Ivan Brezak Brkan is one of those guys who is part of the ever-growing Croatian IT scene for years and whatever you think about him – you cannot be indifferent. Some of us know him from his early days, writing for Bug and Mreža — both well established and respected Croatian IT magazines — and some of us may know him while writing for Techcrunch. But that was before he started his “pet project” Netokracija – now a leading Balkans tech blog often referred as “The Techcrunch of the Balkans”.
Who is Ivan Brezak Brkan? How are you declaring yourself these days? As a blogger, an author, an entrepreneur?
Each of my social media profiles has a different description depending on what I post there, but I’d say that each of the three roles applies. Maybe content entrepreneur? I’ll always be a journalist and blogger first since I love nothing better than to write a good piece on a topic I’m interested in and – more importanly – have something to say about. However, what has separated me from other journalists and bloggers has been an understanding of business, especially B2B and marketing – which has led me down a path of creating not only the region’s largest tech blog but also working on numerous content projects with the most talented content creators in the tech space.
The startup scene has grown and matured
As you sometimes say “you started early” as you were and still are part of Croatian (and regional) internet scene for years. What changed in all these years?
Everything has changed. Just the other day Zemanta, the first regional startup to get outside funding from a seed fund, got acquired 10 YEARS after its start. I’ve seen startups come and go, suceed and fail – but what I can say that has changed most is that the scene has grown, matured – there have never beed so many talented techies across the region working on world-class projects. Honestly, the only thing that hasn’t changed is a Balkan mentality of thinking that we’re still the underdog. We’re not: Croatian, Serbian, Slovenian and other companies and individuals show that!
Croatian IT scene is quite a strong one. We have an active startup scene, a lot of meetups happening all over Croatia, but what makes me proud is that IT scene is now bigger and more mature than ever. How Netokracija helped? Did Netokracija help?
I’d defer to quoting one of the currently leading Croatian entrepreneurs, Rimac automobili founder Mate Rimac, who says: “Netokracija is our spark of optimism and hope – a media company with the enthusiasm and expert knowledge as well as network that can cover tech companies, projects, innovatio and startups in a way they deserve, giving all of us hope for the region”.
Personally, I’m so proud that our team at Netokracija has managed to be the support that the digital community has needed in order to become sure of itself and grow. No matter the topic, we’ll always be the ones watching out for the little tech guys who are trying to make a real difference.
We experimented a lot until we found what would eventually become Netokracija’s voice
So, let’s talk about Netokracija. Was it a “pet project” when you started it? I remember those first days when it was no more than “a blog”, so different than what it is today. How WordPress helped?
In its beginning, Netokracija was no more than a blog with a default theme and an outlet for the topics I couldn’t get published in mainstream tech magazines who didn’t – and still don’t – understand deep tech, startups, etc, social media etc. Their loss was my gain since the blog I didn’t even write the first post on (that honor goes to Hub385 operating lead and my dear friend Luka Sučić) has grown to what it is today.
What I remember from the “old days” was how much we experimented with different formats and types of content, finally setting on what would become Netokracija’s voice. WordPress was invaluable since it first gave us the flexibililty and ease of use to experiment on our own and then a community of designers and developers that are now building a true platform based on it. From too many plugins I installed to the custom built, fast platform we’re creating today!
What are the plans for the future? You are not alone anymore, Netokracija has quite a strong foundation in both Croatia, Serbia, and Slovenia. What comes next?
Netokracija today has a regional team of the best content and business people in the media industry, leading the way not only when it comes to authorative articles and interviews, but also media business models and formats such as native. Our plan for the future is to doubledown on what has made Netokracija a success so far: projects and the community. A big part of this will be our WordPress-based platform that will enable us not to backtrack and build from scratch, but build on top of everything that others have inovated in the broader WordPress community as well!
Did you get your ticket?
If you haven’t already, get your ticket for WordCamp Zagreb today. Tickets are priced at 20€ (around 150 HRK) which will give you entrance to the conference, (first) access to workshops on Friday and to Contributor day on Sunday. You will also get the drinks, lunch, incredible t-shirt and other cool swag from our sponsors.
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