On the edge: launching a business demands an appetite for risk--a trait some entrepreneurs also exhibit outside the office.

• Author: Taylor, Mike

Yegor Drozdov possessed an appetite for risk that was evident in his gutsy launch of an Audi-Volkswagon dealership in the Boston area while he was still in his 20s. Born in Russia, Drozdov had moved to the United States when he was 13, and to hear friends tell it, he sought out all the experiences and adventures he could.

But that thirst for thrill also caused Drozdov's Longmont business partner, Chad Clark, concern--not only for his friend's well-being, but for the health of the car dealership they were gearing up to open in Longmont.

Drozdov had raced cars on a Massachusetts club circuit, he practiced martial arts, he skydived and he skied, often beyond his abilities. Just this winter, he suffered a concussion trying to keep up with Clark on the slopes. In recent years, Drozdov took to BASE jumping--the sport of parachuting off bridges or towers or cliffs. He worked hard and played harder.

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Clark, 36, and Drozdov, 29, were preparing to open Alliance Motor Group in Longmont as an extension of the dealership that Drozdov had established in Boston. Clark had even quit his job as assistant superintendent of the Boulder Country Club golf course.

But Alliance Motor Group won't be opening in Longmont. Drozdov is dead, and Clark is back at his old job, his dreams of starting his own business in shambles. A BASE jump by Drozdov on April 10 off Perrine Bridge in Idaho went horribly wrong when his hand reportedly became tangled in the ropes and the chute failed to open, sending Drozdov into a 486-foot freefall. His body was found on the bank beside the Snake River.

"He was always kind of looking for that next thrill, and he loved to meet new people," Clark says. "I can certainly see the drive that he had for all things. He wanted to succeed at no matter what it was he did, and at a very high level. He grew up in Russia, and he had a pretty tough life, so when you look at it in that respect, all the opportunity that exists in America, he really wanted to take advantage of everything he could take advantage of. That certainly was evident in a business sense and then of course when it kind of crossed over into the athletic side or the sport side."

Survival trait

Risk-taking is a useful, maybe even essential, trait of entrepreneurs. All you have to do is listen to a few successful ones discuss what they risked to start their ventures, and you can appreciate their tolerance for risk. It would be unreasonable to expect that quality not to manifest itself outside the workplace, too.

"I think the vast majority of entrepreneurs are risk takers," says Dave Liniger, who cofounded RE/MAX International with his wife, Gail, in 1973 and built the Englewood-based company into the No. 1 real estate network in the world in terms of sales. "They've left corporate America or a secure 9-to-5 job with a paycheck every two weeks to bet on themselves and their own entrepreneurial spirit."

Whatever that spirit is, for Liniger it's manifested itself in some risk-laden pursuits over the years. He's bungee-jumped, raced cars on a competitive circuit and taken more than 50 of his company's officers and key employees to become certified scuba divers. Sharing his passion for racing, he once enrolled some of his officers in a high performance racing school in Phoenix.

A few years ago, Liniger, 61, undertook a quest to become the first to circle the globe in a balloon. The plan was to launch himself and two other pilots 100,000 feet into the stratosphere in an airtight capsule that would be propelled by a jet stream. High winds prevented a takeoff during the scheduled launch period, and the plan lost some of its original luster when a few weeks later adventurer Steve Fossett accomplished the around-the-world ballooning feat.

Liniger, an accomplished pilot and marksman, says he quit car racing about two years ago and doesn't do much ballooning. But, he says, "I've got a little jet fighter that I play with, and I do a lot of shooting."

The varied pursuits have kept Liniger from "burning out," he says.

"I still work probably 2,500 hours a year, which is more than most, but I also take off big chunks of time to relax," he says. "A lot of my job is so different from thing to thing, I've never considered it work. The variety is very important. I find variety carries over into my personal life, my business life, makes me more interesting and makes me more interested."

There's probably not a more apt testament to how entrepreneurship and risk-taking go hand in hand than the story of...