Go On a Visionary Climb With Our CEO Dino

Meet Dino, our CEO and Co-Founder of HiGroup. Leading the company from a start up to a full-scale development agency in the past 4 years. He is the north star of HiGroup, inspiring us to dream bigger and enabling us to grow as individuals with the company.

What is your role at HiGroup?

At HiGroup I serve as the CEO, usually, I describe my role function as completing strategic goals for all the board members of the company with help of our awesome executive team that is making it possible. I transitioned to this role when we started to grow fast and I moved from product management to handling the company all together establishing structured sales and accounting processes.

Currently, I also lead our enterprise sales activities, from lead identification, qualification, and closing deals. What I love about this position is understanding the client's needs and helping him get the right services from HiGroup or recommend them to other companies.

But what I thrive on is working with high-performing executives on setting HiGroup for the next phase of growth and stability. Being around smart and performing people, understanding that you are not the smartest person in the room is what just gives me the positivity to work even harder for the executive team.

Dino Starčič

What has been your favorite project at HiGroup?

My favourite project so far has been the Lean Production Management system or LPM that we developed for one of the biggest assembly-line factories in Slovenia. The project has been one of the first big ones in HiGroup and has turned out a big success.

The project is a digital twin that is distributing work between workers on the assembly line based on their workplace. The magic happens when there is a plan change and all the workers that are involved in that change are notified by the smartwatch and get a new work plan with no additional interaction or assembly line delays.

What I love seeing at this project was that we developed an MVP with the Faculty of Mechanical engineering and then implemented it to the mentioned factory. This process got us to see a project go from R&D to production which is always a positive factor.

We are currently still working on the change requests and maintenance but why I am always inspired by this project is when we go to the assembly line and see the workers using our software on smartwatches and web applications to improve their efficiency. They are happy, executives are happy and there is a tear in my eyes writing this.

What is your proudest moment at HiGroup?

My proudest moment is definitely when we abandoned the product we were developing and transitioned to offering services to clients. But I am not proud of the transition, I am proud of the fact that we managed to stay together as a founding team, learn from our mistakes, and create a better future for ourselves and all the people who joined us after that.

But to be completely honest, there should not be just one proudest moment. I feel proud every day when I see teams working, evolving, collaborating and solving problems. When the focus is on the customer and their products. I am proud of the team we have become, with all the ups and downs.

How do you define success in life?

To me, success in life is creating something you are proud of. But to be honest, that definition of success depends on what your core values are. To me, money, fame, or community recognition is not success.

When I look back, this is success. It's really the journey that defines my success. When you wake up and understand that this could be your last day. That to me is a success because that's when you do the things you love and leave behind things you are proud of.

What’s your next step, or a few goals you’d like to accomplish in life, or while with HiGroup?

Not in relation to work. I love climbing and going to the mountains, so I want to climb Mt. Blanc again, because when I climbed it before, the weather was very bad and there was no impressive view of the Alps. Professionally, I want to continue to motivate people at HiGroup and help it become one of the biggest players in the region.

Dino during one of his adventures

What would be your dream travel destination?

I love to travel, but one of the destinations I am dying to visit in Nepal to hike and learn about the culture. I also love everything about Asia, from the food to the culture, so there are a few countries I'd like to visit there as well. The first thing that comes to mind is Laos and Vietnam, because the last time I was in Cambodia and Thailand, I did not manage to visit them.

I also think that one day I would like to cross the Atlantic Ocean in a sailboat.

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Anyone up for sailing?

What's your favorite quote, or motto?

I have a tattoo that states “Live the life you are proud of” and this is my favourite quote because I think we should all do the things that we are proud of when we are looking back. I don't know who actually is the author of the quote but it just stumbled upon me at some point.

"The two most important days in your life are the day you are born and the day you find out why." —Mark Twain

If Hollywood made a movie about your life, who would you like to see cast as you?

Hmm, that's a question … I think Ryan Reynolds would do an amazing job :)

Are there any musical instruments that you play?

Yes, when I was in middle school I played the accordion and later moved on to electric guitar, which I still play from time to time as it is a stress stimulant for me. For fun, I also learned the basic choruses on the ukulele.

Say Hi to Dino!

If you want to connect with me, feel free to contact me on my email dino.starcic@higroup.si