Berislav Marszalek i Matija Marijan

Entrio >

In the beginning, CRANE mostly helped us with starting our company, since it is very complicated in Croatia. In reality, we could have figured out most of it on our own, but it was great to have Mihovil (the deal lead) take us through everything so that we could focus on our company’s development and not waste time on bureaucracy.

The second part of CRANE’s help we saw in the meeting with the business angels, and through a brainstorm session we came to some cool concepts which we will develop in the future. We were also given some good advice about the things we missed, they pointed to some good opportunities related to mobile payments and gave us sales contacts. All in all, everything went on a lot faster and without the mistakes they had already gone through.

 

Marko Kovač

Repsly >

CRANE, or rather Mr Saša Cvetojević, is a key member of SalePod.NET team. The support he gives us daily and the valuable knowledge he shares without hesitation contribute significantly to our development. Apart from that, the investment we received has helped us go through that sensitive period until the commercialization of the project. In short, the collaboration we realized is beyond all expectations and I wish the same to all the projects with a sensible vision.

 

Goran Duškić i Edi Budimilić

WhoAPI >

With Mr Barančić we came to an agreement very quickly. With new and innovative technologies, and especially IT, it is crucial that everything is done in the shortest possible time. Programmers and successful people in general don’t like to waste time on bureaucracy and arrangements, but prefer fast and firm decisions and diligent work without interferences. We saw that in Mr Barančić (and vice versa) and we found common ground very quickly.

The investment secured our peace and the conditions for the previously mentioned diligent work, in order to launch our service as soon as possible.

 

Interview: Saša Fišter

Zimo Digital LTD. >

 

Why did you decide to look for an investor?

The reason is that it is easier to work in teams than on your own. There are more and more clusters nowadays because it’s easier to break into the very competitive market that way. The investor recognizes the value of the company and invests their knowledge and experience in its development, so maybe that was our guiding thought that led us toward an investor.

 

Were the negotiations long and complicated?

Not in our case, but in most of the cases it is a long and complicated process. It’s all about how much potential the investor recognizes, their gain and the return on investment. If the investor strongly believes in the project, the negotiation and paperwork process is very short. I think that in our case we proved that this is possible.

 

How are things functioning exactly four months after finalizing the investment? What has happened after it?

A lot of thing were set in motion. Jobs started coming, company started growing, we hired more people and reorganized the whole company, from operations, accounting, lawyers, to what everybody does in it. Every greater move like this one, demands restructuring of the company, and that was the case with us.

 

Most startups have a hard time deciding to sell the majority stake to the investor. This isn’t the case with you. Can you briefly explain your view on it?

I heard an interesting saying that investor comes to you when you don’t need them, which is true. But if you have an opportunity to get an investment for your project, why turn it down? We know that it is not easy to come by, but you have to show that you want things to start moving. Investors, besides giving you money, will give you their experience, contacts, advice, jobs, etc.