stuck in the trap.”

Despite the company’s success, Eisner began to recognize a limitation in his personal fulfillment.

“I started realizing that there was a diminishing return for every dollar that I could make,” he said. “I wanted to find something that would allow me to feel I was helping the greater good in some form or fashion.”

Eisner received some advice that helped shape his next step: It’s important to know what you want to do next.

“So many people retire and sell their businesses without a goal in mind, and not many people feel satisfied playing golf every day,” he said. “I needed to find what was next.”

Eisner took that advice to heart and realized that his experience was his next contribution.

“The same puzzle-solving that I did for years exists in any other business, even non-profits,” he said. “They rely on a really well-run board to provide insights.”

In transitioning out of his business, Eisner found fulfillment in serving on several boards for both businesses and non-profits, including Spotlight Power, Fire Neural Network, the Orlando Dreamers, Make-A-Wish Central and Northern Florida, Cancer for College, Junior Achievement of Central Florida, ECOLIFE Conservation and Gator Boosters.

As someone with years of experience building businesses, Eisner has found his ‘what’s next’ in advising, fundraising and advocating for the many organizations he serves through his board work. He shared some of his top recommendations for entrepreneurs building a business from the ground up or improving on one that already exists.

Stay curious

“Never assume you know everything,” he advised. “When complacency sets in, then you won’t grow. You have to have some humility.”

Strive to be the best

“If you don’t like what you’re doing, then go do something else that you can be great at,” he said. “Luck is a big factor, but like Malcom Gladwell says, ‘you don’t get the chance to be lucky if you don’t put in the work.’ There’s no guarantee that you’ll be successful, but if you don’t put in the work, then you’ll never have the opportunity to get lucky.”

Have guiding morals

 “None of this advice matters without moral guidelines,” Eisner said. “At the end of the day, you have to live with the decisions you make, and you can be wildly successful while holding onto those principles.”

Money really doesn’t buy happiness

“Money can buy comfort, but a sense of fulfillment is unique to you and your employees,” he shared. “You have to find fulfillment where it makes sense for you, and that’s the same case for your employees. You have to find out what drives your employees and their wants and needs.”

Don’t be afraid to be wrong

“When you’re talking about management, EQ [emotional intelligence] is equal to IQ [intelligence quotient],” he said. “It’s so important to be aware of what you don’t know, and how not realizing that can hurt you.”

Overall, Eisner notes among the most important things an entrepreneur or anyone striving for success in business can do is to not be afraid to fail and keep searching until you find what is right for you.

“You won’t ever feel like you’ve failed if you do something that you love,” he said.