We're giving away our secret sauce.

This is a mega-post in which I’ll be giving away our secrets;

25 years of experience distilled in text form — our core beliefs, motivations, and the little-known secret sauce that led us here today.

When I say we, us, or our, I mean my better half, Ioana Alexandra Minyo , and I; it took us over a decade of hardship, trust, and grit to build a framework for a harmonious, net positive relationship that translates beautifully in a working setting. This is true for most, if not all, of us: you can never fully level up by yourself, and I’m forever grateful for what we both have achieved. 

For 25 years, we’ve built and mentored startups, scaled technology companies, delivered keynote speeches, and advised governments; we’ve had more articles published about our work than we could remember.

While we’re deeply grateful for our journey and everything it has accomplished, it wouldn’t have been possible without grit, hard work, and most importantly, that je ne sais quoi — the secret sauce.

Here’s the secret sauce for each one of the things we did.

1. Startups. 

Our first startup was a cosmeceutical company with a single product: an eyelash enhancer. It was a product that, to our surprise, worked very well. Marketing-wise, we did something no other cosmetic company did back then: We created packaging that would stand out instantly in a sea of other products. 

While most other cosmetic companies used white, silver, and gold in their packaging, we went with full black, with shades of pink, green, and white typography; we set up a dedicated one-product site and eventually had an exit, being bought by the lab that created the active ingredient, then subsequently using the product under very well known brands, which you probably use today.

Secret sauce: speed and instantly capitalizing on a beauty trend before the big names could ship a similar product; being bold and oblivious to design trends, standing out in a sea of similar products. 

Our second startup was dubbed Shazam for video: an app that could identify content running on TV programs and offer users special discounts and coupons from the advertisers within the program. The same principle worked for outdoor ads. This solved two problems: advertisers not knowing how many people view their ads, not having metrics, and users getting exclusive deals. 

We have won a national contest for startups and innovation and, subsequently, won best pitch at the global competition; signed deals with the world’s largest beverage manufacturer, the premier TV network in Europe, and were media darlings. However, it quickly became apparent we were exceptionally ahead of our time and soon ran out of money, as our business model was not sustainable, and the product had to change user behavior to work as designed. 

We closed shop, learned valuable lessons, and created a lifelong relationship with some of the people we worked with.

Secret sauce: betting on innovation and not being afraid to dream super big; we created a technology that even to this day, 10 years later, is on par with today’s algorithms, powered by AI. It’s amazing how many large companies and famous individuals want to associate themselves with you if you have an innovative product, even if it eventually fails.

The third startup was the world’s first marketplace for Pokemon Go. This startup got the most media attention, and banking on the lessons from the Shazam for video app, we quickly learned how to bank on companies and celebrities wanting to associate themselves with innovative products; we also went ahead and built an MVP before even talking to Nintendo and Niantic. Famously, this startup was built in 2 hours with a $14 investment, which was the headline of all TV programs showcasing us. 

We even organized a physical event, gathering thousands of Pokemon Go players and inviting all TV stations we could reach. After dozens of interviews and shows, the craze died out before we could nail the business model. However, this opened many doors for investors and partners, and we were known as the ones to seize every opportunity.

Secret sauce: Piggyback on current trends and don’t be afraid to look silly; the attention we got for this startup never faded away to this day, and the Internet never forgets.

Our final startup, which shaped our future, was a healthcare startup called Neveli. Neveli stands for Never Ending Life, and it’s a commitment to a healthy, happy, and wealthy future for everyone.

This was a unique startup for us — we’ve been unhealthy and had a hectic schedule for most of our lives, and we wanted to devise a way to live a healthy, happy, and wealthy life. 

I was brought up in communist Romania, where only performance athletes were monitored and prepared for competitions, and a healthy lifestyle wasn’t something that many people were aware of. 

So, after being severely overweight, depressed, and on the brink of collapse, it became apparent that we should use all our knowledge to better ourselves. And that’s how Neveli was born, a startup that would pull data from all the possible smart devices one could own — scales, heart monitors, glucometers, smart watches — and create the ideal template for each individual, and nudge them to do more workouts, eat better and take care of themselves. 

For over a year and a half, we were fully immersed in this startup, and we eventually came up with a fully functioning product that, unfortunately, was considered way ahead of its time. 

All the investors we spoke to told us we were too ambitious and that Apple and Google would someday create a product that would surpass ours (they haven’t) and that there’s definitely not enough of a market for health and lifestyle products. In hindsight, this is one of the downsides of the European VC ecosystems — they are so risk-averse and lacking vision, that they miss out on most trends. 

Where is Neveli today? Shelved and ready for revival; this also informed our mission to give back and form the Neveli Foundation, but more about this further down.

Secret sauce: Imagine the future and build what’s missing. This has been our mantra for over a decade, and it’s becoming increasingly apparent that it’s our superpower.

2. Technology companies

Ioana and I have been working with or for technology companies all our adult lives, sometimes being along for the ride from startup to being listed. In this regard, Ioana has the upper hand, as she’s been helping some of the most innovative technology companies today level up their processes and surpass financial goals. I’m immensely proud of her work and achievements and couldn’t have wished for a better “partner in crime”. 

On the other hand, I started as a marketing manager in a data center, moving up to an entrepreneur-in-residence in a tech company. I worked my way up to COO of a group of companies and CEO of an iGaming technology company.

Between the two of us, we’ve generated mid-nine figures in ARR for the companies we’ve worked with, and this couldn’t have been possible without some particular secret sauce.

For Ioana, it was the relentless pursuit of excellence and happiness for her clients; this means simply showing up and caring. Starting out as a client success manager, she quickly became the go-to person in any organization to ensure clients get a net positive ROI, drive retention, and increase contract value. Clients became friends, and friends became clients solely due to her obsession with excellence and truly becoming a trusted advisor. I’m still baffled at the number of Fortune 10 clients wanting to meet her for a coffee whenever we travel the world; that’s a secret sauce very few have; it’s a secret even to me :-)

To this day, we advise technology companies and startups on achieving product-market fit and their financial, sales, and business development goals. 

Our secret sauce for advising companies stems from our last startup, imagining the future and building what’s missing; for tech companies, it translates into a practical exercise of world-building and walking your way back to the status quo. 

How this works, in reality, is akin to rewinding from a desired future: we set mutually agreed-upon goals and work our way backward with achievable milestones. 

This secret sauce has been tremendously successful for all the companies we have worked with. 

Nowadays, through the Neveli Foundation, we harness our network’s expertise to offer our clients comprehensive strategies that meet all their business, technology, and innovation needs (more details below).

3. Keynotes, mentorships, and government work

We’ve been fortunate enough to speak at many events and be invited to advise on global impact issues; one keynote that comes to mind that was one of the most successful ones was delivered at a tech conference a few years back, was called “How to build products people pay for.” To this day, it’s one of the most acclaimed keynotes I’ve delivered in the tech industry.

That was the basis of our invite-only mentorship program, a private, 6-month boot camp that helps founders, business owners, and executives level up their game. Our alumni manage some of the most profoundly impactful companies we have worked with.

Our government work is less visible by design, yet equally impactful and aids the Neveli Foundation in fulfilling its mission. 

The single, most important secret sauce in this is relationship building and connecting the dots. If relationships are paramount to delivering on your promise, connecting the dots is what makes the difference. In the words of the late Steve Jobs, we need to trust that the dots will connect in the future (and they always do) and always be vigilant about any dots that might be otherwise unrelated. 

If you’ve reached this far, you’re in for a treat.

I’ve revealed our secret sauce behind everything we do, and now I’ll share how you can get it, too.

Earlier, I mentioned Neveli, our healthcare startup, and the Neveli Foundation , which stemmed from our desire for everyone to live a longer, healthier, happier, and wealthier life. 

We are well aware that this effort takes a tremendous amount of work, money, and time. Hence, we are actively working with individuals, organizations, and governments to achieve their goals, and in exchange, they help us reach ours. And this is how we do it: 

The Neveli Foundation acts as a global entity that has three core pillars:

The Philanthropy pillar focuses on projects, programs, and initiatives aimed at creating a net positive impact on the world and is the primary channel for our giving back. 

The Advisory pillar channels our secret sauce, the skills and time of our network, into tangible outcomes for organizations worldwide; it’s also one of the founding sources for the Philanthropy pillar. Global experts donate their time and skills to the Foundation, which in turn are used to serve our clients — a portion of revenues are returned to experts to cover costs, and the rest is funneled into the Foundation. 

The Investment pillar is where the magic meets the secret sauce: we invest, via our funding partners (VCs, Family Offices, private investors), in outlier startups and companies that are poised to generate the most handsome returns, that have a net positive impact on the world and that live in the future and build what’s missing. 

We’ve spent the past couple of months talking to individuals and organizations that have pledged their support for the Foundation’s mission — and we’re excited to work with you, too! 

Our superpower is solving technological, business, and management problems; we fully embraced living in the future and building what’s missing. 

Let’s talk!