Last month we had a chance to talk with croatian entrepeneur, investor and business consultant Hrvoje Prpić about croatian entrepreneurial climate and ever-increasing startup culture.
"The current economic situation has influenced Croatian entrepreneurs extremely. Realizing that they can't get many opportunities in Croatia, they are slowly turning outwards, looking for other markets, and that is the good side of the crisis. The crisis "slammed" them strong enough to understand that they need to go outside of our country borders, toward the Union, if not farther.This is exactly what should also happen to the civil service. The situation in which half of the employees will be sacked and the wages cut in half, will ultimately encourage people to think about entrepreneurship." – said Pripić and added that European Union is the long-term project from which entrepreneurs can gain a lot. The Market that has opened to us is truly enormous and those who recognize that will know how to make the most of it and make a profit.
Prpić emphasized that competition is the best thing when it comes to the economy. In order for economy to be successful, it must be competitive, not only when it comes to the cometitiveness of the companies, but also the competitiveness in the labor force.
Trillenium,CRANE, Smee and offSpace are just some of the big names that we associate today with Prpić, but he is also a member of Croatian Business Angel Network.
"We can certainly say that CRANE managed to contribute very much to the Croatian startup culture. It is the only association of business angels in Croatia. We work a lot with people from abroad, and bring knowledge that helps startups to become successful." – said Prpić.
What people often do not understand, he explained, is that startup takes on average five to ten years to succeed, and that only after five years you can see the first results.
"I usually expect for startup to be sold after ten years since its founding. Today in Croatia there are a lot more startups than it was five years ago, precisely because we now see the results of those startups which started then. Rimac Automobili certainly can be taken as a good example." – explained Prpić.
When evaluating startup and avoiding bad investment he advises investors to get involved in the work of the Association CRANE.
"Through it they can participate in our various evaluations, presentations and listen to what older colleagues have to say. New investors posses less knowlege that those with more expirience have in that branch. Today when someone starts to present their idea, I am already familiar with other similar ideas and their flaws. For new investor every idea can seem fantastic." – he explained.
Likewise, he advised young startup entrepreneurs to be persistant. "Interesting thing is that those who fail are often those that received investment, and those who did not, became successful. When you get the investment, it automatically means a salary which is why some of them tend to relax and continue to expect the money. If the money stops comming they quit. I would say that those who worked alone,were persistent and lived with limited incomes,are are those who will most likely succeed. I always advise them to finish ZIP (Zagreb Entrepreneurship Incubator) and later to go to Vienna, Sofia, Berlin or London. Sofia is now the strongest center in Southeast Europe, after which follows Zagreb. Those who choose a startup career must be aware that they will most likely spend most of their life traveling." – he added.
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