In this episode of the Without Borders podcast as part of our series speaking to unicorn leaders, we are joined by Mario Ciabarra, Founder and CEO of Quantum Metric.

The CPD (Continuous Product Design) company claimed to be the first unicorn of 2021 after raising $200M in Series B financing in January, a unique achievement for a Colorado Springs-based company. Yet, Mario explains why he would rather be a dragon than a unicorn. Throughout this inspiring interview with Quantum Metric’s leader, Mario reiterates the importance of hiring the best talent wherever it is and the three attributes that he hires on: passion, persistence and integrity.

Mario elaborates on why ‘it’s mission-critical to have a mission’ -especially when your company grows at scale-, how his number one company objective is “happy people, healthy culture” and what his 13-year-old daughter taught him about friction points in eCommerce during the pandemic. We even had time to talk about Braveheart, carpentry and skiing on Colorado slopes.

The interview, as ever, was co-hosted with Russell Goldsmith of the csuite podcast.