Scale SEE Podcast

Most software companies from the Balkans stay in their lane, find a client, build the product, invoice and move on.
Faris Začina built something completely different from Bosnia.
As Co-founder and CEO of Ministry of Programming, recognized by the Financial Times FT1000 as one of Europe's fastest-growing tech companies, Faris took a bootstrapped venture builder from building MVPs for startups to becoming a co-founder, investor, and CTO-for-hire for the companies it worked with. 100+ products built. 20+ companies invested in.
We talk about scaling mistakes, investments that disappeared because of legal issues, and what Faris calls "learning by burning” - the most expensive lessons that actually changed how he operates.
In this episode we cover:
→ How Ministry of Programming went from building MVPs to co-founding and investing alongside startups
→ What nobody tells you about scaling from 10 to 100 people
→ Why Faris thinks most investors are bad at their own job, and what founders should look for instead
→ The "replacement theory”, or what AI actually means for software engineers and the SEE outsourcing industry
→ Whether AI destroys the cost advantage that built the Balkans tech scene, or creates a bigger opportunity

Most founders from the Balkans dream of going global. Very few understand what it actually takes.Jovana Đapa has lived it - Belgrade, Oslo, Singapore, New York, Copenhagen. She's led Customer Success and GTM teams at AWS, Blue Prism, and Tapad, a fast-growing NYC adtech startup where she managed a major enterprise book of business across Asia while coordinating with teams in New York.Today she serves as Global Head of Customer Success at ZeroNorth and advises early-stage startups across the SEE ecosystem.In this episode we cover:→ How to approach the Asian market and what founders consistently get wrong→ Building GTM and Customer Success from 0 to global scale→ How culture and people, not technology, make or break international expansion→ What real operational burnout looks like across time zones→ Her honest take on the current state of the Serbian business ecosystem

Most companies don't lose their best people loudly. They lose them quietly - to roles that went to an outside hire, to a manager who didn't know who was ready, to a succession plan that lived in a slide nobody updated.Danilo Đukanović saw this problem early in his career - and turned it into a mission.He's the CEO and Co-founder of Recrewty - a Techstars-backed workforce intelligence platform that helps companies map internal mobility, succession, and workforce readiness using behavioral science and AI. Trusted by banks, telecoms, and retailers across the region.He went from Montenegro to Techstars in Italy to the US through YTILI - proving that world-class companies can be built right here in the Balkans.In this episode we cover:→ The painful interview that sparked Recrewty→ How behavioral science and AI eliminate hiring guesswork→ Scaling a global HR tech startup from Montenegro→ What Techstars Italy actually looks like from the inside→ His experience with Scale SEE Accelerator→ Ethical AI in hiring - opportunity or risk?→ How the US startup ecosystem reshaped his mindset on speed and ambition→ The moonshot vision for Recrewty in the next 5–10 years

In this episode we sit down with David Schoch - one of the most experienced operators and investors in Southeast Europe and Scale SEE mentor.David's career:→ Founder of Orion Telekom - raised €24M and built Serbia's largest independent fixed-line telecoms operator→ Chief Operating Officer at HTEC Group→ Partner at StartLabs Investment Fund→ President of the Serbian Private Equity Association (14+ years)→ Consultant at The World Bank - lead mentor at Katapult Accelerator→ COO at VICERT, VP at Drylet, Business Development Director at Cable & WirelessWhat we cover:→ David's career path and how he ended up in Europe and Serbia→ His insights from working with Serbian founders and executives→ What it takes to build and scale businesses in the SEE region→ His take on AI and it's future

Most founders think great products sell themselves. They don't.In this episode, we sit down with Milan Vesković-one of Europe's most experienced sales leaders in the space of Insurance.Milan's career:→ Head of Sales at Generali Serbia→ Global Chief Sales Officer at Wefox (largest Insurtech in Europe) – helped grow the company 4x→ Co-founder of Overmind, Getlife, and SuperAgent→ Advisor to Revolut→ Mentor to founders across the US and Europe→ Currently building an Insurtech startup in stealth modeWhat we cover:→ How startups should actually build their first sales organization→ What separates scalable revenue engines from wishful thinking→ How to pitch investors like a professional→ Why founders need a sales-first mindset from day one

Today's guest is Branko Džakula — cybersecurity executive, entrepreneur, and founder behind multiple startups including Secfix, Skenify, and The Security Company.Over the last 15 years, Branko has advised organizations like Telenor, Air Serbia, and Etihad Airways, served as CISO across multiple European companies, and helped businesses navigate cybersecurity, compliance, and risk at scale.Most recently, he co-founded Secfix, a Munich-based startup that raised $12 million to automate cybersecurity compliance for European companies.In this episode, we talk about cybersecurity, AI, building startups from Montenegro, decision-making under pressure, and what founders get wrong about security and compliance.🚀 This episode is brought to you by Neubase.coNeubase helps Balkan founders open a US LLC or C-Corp, set up Stripe, and prepare for raising US venture capital — without paying crazy US legal fees.If you're serious about selling into the US market, you'll eventually need a US entity.Head over to neubase.co and use code ScaleSEE for 10% off your company setup. 🚀#Cybersecurity #AI #Startup #Secfix #Skenify #ScaleSEE #Entrepreneurship #Compliance #CISO #SaaS #Balkans #TechPodcast

Today’s guest is Leonard Eldić — founder of SaaStanak, the largest SaaS community in Central and Eastern Europe, and the man behind one of the most high-signal SaaS conferences in the region — built by the sea.Through SaaStanak, Leonard has worked closely with hundreds of SaaS founders, operators, and investors — giving him a front-row seat into what actually works when scaling B2B SaaS… and what keeps most startups stuck.In this episode, we go deep into:• What actually makes a SaaS company scalable• Why most startups get stuck at €20K–€50K MRR• The biggest mistakes B2B founders make when trying to grow• Which GTM channels are working in 2026 (and which are dead)• The reality of selling SaaS from Southeast Europe to global markets• What separates companies that reach €1M+ ARR from those that don’t• Lessons from building SaaStanak into the largest SaaS community in CEEIf you’re building a SaaS company — or thinking about it — this is the real playbook from the people doing it across Europe.—This episode is brought to you by Neubase.coNeubase helps Balkan founders open a US LLC or C-Corp, set up Stripe, and prepare for raising US venture capital — without paying crazy US legal fees.If you’re serious about selling into the US market, you’ll eventually need a US entity.Head over to neubase.co and use code ScaleSEE for 10% off your company setup. 🚀

accelerator formats coming out of Southeast Europe.20 founders. 20 days. A yacht from Greece to Croatia. Live challenges, investor judging, and a €300,000 investment prize.But this isn’t just a show.Founder Games is building a new model that combines capital, content, and competition — and is already expanding globally through partnerships in the UAE and Brazil.In this episode, we cover:Why she gamified accelerationWhat founders get wrong about scalingHow media is changing venture capitalAnd what it takes to build globally from the Balkans-----------This episode is brought to you by Neubase.coNeubase helps Balkan founders open a US LLC or C-Corp, set up Stripe, and prepare for raising US venture capital — without paying crazy US legal fees.If you’re serious about selling into the US market, you’ll eventually need a US entity.Head over to neubase.co and use code ScaleSEE for 10% off your company setup.

Today’s guest is Vedran Bajer - General Manager Adriatic at Wonderful, an AI startup that recently raised $150M and reached unicorn status, building deeply localized AI agents for enterprises across chat, voice, and email.But Vedran’s story didn’t start in AI.He spent over a decade at Google, leading partnerships and business development across EMEA and APAC, before becoming Country Manager of Microsoft Croatia — driving digital transformation across enterprises, government, and entire industries.Along the way, he’s stayed close to startups — advising companies like Treblle and Chipolo, and helping founders navigate growth, enterprise sales, and global expansion.In this episode, we go deep into:• What it really takes to build a $1B AI company• How Wonderful deploys AI inside enterprises in under 48 hours• Generative AI explained — without the hype• Whether open-source AI (like NVIDIA) is a threat or an opportunity• What actually happens inside a startup after raising $150M• Why Balkan operators don’t become angel investors — and how that should change• The biggest mistakes startups from this region make when scaling globally• What separates companies that raise capital from those that don’tIf you’re building in Southeast Europe and thinking about AI, fundraising, or becoming an investor yourself — this one is for you.—This episode is brought to you by Neubase.coNeubase helps Balkan founders open a US LLC or C-Corp, set up Stripe, and prepare for raising US venture capital — without paying crazy US legal fees.If you’re serious about selling into the US market, you’ll eventually need a US entity.Head over to neubase.co and use code ScaleSEE for 10% off your company setup.

Today’s guest is Luka Prelevic — Managing Director of Hellas Direct, one of Europe’s fastest-growing Insurtech companies, generating $300M+ in ARR in 2025 and on track toward unicorn status.But Luka’s journey didn’t start in startups.From working at Bank of America and Merrill Lynch, to practicing law alongside his father, earning a Master’s degree at Bocconi University, founding a student consulting firm, spending 4+ years at McKinsey & Company, and eventually investing in and joining Hellas Direct as MD — Luka’s career is a masterclass in reinvention.In this episode, we go deep into:• Why he left McKinsey for a startup• How Hellas Direct scaled to $300M+ ARR• The future of Insurtech in Europe• The biggest wealth transfer in history — and what it means for entrepreneurs• Family offices vs VCs — who really writes the checks today?• The Balkan startup ecosystem vs Greece and the rest of Europe• Hosting global HNWIs in Belgrade and bringing investors like Paige Craig (early investor in Lyft, AngelList, Twitter, Airbnb) to the BalkansThis conversation is about ambition, capital, scaling from Southeast Europe - and why innovation might be born here, but funding still thinks globally.If you’re building in the Balkans and thinking about scale, capital, or long-term wealth creation - this one is for you.—This episode is brought to you by Neubase.Neubase helps Balkan founders open a US LLC or C-Corp, set up Stripe, and prepare for raising US venture capital — without paying crazy US legal fees.If you’re serious about selling into the US market, you’ll eventually need a US entity.Head over to neubase.co and use code ScaleSEE for 10% off your company setup.

Today’s guest is Aleksandar Stojanovic, CEO of Refine Skills — a startup he built from a research paper into a fast-growing HR tech company landing 5+ enterprise clients in less than 6 months.Aleks started with an academic insight: corporate trainings don’t work because they are too long, inefficient, and disconnected from how people actually learn. His solution? A 6-minute micro-learning model designed specifically for large organizations.In this episode, we break down how he:Turned research into a real productApproached and closed enterprise HR clientsStructured early pilots with large companiesBuilt credibility without a big teamNavigated corporate decision-making cyclesIf you’re a B2B founder trying to break into enterprise — this conversation is for you.He shares practical insights on selling to HR departments, shortening sales cycles, and positioning innovation inside conservative corporate systems.Today's episode is brought to you by ⁠Neubase⁠.Neubase is a team of Balkan founders who have been where you are. They have had challenges with opening up an LLC or C-Corp in the US, and are now helping you!If you are a startup from the Balkans you will eventually need a US company, to sell into the US market, open up Stripe or raise VC Money.Neubase helps with all of that, at a fraction of the cost that you would pay US lawyers and accounts for.Head over to neubase.co and use code ScaleSEE for a 10% discount on your LLC or C-Corp setup!

Today's guest is David F. Calabrese, a serial founder, who has scaled multiple 7 and 8 figure business. After being successful in his media company, he started working for PE backed companies and helping them with Growth and Marketing. One of those companies was Marketo, where David served as Head of Digital Experience, and was part of the exit to Adobe for $5B, after which he served as Head of Digital Experience for Adobe Group.He is an active mentor at Scale SEE and other prominent Silicon Valley startups programs, and is currently building his new venture - Break the Wheel. Stay tuned for more episodes with amazing entrepreneurs, operators and investors who building and scaling from Southeast Europe!Today's episode is brought to you by Neubase. Neubase is a team of Balkan founders who have been where you are. They have had challenges with opening up an LLC or C-Corp in the US, and are now helping you! If you are a startup from the Balkans you will eventually need a US company, to sell into the US market, open up Stripe or raise VC Money. Neubase helps with all of that, at a fraction of the cost that you would pay US lawyers and accounts for. Head over to neubase.co and use code ScaleSEE for a 10% discount on your LLC or C-Corp setup!

Our first guest will be Goran Stevanovic! He co-founded PS Tech, grew it to 300+ people, and sold to Endava. After 7 years scaling Endava across Europe, he’s now a partner at South Central Ventures backing Southeast European founders. Can’t wait to share his story! 💡