Meet the Unicorns–The First Married Couple in the World To Sell Their Company for One Billion Dollars

“The most important thing I have learned about decisions is to always use common sense: if it does not make sense, then it is wrong – all things must be simple”.-Samo Login

In 2009 these Slovenian tech entrepreneurs set out with the goal of creating a new startup that they would build into a successful business and sell in order to dedicate all their time to philanthropic pursuits. In just 7 years, the Login’s sold their $250,000 startup for $1 Billion to a Chinese investment group, catapulting them among the wealthiest Europeans and making them the richest Slovenes.

The Login’s are first married couple in the world to reach this level of accomplishment in business—creating a true “unicorn” in such a short time. This spring they are releasing a book, 7 Unicorn Drive, which explores how their unique approach to business and leadership paved the way to financial success and is now allowing them to invest their time and resources in sustainable and eco-friendly endeavors, including large-scale farming projects to help combat climate change.

Key Leadership Takeaways:

  • DECISION MAKING

    The most important thing I have learned about decisions is to always use common sense: if it doesn’t make sense, then it is wrong – all things must be simple. If somebody says that he can’t explain to you why his way is the correct way, but that he is an expert and he KNOWS how things are done, this only means he doesn’t have a clue and that most probably you should fire him :).

    Observe and learn everything. Try to be a good active listener. When it comes to decision making, don’t let others influence you with political pressures – they should influence you only with arguments. And don’t let your ego influence your decisions – you are the CEO and you don’t need to show power except when it is really needed. You need to show leadership. Don’t do things that damage the company only for political reasons.

  • BUILDING AN AUTHORITY

    You have 100 days to build your authority. If you miss this window, you will not be able to fix this – the only way to fix this is to actually change all of the people who report to you. Management should be working as a team – one team. The best thing you can do to build authority is to show power when you see alliances: when managers are intentionally not helping other managers and switching to management by excuse (having excuses why they have not achieved something).

  • ALLIANCES

    You should be ruthless regarding alliances – they will destroy the company. Either the managers work out their problems and start helping each other or you fire someone. If you let managers build alliances, it will be difficult for you to build authority, as every alliance will have its own “leader” and you can only be in one alliance (you can also be in none, but then you will not be seen as a leader at all).

    And if you miss the 100-day window of opportunity, you will most probably never have authority in this company.

  • THE REAL NEEDS OF TIME AND SPACE

    A clearly set purpose and business vision lead to setting high but conceivable goals. Too often, in business, we set only financial goals which are only the result of correctly implemented goals that meet the real needs of time and space whether it be services or physical products.

  • BALANCE = HEALTH

    To maintain a good homeostasis we need a healthy diet and if we feel that our body is out of balance we can add food supplements to our diet. We need probiotics which are so-called good bacteria. Good source of probiotics is fermented food such as tempeh, kombucha, miso, kimchi, sauerkraut etc. When you take probiotics as a food supplement you may experience bloating and notice a change in your stool, which means they are working.

    Prebiotics are types of indigestible dietary fiber that ferment in our gut and are food for probiotics. To increase our prebiotic intake we need to add plant based fiber to our diet. We find these types of fiber in apple peel, asparagus and beans. We usually don’t need to add prebiotics as a food supplement when our diet is diverse, nutritional, and plant based.

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