A whole decade has passed since the first awards ceremony for the region’s strongest digital community – unbelievable, right? In other news, aside from new additions to the program like the newfound partnership with Slovenian agency Pristop and the first-ever ceremony held in Zagreb, SoMoBorac powered by Httpool just hit the digital scene with a whole new format: the SoMoCast podcast (complete with the fitting tagline, “Great Minds Think Digital.”)
Each week, our very own Nikola Vrdoljak sits down with guests from pioneering regional companies to discuss their innovative digital business models, their everyday operations, and their plans for the future.
“SoMoCast’s task is to showcase the companies and individuals that make up the digital economy. Digital is the most promising, interesting, propulsive, and potent part of the economy right now. With SoMoCast, we’ll meet great people, discover the stories behind revolutionary business models, and learn from their experiences so we can grow our community and improve our work,” says Vrdoljak.
Pilot episode
In the pilot episode, Nikola sits down with Dejan Donev, head of digital at Erste bank to get the story behind the genesis and evolution of Croatia’s most popular financial app, KEKS Pay, and an insider’s look at the state of the fintech industry at large.
Episode 2
How did the small, Zagreb-based Museum of Illusions become the biggest museum chain in the world? To find out, you’ll have to listen to SoMoCast’s second episode featuring Slaven Kordić, managing partner at Invera Equity Partners – a private equity fund management firm and owners of the museum. In this episode, you’ll finally uncover secrets of the private equity world: how it’s different from venture capital, what fund managers look for in potential investments, and perhaps most interestingly, where on earth do equity investors get all that money from?
Episode 3
How does a software as a service product come to life? How does the Croatian tech scene stack up to the titans across the pond? You’ll find the answers to these questions and many more in SoMoCast episode 3 with guest Tomislav Car, CEO and founder at Productive.io, an end-to-end agency management platform.
Episode 4
In SoMoCast’s fourth episode Nikola sits down with Ana Zovko, Chief Digital Officer at Croatia osiguranje, and Head of LAQO, Croatia’s first 100% digital insurance provider. Don’t miss this one because you’ll find out how to get your car insurance in under a minute, can an app make you a better driver, why become an “intrapreneur”, rather than launch a startup, and finally, is it easier to build an intimidatingly ambitious project or a small and simple one?
Episode 5
In the fifth episode of SoMoCast, Nikola sat down with Sofascore’s CEO Zlatko Hrkać to find out how the idea to merge sports and data analysis came about. The Croatian app delivers live results and statistics for 23 different sports to its 23 million active monthly users. During the episode, you’ll discover other little-known tidbits about the company, like the story behind the Luka Modrić collaboration and the role Oliver Dragojević's lyrics played in Sofascore’s beginnings.
Episode 6
This week, Nikola spoke with Eyabo Macauley, Snapchat's Senior Business Expansion Lead. In this sixth episode, you’ll discover how they managed to grow Snapchat into the app of choice for its 330 million daily active users, learn the difference between augmented and virtual reality, and why Snapchat is listed as a camera company in the New York Stock Exchange.
Episode seven
It’s time for the last SoMoCast episode of the year! Nikola sat down with Miša Živić, director and co-founder of regional fintech startup Leanpay. Inspired by Buy Now, Pay Later payment principles, Leanpay enables its users to pay in installments quickly, safely, and responsibly. Here, you’ll find out how BNPL is changing the face of online shopping and business growth, how Leanpay distinguishes itself from fintech leader Klarna, and how they secured a sizeable 3 million euro investment.
The podcast is created in collaboration with 24sata, and you can listen to new episodes every Tuesday at 10am on the SoMo Borac YouTube channel or platforms like Spotify, Deezer, and Apple podcasts.
