Earth Class Mail CEO Ron Wiener has skin in the game

Ron Wiener, founder and CEO of Earth Class Mail, has more skin in the game than most entrepreneurs.

He's refinanced his house more than once and gone into seven-figure debt to help fund the company.

"It's not for everyone," says Wiener, who's financed previous companies with six-figure credit card debt and says of his current experience -- "it's just more zeros."

"I have to laugh when I hear people say... they've gone three months without salary. We went two-and-a-half years."

His persistence comes after he sold a a previous company for $50 million during the dotcom boom, but ended up in the red after paying taxes and after the stock tanked before he could sell due to a lock-up.

After all that, Wiener is confident his own investment in Earth Class Mail will be worth it, given that the company is signing up customers, has raised $20 million from VC and angel investors, including two rounds from the Keiretsu Forum, and is in the process of raising another round of at least $20 million.

Ron also writes about how to raise money on his blog, earthclassmail.com/blog