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Bootstrapping your business can sometimes feel lonely. Bootstrapped European Entrepreneur podcast allows you to hear the stories of your peers, their strategies and tactics that have helped them grow their businesses.
www.bootstrappedentrepreneurs.eu
www.bootstrappedentrepreneurs.eu
19 Episodes
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We have officially come to the end of the first season of the Bootstrapped European Entrepreneurs podcast. The podcast will be on hiatus at least until the fall of this year.I would like to thank three groups in particular who made this first season possible. First, I want to thank you, the listeners. The number of downloads of this podcast has been a surprise.Then I would like to thank all the guests who took the time to share their story with us.And last but not least, special thanks to DHH, the company behind this podcast. I believe that even though DHH is public company, it still has the bootstrapper’s mentality and provides a great home for its member companies, allowing them to maintain their identity and thrive independently.Thanks for listening to Bootstrapped European Entrepreneurs! Subscribe for free to receive notification when we will be back. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.bootstrappedentrepreneurs.eu
Zoran Perović, had an impressive corporate career but then decided to start again and co-founded Serbian Open Exchange. Internet exchanges provide the critical service of connecting content providers with various carriers, thus making the Internet faster and more reliable for us, end users.In this episode, we talk about:* how SOX got started,* the difficulties of getting first customers,and* we did not left out the sensitive topic of politics and the Internet .Thanks for listening to Bootstrapped European Entrepreneurs! Subscribe for free to receive notifications when the new episodes are released. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.bootstrappedentrepreneurs.eu
Sometimes it makes sense to move into an adjacent industry to grow faster. This is the story of Golden Tree, an e-commerce company focused entirely on selling high-quality dietary supplements in several European countries.In this episode, Matej Bešter, co-founder and CMO, explains:* how they started in Slovenia with a single weight loss course under the brand "Popolna postava", which means "Perfect figure" in English,* their approach to new product development, * why they expanded internationally early in their company's history, * why they shifted the company's focus away from online courses, and * how they are opening up new markets.Thanks for reading Bootstrapped European Entrepreneurs! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.bootstrappedentrepreneurs.eu
Why decide not to sell directly to the end customer, but to use partners as the main sales channel?In 2012, marketgoo started out developing do-it-yourself SEO tools for small and medium-sized businesses, and decided to quickly reach a larger potential customer base this way. A decade later, marketgoo successfully helps web presence providers of all sizes grow their businesses by providing DIY SEO tools for them to resell to their customers, and offers complementary solutions for partners as well. In this episode, Wences Garcia, founder, head of Culture and GM at marketgoo, explains: * where the idea for their product came from, * what to focus on when selling through a distribution channel, * how they faced VC funded competitor as a bootstrapped company, and * how to be intentional about building your company’s culture. Resources mentioned in this episode:* marketgoo Culture Handbook* Book: Maverick: The Success Story Behind the World's Most Unusual Workplace * Entrepreneurial Operating System (used to build the marketgoo Operating System)* Twitter Thread: on the Integrator / Visionary roles* Post: We are Closing our Office, Here's Why.* Book: Traction: Get a Grip on Your Business by Gino Wickman* Lecture: Long, Slow, SaaS Ramp of Death | Gail Goodman, Constant Contact | BoS USA 2012 Thanks for reading Bootstrapped European Entrepreneurs! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.bootstrappedentrepreneurs.eu
A narrow niche and focus on technical excellence have made Neuralab one of the world's leading WooCommerce experts. In this episode, founder and CEO, Krešimir Končić explains:* how and why they have positioned themselves as world-class WordPress and Woocommerce experts,* how this impacts who they hire* how they package and sell their services; and* his opinion on web3, blockchain and related technologies.Thanks for reading Bootstrapped European Entrepreneurs! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.bootstrappedentrepreneurs.eu
Dealing with big corporations can be a headache for an entrepreneurial person. Boris Kapitanovič, co-founder of Workshares, a special kind of consulting firm focused on increasing productivity in businesses, has made this his bread and butter.In this episode, we talk about:* the importance of finding your niche,* the approach that will enable you to successfully work with global multinational companies* and how they have kept their team small despite being responsible for projects with 9-figure budgets.Thanks for reading Bootstrapped European Entrepreneurs! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support our work. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.bootstrappedentrepreneurs.eu
For some, freelancing is a career choice; for others, it's just a stepping stone. For Milan Savov, CEO and founder of Smartclick, a web and SEO agency from North Macedonia, it was the latter. What sets them apart from many other agencies is the fact that they have been focused on global clients from the very beginning.In this episode we talk about it:* what he learned as a freelancer at Upwork,* why he decided to start a business, and * how he approaches selling and running his business in general.Thanks for reading Bootstrapped European Entrepreneurs! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.bootstrappedentrepreneurs.eu
Senad Šantić started pursuing ideal of passive income while being a student. He later realized that he wants to build something more, which led to co-founding of ZenDev, a software development consultancy from Bosnia and Herzegovina. Looking ahead he decided that it would make sense to diversify into their own prodcuts which let two more startups: Avidnote and Robinize. In this episode we talk about:* his first entrepreneurial projects in Sweden, which still provide him with passive income,* what led him to start a business in Bosnia and Herzegovina and how he went about it and* the reasons behind and the approach they took to the development of their own products and * how to set-up a working relationship between partners in a joint venture.Thanks for reading Bootstrapped European Entrepreneurs! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.bootstrappedentrepreneurs.eu
Starting a business abroad can be a challenge. Jan de Jong has done it several times, the first time as a Dutch student starting a contact center in Croatia. Today he is involved in several ventures, most notably the email marketing company Webpower Adria.In this episode we talk about:* why and how he started a contact center outsourcing company in Croatia as a Dutch student and grew it to 400 employees,* how he approaches building high performance teams and the mindset he expects from his employees, * what his criteria are when he fires employees,* what was his sales strategy when Webpower Adria was just established* how his efforts as a private citizen led to Croatia changing its laws to welcome digital nomads, and* the big idea behind his new company Crop.Thanks for reading Bootstrapped European Entrepreneurs! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.bootstrappedentrepreneurs.eu
Freelancing sometimes looks like an ideal job where you can choose your own projects and set your own schedule, but the reality, as always, is different. As Tosho Trajanov experienced firsthand, you have to take care of sales and client relations, and the actual technical work you want to do often takes up only a small part of your time. That led him to co-found Adeva, a company that aims to change that experience for freelancers.In this episode, we discuss:* how they transformed their business from a digital agency into a marketplace,* how they go about building their community,* why they have incorporated in the US, * how they avoid typical platform problems, and* how they address scalability.Thanks for reading Bootstrapped European Entrepreneurs! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.bootstrappedentrepreneurs.eu
Faris Začina and his co-founders started Ministry of Programming with the goal of providing startups with a development outsourcing service. Today, Ministry of Programming is a software design, development and investment company that specializes in working with startups. Listen to the podcast to learn how they achieved this.In this episode we talk about:* why he had no desire to build a traditional outsourcing company and why they focused on helping startups,* why they did not build their own startup,* how they got their first clients,* how pursuing the client success helped them find the right business model and* why they also started investing in startups.If you'd like to take Faris up on his offer for some advice or help, here are links to his Twitter and LinkedIn profiles.Thanks for reading Bootstrapped European Entrepreneurs! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.bootstrappedentrepreneurs.eu
Pivoting is second nature to startups, but what about more mature companies with revenues of €5 million or more? In this episode, we have the opportunity to discuss this topic with Antonio Baldassarra, a co-founder and CEO of Seeweb, a leading Italian cloud provider.Of course, we talk about how Seeweb came to be, but we also discuss the reasons behind two major pivots in the company's history and delve deeper into the reasons behind the shift to cloud-first solutions. Antonio tells us why they did it, how they did it, and what the consequences were. What did Antonio do to align everybody behind new company strategy?Finally, we delve a bit into how the idea behind DHH came about. Antonio, as a co-founder of DHH, is of course an authority on the subject. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.bootstrappedentrepreneurs.eu
Some would be afraid to decide to close down a reputable agency with Facebook marketing partner status, drastically downsize and focus on scrappy startup. Not Nikola Bojkov and his co-founders at Embed Social. They went all in and a few years later they are profitable, bootstrapped and have a healthy suite of products focused on offering a way for user genereted content from social networks, to become a part of any website. In this episode we discuss:* how they come up with the idea and unexpected way in which they validated it,* how freemium approach allowed for fast growth and how they approach converting users to paid version and* why and how they have raised prices multiple times.Thanks for reading Bootstrapped European Entrepreneurs! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.bootstrappedentrepreneurs.eu
Sometimes you have to be in the right place at the right time to even recognize the problem. If you have the ability to solve it, you are well positioned to develop a unique product. Our guest this week is Matej Guid, an academic who is already on his second company, InstaText, a writing assistant that uses AI to help you rewrite your text to make it more readable and understandable. It functions as a native speaker friend who goes through your text and edits it "just a little bit."In this episode we discuss:* the process they went through to communicate well enough the value of their product to potential customers, * the importance of access to mentors and* what they had to do to "unlock" global sales.Resources mentioned in this episode:* Book: The Mom Test: How to talk to customers & learn if your business is a good idea when everyone is lying to you by Rob Fitzpatrick* Course: How to Build a Startup by Steve Blank* Course: Digital Marketing * Course: Growth Product ManagerThanks for reading Bootstrapped European Entrepreneurs! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work. Photo by Jože Suhadolnik/Delo. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.bootstrappedentrepreneurs.eu
In this episode, we sit down with Danko Jevtović, an entrepreneur turned manager. He co-founded several companies, most notably Jugodata, one of the first companies to sell computers in Serbia, and SezamPro, an ISP founded at a time when BBSes were all the rage. During the conversation we talk about:* getting started by serving the community that had gathered around Sezam BBS,* growth through educating the market,* the importance of helping to build middle management,* how to recognize the change in the market as the right time to exit the business,* how Danko's life has changed since leaving the business...* how he began to think differently about himself...We end our conversation with Danko's opinion on the pitfalls of startup culture and why Danko would never advise starting a company with the intention of selling it.Book mentioned in the episode: Managing Corporate Lifecycles: Complete Edition, Ichak AdizesWhere to find Danko: Twitter, LinkedIN Thanks for reading Bootstrapped European Entrepreneurs! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.bootstrappedentrepreneurs.eu
Being a trailblazer is never easy. Imagine being a first generation entrepreneur in a country that has just transitioned to capitalism. It may lead to mistakes, maybe even bankruptcy, as was the case with our guest in this episode Andrej Mertelj. Listen in to hear how he used this experience as the foundation and driving force for his next venture, Datalab. We also discuss:* What has lead to the bankruptcy of his first company,* How he used frequent changes in the law to drive the company's growth and* How partnerships enabled the company grow even faster. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.bootstrappedentrepreneurs.eu
Can early success be an obstacle in your entrepreneurial journey? In this episode, our guest Dejan Murko, co-founder and project lead at SaaS studio Niteo, answers this question by sharing his personal experience. In this episode we cover:* their journey from software consultancy to self-funded SaaS studio,* the mindset that helps them efficiently manage a completely remote team, and* why they opted for complete financial transparency and completely eliminated salary negotiations by developing a Niteo salary calculator.Since we recorded the episode, Niteo team actually launched a new product. Dejan’s latest SaaS is an app that helps you avoid common security mistakes on your Mac. Learn more at https://www.paretosecurity.comBooks mentioned in this episode:* The E-Myth Revisited: Why Most Small Businesses Don't Work and What to Do About It* Maverick, The Success Story Behind the World's Most Unusual WorkplaceThanks for reading Bootstrapped European Entrepreneurs! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.bootstrappedentrepreneurs.eu
What would you do if you noticed a customer need that your current employer was unwilling to serve? In this episode, we sit down with Boško Radivojević, who was prompted by such an opportunity to co-found Mainstream, a leading managed hosting and managed cloud provider in Serbia.Aside from how he got started, we also talk about:* The importance of their personal network and how it has helped them at various turning points* How changing their approach to communication helped them with their positioning, which in turn led to better pricing, and* What they did when they run out of their initial market niche. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.bootstrappedentrepreneurs.eu
The company is often, if not always, a reflection of its founder. In this episode we explore this fact with Dejan Grobelnik Pelzel, founder & CEO of bunny.net. Their first product was Bunny CDN, a content delivery network, a service that helps websites around the world be faster. We discuss:* where he found the first customers, * how he grew the company.* where to get the best ideas for your product development roadmap, * why he was the company’s only developer until the company hit 2 million € in revenue and* how the company changed when he changed hs views of the company.I hope you will enjoy the episode and I appreciate the feedback! This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.bootstrappedentrepreneurs.eu
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