From a £2.30 Sale to a Billion-Dollar Business

From a £2.30 first insurance policy to building a billion-dollar business. Sten Saar started his first business at just 17 in Estonia. By 21, he had a team of 22 and a business generating around $1 million in revenue.

Alongside the success came painful failures. After putting money into projects that collapsed, including money his father had raised against his own home, Sten bought a one-way ticket to London with no Plan B. Years later, while working at Deliveroo, he spotted a glaring problem: delivery drivers were being forced to pay £1,000 upfront for annual insurance before earning a single pound. That problem became Zego.

The first policy sold for just £2.30. Zego went on to achieve unicorn status and raise more than $300 million. But rapid success brought an entirely new set of problems:

• Tripling the team from 200 to 600 people in six months—and why Sten considers it one of his biggest mistakes

• Losing 80% of revenue in three weeks when COVID hit

• Metaphorically "firing himself" seven times as CEO as the business outgrew each stage

• Why reaching unicorn status is merely a "petrol station on the way" and never the final destination

Key Takeaways

• Growth is only valuable if the organizational culture and quality bar underneath can support it

• How asking "why?" repeatedly uncovers multi-million pound market opportunities

• Why founders must continually "fire" their past selves to evolve with the company

• The power of defining the worst-case scenario: "Nothing to lose. Let's do it."

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